PETALING JAYA: Diver Pandelela Rinong's title defence came to an end when she only finish sixth in the women's 10m platform individual final at the Diving World Cup in Berlin, Germany.
The 29-year-old stayed on course for a podium finish until the third dive but her game fell apart after that.
Poor scores of 32.00 and 38.40 in the fourth and fifth dives saw Pandelela, tumble out to eventually settle for sixth spot with 263.45 points in the final on Saturday.
It was a poor effort from the Sarawakian who had started the competition brightly by scoring 304.25 points to place third in the preliminaries on Thursday.
Pandelela won the 10m platform individual title in the 2020 edition in Tokyo, which only took place last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic situation.
China's reigning world champion Chen Yuxi took the gold with a stunning total of 449.85 points while compatriot Quan Hongchan, the reigning Olympic gold medallist, settled for silver with 430.43.
United States' Nike Agunbiade took the bronze with a distant score of 298.70 points.
Pandelela still has a chance to return home with a medal as she competes in the mixed team event alongside Chew Yiwei and Bertrand Rhodict later tonight (on Sunday).
