RIO DE JANEIRO: Malaysian national women divers Pandelela Rinong and Cheong Jun Hoong won Malaysia's first medal in the Rio Olympic Games when they claimed the silver in the 10m synchronised platform event here Tuesday (Wednesday in Malaysia). The duo, paired for the third time in international championships, accumulated 344.34 points behind China's Chen Ruolin and Liu Huxia who collected 354 points in the five dives at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre here. Canadaian pair Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion, who were joint second with Malaysia after two dives, walked away with the bronze medal after collecting 336.18 points. The Malaysians started off with 52.8 points in the reverse dive pike attempt and tied with Canada in the first dive.
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The Chinese pair was a runaway favourite after emerging top in all the five dives while Canada and Malaysia were joint second after two dives. In the third dive, Malaysia slipped into third spot but regained the second place in the last two dives.
Pandelela, in her second Olympics, said the medal feat would fire the morale of the 32-athlete Malaysian contingent here. "Both of us are proud to have contributed Malaysia's first medal in the Olympics here," said the 23-year-old bronze medallist at the 2012 London Games.
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Jun Hoong said the silver medal made up for her disappointment in the synchronised 3m springboard with Nur Dhabitah Sabri on Sunday. "I told myself to forget what had happened in the 3m springboard and to focus on the 10m platform.
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Everyday is a new day and I focus on my performance in the 10m platform," said the 26-year-old. The silver medal will certainly be a boost for the pair to go for another medal when Pandelela competes in her favourite 10m individual platform on Aug 17 and Jun Hoong in the 3m springboard on Friday. – Bernama
