MS hope Diving World Cup will take place after reschedule

PETALING JAYA: The FINA Diving World Cup in Japan has been rescheduled from February to April as the country fights to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.

The meet will now take place from April 18-23 at the newly completed Tokyo Aquatics Centre and is a designated Olympics test event.

It will be the final Olympic qualifying meet with quota slots to be decided in the individual and synchro events.

Four spots each will be decided in the 3m springboard and 10m platform synchro events while 18 tickets are up for grabs in the 3m springboard and 10m platform individual.

Malaysia Swimming (MS) secretary Mae Chen is hopeful that the World Cup will take place as scheduled given the narrow window before the Grand Prix events start.

“The Grand Prix usually starts from beginning of the year but it has also been pushed back after April.

“It’s the reason why we wanted to do the online diving competition this weekend as it may be the only chance for our divers to gauge what they have been doing in training for the last few months.

“There will be no more competitions until the World Cup where our divers are hoping to do well to earn Olympic spots.

“The Grand Prix will start in Singapore and then Malaysia only in May, ” Mae added.

Pandelela Rinong, Leong Mun Yee, Nur Dhabitah Sabri and Wendy Ng Yan Yee have made the cut for the Tokyo Games so far.