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KUALA LUMPUR – The national diving squad failed to deliver any medal at 2023 World Aquatics Championships after young diver Bertrand Rhodict Lises came in 10th in the men’s 10m platform in Fukuoka, Japan today.
According to the championship’s website, worldaquatics.com, Bertrand became the first Malaysian to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games on merit after advancing to the final yesterday, collecting 442.35 points after six jumps today.
Despite being placed second last, Bertrand is still proud as he bettered his performance compared to the semi-finals yesterday when he recorded 420.70 points for the same event.
Australia’s representative, Cassiel Rousseau, won the gold medal by collecting 520.85 points while two Chinese athletes, Lian Junjie and Yang Hao took home silver and bronze respectively after collecting 512.35 points and 504.00 points.
Meanwhile, Mexico’s Randal Willars Valdez, who was in sixth place, created the best dive of the competition after collecting 104.55 points on his last dive while the host athlete Rikuto Tamai had to withdraw after the first dive.
Today’s results saw the national diving squad return empty-handed after the leading divers Datuk Pandelela Rinong and Nur Dhabitah Sabri were also unsuccessful in their events.
In the last edition in Budapest, Hungary, Pandelela won two bronze medals namely in the women’s 10m platform and women's 10m synchronised platform in partnership with Dhabitah.
For the record, Cheong Jun Hoong is the only national diver who has ever won the world champion title after topping the women’s 10m platform event at the 2017 edition in Budapest before retiring in early January last year.
After this, the focus will shift to the national swimming squad that will begin competition at the same tournament tomorrow until July 30. – Bernama, July 22, 2023