Young duo fight back from seventh to secure Malaysia’s first diving medal

Late surge: Nurqayyum Nazmi Mohd Nazim (left) and Yong Rui Jie pose with their medals and plush toys during the prize ceremony. – AFP

YONG Rui Jie-Nurqayyum Nazmi Mohd Nazim showed their mettle with a surprise bronze medal effort on the first day of the Asian Games diving competition at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.

The two 20-year-olds pushed South Korea out of the podium with their very last attempt, scoring 345.81 points to claim the first diving medal for Malaysia.

Rui Jie-Nurqayyum thus matched the bronze finish achieved by Mohd Syafiq Puteh-Ooi Tze Liang at the last Asiad in Hangzhou in 2023.

China’s Wang Zongyuan–Zheng Jiuyuan topped the competition with 465.87 points while Ikuma Senri-Suyama Haruki got the silver for Japan with 355.56.

Rui Jie-Nurqayyum will be pleased to be able to keep the good record in the event.

Malaysia have featured on the podium in five out of six previous editions in the men’s 3m springboard synchronised event at the Asian Games.

Malaysian team technical director Yeoh Ken Nee was pleased to see the young pairing, who also won gold at the Thailand SEA Games last year, kept their nerves in check to finish on the podium.

“Nurqayyum-Rui Jie were actually in the seventh place after the first dive but they continued fighting. They managed to score well in their last two dives to move from fifth spot to third.

“They are making their first appearance at the Asian Games and their performance have been consistent throughout the competition so far.

“Based on the start list, other countries appeared to have a stronger chance of winning the bronze medal due to their higher difficulty dives.

“However, diving is also about consistency and execution under pressure.

“They stayed focused until the end and were rewarded with a bronze,” he said.

Ken Nee added it was a pity that Pandelela Rinong-Nur Eilisha Rania Abrar Raj missed out on the bronze medal in the women’s 10m platform synchronised event earlier.

“For Rania, this was her first Asian Games appearance and I think she performed well, especially considering the pressure of competing at this level.

“For Pandelela, her performance was a little off this morning, which affected her scores.”