PETALING JAYA: Diver Nurqayyum Nazmi Mohd Nazim has made a big splash for Malaysia by ending a 18-year medal drought on the World Junior Diving Championships stage.
Nurqayyum, 18, snatched a bronze medal in the boy’s 3m springboard final (16-18 years) after amassing 506.75 points in the world junior meet in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
China’s Yan Xin claimed gold with 546.60 points ahead of Norway’s Isak Borslien, who finished with 508.35 points for the silver.
Another Malaysian diver Yong Rui Jie finished 10th (440.30).
Nurqayyum had raised hopes of ending on the podium after finishing second in the preliminaries with 479.30 points behind Yan Xin (524.85).
Bryan Nickson Lomas was the last Malaysian diver to finish on the podium when he took bronze in the boy’s 10m platform (16-18) at the 2006 world junior meet in Kuala Lumpur.
Bryan had won gold in the boy’s 3m springboard event in the 2004 edition in Belem, Brazil.