Injury halts Arif’s double bid at MSSM diving meet

Bittersweet outing: Arif Aisy Rossharisham (centre) wins one gold but misses on another.

PETALING JAYA: It was a bittersweet outing for young diving talent Arif Aisy Rossharisham in the MSSM (National Schools) competition in Ipoh.

The 15-year-old bagged his first gold medal after topping the boys’ Under-15 1m springboard competition at Tuanku Zara Aquatic Centre in Ipoh on Wednesday.

Arif won with a total of 257.85 points ahead of teammate Mohd Ariel Riezqi (255.85) and Sabahan Onell Lee (244.35).

However, Arif’s hopes of securing a double was crushed after he sustained foot injuries just before the start of the boys’ 3m springboard final yesterday.

Arif, the son of former national diver Rossharisham Roslan, was forced to withdraw from the competition.

Said Arif: “I was looking forward to a good competition but unfortunately, I landed wrongly and injured both my feet.”

“I hope to recover within one to two weeks. Hopefully, I can come back well for the pre-Sukma (Malaysia Games) competition for Selangor next month,” said Arif, who has been roped into the national training programme in Bukit Jalil.

Arif went into the programme with strong credentials after completing a double gold sweep for Selangor in the boys’ 14-15 springboard category at the National Age-Group Diving Championships in Kuching last month.

Arif also clinched the springboard individual events in the boys’ 14-15 category at the South-East Asia (SEA) Championship in Singapore last year.

Sarawak stamped their marks in the MSSM diving competition with a medal haul of 3-2-1 followed by Selangor (2-3-0) and Kuala Lumpur (1-0-0).