Pandelela-Mun Yee can win an Olympic medal

 PETALING JAYA: It was a much improved showing from Pandelela Rinong and Leong Mun Yee as they won four medals — a silver and three bronzes — in the just concluded FINA Diving World Series but much work remains to be done to turn them into medal contenders at the London Olympics.


Malaysian divers finished in the top three spot in the overall standings at the end of the four-leg series for the first time in three seasons as they cemented their position as the second best Asian team after China.
Pandelela grabbed the runner-up spot in the overall standings for 10m platform individual behind Olympic and world champion Chen Ruolin.

Target set: Pandelela Rinong is not ruling out a chance for a medal in the individual discipline.

 

The recent recipient of the National Sportswoman Award partnered Mun Yee to secure third overall placing behind China’s Chen Ruolin-Wang Hao and Canada’s Meaghan Benfeito-Roseline Filion.

It is an achievement for Malaysian diving as participation in the series is only for the top eight in the world but head coach Yang Zhuliang cautioned against raising expectations too much for the London Olympics in August.

“Pandelela-Mun Yee have a chance to fight for a medal although this is the first time they will be competing together at the Olympics.

“China are very strong at the moment and I think no team can beat them for the gold but the silver and bronze medals can be won by any country in form on the day.

“Our pair are as good as the divers from Australia, Germany, Britain, Ukraine, Mexico and Canada.
“My hope is for them to make history with our first Olympic diving medal. But they must keep their focus and minimise their mistakes,” said Zhuliang, who stressed the importance of the upcoming training stint in China just before they head to London.

Pandelela is encouraged by her performances and is not ruling out a chance for a medal in the individual discipline although China have the likes of Ruolin and Hu Yadan.

Yadan, at 16, will be making her Olympic debut in London after winning silver at the World Championships in Shanghai last year.

Pandelela, who finished fifth in Shanghai, said there is still hope for the others to catch up.
“Yadan has her own strengths but she can also be inconsistent at times.

“Ruolin is not as strong as she was before. Her entries are not as clean but somehow she still manages to come up with good points to win.

“There’s still time for me to improve before the Games and I will go to China and train as hard as I can,” said Pandelela, who will leave for Montreal this weekend for the Canadian Open together with the Olympic-bound diving team.

The Canadian Open, followed by the US Open in Fort Lauderdale later next month, are part of the World Grand Prix Circuit and the last two competitions before the Olympic-bound team head to China.



THE STAR