Diver ends 16-year wait for Asiad silver with Harold and fulfils promise to his dad

Perfect present: Enrique Maccartney Harold (right) and Elvis Priestly Clement celebrate on the podium. — Reuters

A BIRTHDAY wish granted and a promise to his father fulfilled.

Elvis Priestly Clement could not have asked for a better gift as he joined forces with Enrique Maccartney Harold to rock the Tokyo Aquatics Centre and end Malaysia’s 16-year wait for an Asian Games silver in the men’s 10m platform synchronised event yesterday.

And making the moment even sweeter for Elvis was fulfilling his promise to his father – to stand on the podium alongside the reigning Olympic champions.

The Malaysians scored 377.52 points to claim the country’s first silver in this Asian Games diving competition, edging South Korea’s Shin Jung Whi–Kim Yeong Taek by just 1.62 points at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.

South Korea led by 0.54 points after the fifth round but Elvis-Enrique produced their best dive when it mattered most.

The Malaysian pair hit the water in perfect unison to score 81.00 points, their highest mark for the day.

The Koreans needed 80.46 to match Malaysia but scored 78.84 instead to settle for bronze with 375.90 points.

Reigning Olympic champions Yang Hao–Lian Jun Jie claimed gold with 465.54 points.

Elvis had promised his father Clement Merom before leaving for training camp in China that he would try his best to bring back a medal.

But Elvis, who turns 20 on Oct 11, never expected that it would be a silver instead as they matched Bryan Nickson Lomas-Ooi Tze Liang’s achievement back in the 2010 edition in Guangzhou.

“This was our favourite event and there was much hope for a medal. But silver is a surprise as we expected to fight hard with Japan and South Korea.

“We were switching third and fourth position in the competition. I am very satisfied with our last dive and I’m happy to bring back a medal to show my father, who has been my biggest supporter all this while,” said Elvis, who was named after the rock legend Elvis Presley.

Enrique has no more events while Elvis will compete in the 10m platform individual alongside Bertrand Rhodict on Wednesday.