The Star : Pandelela closes the year with a win in Gold Coast

PETALING JAYA: Pandelela Rinong signed off the year with a splash – bagging a superb win for Malaysia in the Australian Diving Grand Prix in Gold Coast.

Pandelela Rinong (left) and Leong Mun Yee with their silver medals.

The 24-year-old went in front with two dives to go in the women’s 10m platform individual final and never faltered – finishing with 319.40 points at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre yesterday.

Canada’s Celina Toth, who was leading until the third dive, settled for silver with 310.20 points. Australia’s Anna Rose Keating took bronze with 285.65 points ahead of teammate Britanny O’Brien (256.60).

Pandelela, who posted scores of 72.00-52.20-70.40-72.00-52.80 in the final, is now the first Malaysian two-time winner of an individual event at the Diving Grand Prix series.


Cheong Jun Hoong repeated the feat when she won the women’s 3m springboard individual final in Singapore in 2014.

Wendy Ng Yan Yee became the third Malaysian winner when she clinched the women’s 3m springboard individual in Kuching, Sarawak, last year.

Jellson Jabillin (left) and Cheong Jun Hoong posing with their silver medals at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre yesterday. 

National coach Yang Zhuliang was happy to see Pandelela, a two-time Olympic medallist, stamp her mark in the absence of the Chinese divers.

“China did not enter the women’s platform competition, but it was still a good battle between the divers from the Commonwealth countries.

“Pandelela managed to come out on top in the end. It’s still early days, but Pandelela definitely stands a good chance to fight for gold at the Commonwealth Games when we return to this venue in April next year,” said Zhuliang.

Pandelela claimed gold in the 10m platform individual at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India, but settled for silver in Glasgow, Scotland, four years later.

Malaysia also won three silver medals in Gold Coast yesterday.

Pandelela had earlier combined with Leong Mun Yee to take silver with 287.10 points behind Australians Melissa Wu-Taneka Kovchenko in women’s 10m platform synchro.

Chew Yiwei-Ooi Tze Liang got the second silver for Malaysia in men’s 3m springboard synchro with 387.00 points, finishing behind 2017 World Championships silver medallists Cao Yuan-Xie Siyi of China (420.84).

Jellson Jabillin then combined with Cheong Jun Hoong to contribute the third silver in the mixed 10m platform synchro final with 262.71 points behind Britons Gemma McArthur-Lucas Thomson (269.46).

“I only trained for two weeks with Jun Hoong before the Malaysian Diving GP in Bukit Jalil, where we won the gold. So I’m very satisfied to have won that gold and now this silver in my second GP meet. It is an awesome experience combining with a world champion diver (Jun Hoong),” said the 16-year-old Jellson, who is from Sabah.



Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/sport/diving/2017/11/12/a-fitting-end-pandelela-closes-the-year-with-a-win-in-gold-coast/#tfCYGEd7JPs8cJOF.99