PETALING JAYA: National diving queen Pandelela Rinong has booked her final ticket for the women’s 10m platform event at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
The 29-year-old is scheduled to be in action at 7am Malaysian time today, after finishing seventh in the semi-finals yesterday.
She managed to collect 313.15 points overall while 2019 world champion and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games silver medallist Chen Yuxi, 16, of China topped the semis after amassing 427.00 points.
Yuxi’s 15-year-old compatriot and Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Quan Hongchan came in second with 413.70 points while Canadian Caeli McKay was third with 336.30 points.Pandelela, who won the 2021 World Cup gold medal in Tokyo, is the most senior diver in the women’s 10m platform event in Budapest.
In the 2019 edition, Pandelela finished fifth place in the 10m platform but managed to take home silver in the 10m platform synchro with her partner Leong Mun Yee.
Besides the 10m platform, Pandelela will also combine with Hanis Nazirul Jaya Surya for the 10m platform mixed synchro and Nur Dhabitah Sabri in the 10m platform synchro.
Dhabitah was supposed to compete in the individual 10m platform, but her name wasn’t listed on competition day.
“We wanted to focus on the events that we are stronger at, and that is why Dhabitah will only compete in the synchro events,” said Malaysia Swimming (MS) secretary Mae Chen.
Meanwhile, in the 3m men’s synchro springboard final, Malaysia’s Chew Yiwei-Ooi Tze Liang finished 11th with a score of 337.83 out of 12 divers.
China’s Cao Yuan-Wang Zongyuan won gold with a score of 459.18, while Britain’s Jack Laugher-Anthony Harding took silver with 451.71. Germany’s Lars Rudiger-Tim Barthel completed the podium with 406.44.
Yiwei and Tze Liang have made the final twice in the 2017 and 2019 editions, finishing 10th and 12th respectively.
