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Friday October 2, 2009

Malaysia Open a stage for back-up divers to prove their worth

By LIM TEIK HUAT

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Open diving championships be­­ginning today at the Paroi Aquatic Centre in Seremban will be a stage for the back-up divers to earn selection for the Laos SEA Games.

The two-day championships will see the national elite and back-up divers taking on those from the Australian youth squad and a club side.

All the Olympic events for individual and synchronised springboard and platform disciplines will be contested.

While the established seniors, among them Yeoh Ken Nee, Leong Mun Yee and Bryan Nickson Lomas, have confirmed places in the SEA Games squad, the coaches have yet to decide on the inclusion of divers from the back-up squad.

The Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia (Asum) secretary, Edwin Chong, said that they should be able to confirm the final list of divers for the Laos Games before the end of the month.

“There can be no changes to the team after Oct 26 and the coaches are still looking at identifying the second divers for individual events,” he said.

“We can field two divers in each individual event. While we want to expose the younger divers in the Games, the ones we field should be competitive enough to challenge for medals.

“The Malaysian Open will be a run-through competition for them as we will see how they cope with their dives and whether they are ready for the SEA Games.”

Ken Nee is a certainty for the men’s 3m springboard while the choice for the second slot is a toss-up between youngsters Ahmad Amsyar and Mohd Fakhrul.

Mun Yee will be challenging for gold in the women’s 3m springboard but it is still unsure whether young diving sensation Pandelela Rinong will be the second Malaysian representative as back-up diver Wendy Ng (pic) is also being considered.

Pandelela is already down for the individual and synchronised 10m platform events where she will partner Mun Yee. The pair took bronze in the world championships in July.

The Malaysian divers are looking at claiming five of the eight gold medals at stake in Vientiane in December.

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