SO CLOSE: Pandelela must finish second in Mexico to be Malaysia's first ever world series champion
Pandelela Rinong is currently placed second in the 10-metre platform individual overall standings.
The diver will get a much needed boost in Mexico, ahead of the London Olympics as China's world champion Chen Ruolin and Hu Yadan have withdrawn from the women's 10-metre platform individual.
If Pandelela performs well, she stands to become the first Malaysian to be crowned overall champion of the series, an event which features the top eight ranked divers in the world.
The 19-year-old, only needs to achieve second spot in Mexico to clinch the overall title.
Unfortunately Pandelela, the newly crowned National Sportswoman of 2011, is not in peak condition as her back injury has flared up again.
"I sprained by back before the Beijing leg (last month) and it is still troubling me," said Pandelela on the sidelines of Tuesday award's ceremony.
"A National Sports Institute (NSI) masseuse has been following me lately to help me recover."
She added: "I will leave for Mexico tomorrow. It is a very long journey (21 hours) and I will only have half a day's practice before the tournament.
"The individual event is on the first day and it is going to be tough without proper rest. It will be tiring but I want to do well to maintain my rankings for next year."
Ruolin leads the overall standings after three legs on 54 points followed by Pandelela on 40, two more than Yadan.
In the absence of China's divers, Pandelela's rivals would be Mexico's former world champion Paola Espinosa, and Ukraine's Iulia Prokopchuk, a silver medallist at last weekend's third leg in Moscow.
Paola, who is fifth on 26 points, can win the overall title if she wins gold in Mexico while Canada's Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion will also be making a strong push for the podium.
The top three podium spots are worth 18, 16 and 14 points respectively.
Pandelela and Leong Mun Yee are third overall in platform synchro but are unlikely to leapfrog China for first place as Ruolin is competing with regular partner Wang Hao in Mexico.
China lead on 81 points in synchro ahead of Canada (66 points) and Malaysia (63 points).
Pandelela won bronze in the platform individual and partnered Mun Yee to silver in synchro in the opening leg in Dubai.
She then claimed another bronze in the next leg in Beijing but missed out with a fourth place in last weekend's stop in Moscow but clinched bronze with Mun Yee in synchro.
NST
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