BIRMINGHAM – For a fleeting moment, national diver Nur Dhabitah Sabri looked on course to deliver the country’s first-ever diving gold medal at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Despite leading the way after the third dive with 207.90 points, Dhabitah’s challenge fizzled out with a poor fourth dive – a reverse 2 1/2 somersaults – to collect just 55.50 points at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre here today.
The petite Malaysian’s closest rival, Australian Maddison Keeney then performed a beautifully executed forward 3 1/2 somersaults to earn a whopping 75.95 points and snatch the top position after the fourth dive.
Although the Kuala Lumpur-born athlete recovered well to earn 67.50 points in her fifth and final dive – a forward 2 1/2 somersaults, 1 twist – it was a case of too little too late for her as Keeney continued her sizzling form to wow the judges with her final dive, scoring 72.00 points to seal the gold medal for Australia.
Another national diver, Ong Ker Ying, finished 12th and last with 231.60 points.
Despite the near miss, Dhabitah said she has no regrets and is pleased to finish second best behind Keeney.
“For this edition of the Commonwealth Games, I was not so focused on this event (3m springboard) because I was more focused on the 10m platform individual and synchronised. I am still happy…what is important is that I had fun and enjoyed the competition,” she said.
The last time Dhabitah took part in the women’s 3m springboard event was at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, where she finished fourth in Japan last year.
Yesterday, Dhabitah secured her first Birmingham 2022 silver medal in the women’s 3m springboard synchronised with Wendy Ng Yan Yee.
This is the third silver medal for the national diving camp, with Gabriel Gilbert Daim-Muhammad Syafiq Puteh securing the first one in the men’s 3m springboard synchronised on Friday (August 5), leaving them still waiting for the elusive gold in Birmingham 2022.
In the men’s 10m platform individual final earlier today, Malaysia’s sole contestant, 17-year-old Bertrand Rhodict Lises produced much better dives than in the preliminary round but it was still not enough for him to get on the podium as he could only finish sixth with 419.60 points.
Australia’s Cassiel Emmanuel Rousseau collected 501.30 points to claim gold while Canada’s Rylan Mackenzie Wiens (492.80 points) took silver and home diver Matthew Lee (477.00 points) the bronze. – Bernama, August 8, 2022
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