HANOI: The roaring success of the national diving squad in winning four gold medals so far reflects the strong mental endurance of the divers who only had a short spell to test the competition venue before the 31st SEA Games started here.
Chef de mission Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad also attributed their success to the reassuring presence of former national diver Datuk Leong Mung Yee as team manager at the biennial Games.
He said the presence of Mun Yee, who has extensive experience in the sport, was crucial to helping the national divers prepare for the Games.
“I think the winning mentality of the athletes comes from a team manager who is herself a former athlete. Perhaps the spirit of Datuk Leong Mun Yee has rubbed off on the athletes.
“She (Mun Yee) has intimate knowledge about diving and the ability of each diver,“ he said when met by reporters at the My Dinh Aquatic Centre here today.
Nur Azmi also said that the national divers should be used as a shining example for Malaysian athletes in all other sports.
“Of course, the divers are a model example because they have already achieved 50 per cent of their eight-gold target. If all goes well, tomorrow we will celebrate two more (gold medals) and two more (golds) the following day,“ he said.
Previously, there were concerns when the divers faced the constraint of only being able to test the competition venue at the My Dinh Aquatic Centre two days before the event kicked off.
Earlier today, the national divers won two gold medals through Ooi Tze Liang in the men’s 1-metre (m) springboard individual and Ng Yan Yee-Ong Ker Ying in the women’s 3m springboard synchronised.
Yesterday’s flying start of two golds came courtesy of Nur Dhabitah Sabri in the women’s 1m springboard individual, which was also the country’s first gold, before Tze Liang-Chew Yi Wei bagged the seconds in the men’s 3m springboard synchronised.
Tomorrow (May 10), the divers will continue their gold medal hunt with Yan Yee and Ker Ying in the women’s 3m springboard individual while Jellson Jabillin-Hanis Nazirul Jaya Surya will compete in the men’s 10m platform synchronised.
Malaysia aim to sweep all eight diving gold medals at this 31st edition of the SEA Games.-Bernama
