NATIONAL diver Nur Dhabitah Sabri splashed her way into the women’s 3 metres (m) springboard finals at the 2024 Paris Olympics today, to remain in contention for medal.
Nur Dhabitah advanced after finishing eighth with 286.95 total points in the semi-finals at the Olympics Aquatics Centre here, to be among the top 12 in finals, scheduled for 3 pm (9 pm Malaysian time) Friday.
The 25-year-old started off well scoring 67.50 for inward 2 1/2 somersaults to be in second place after the first dive.
However, she was unable to keep the same momentum in the second and third, scoring 55.50 and 46.50 points respectively.
Nur Dhabitah, who qualified for the Paris Olympics through unused quota, then scored 57.00 and 60.45 in the last two dives to secure her place in finals.
China’s Chen Yiwen dominated the semi-finals with 360.85 points, followed by Australian Kenny Maddison (334.70) and Chiara Pellacani of Italy (324.75).
Nur Dhabitah qualified for the top 18 semi-finals after finishing 12th with 283.65 points in the preliminary round, yesterday.
Nur Dhabitah was very relieved to quickly regain her composure after the third dive, to ensure her place in the finals.
“Ya Allah, I’m very relieved because the halfway performance started to go down, but the important thing is that I had to control my mood and nervousness at that time to come back and improve my position.
“I must challenge for a medal tomorrow, but you know the competition is very tight and one small mistake, you’re gone. If you want to get higher points you need to be really perfect,“ said Nur Dhabitah, who is competing in her third Olympics, after the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Games.
During her debut at Rio, she finished ninth in the 10m platform and fifth in 3m springboard synchronised with Cheong Jun Hoong, while she came close to podium in Tokyo, finishing fourth in the 3m springboard, the country’s best finish in the event.
Datuk Pandelela Rinong bagged Malaysia’s first diving medal with a bronze in women’s 10m platform at the London 2012 Games, before claiming the 10m platform synchronised silver with Jun Hoong at Rio 2016.
Another Malaysian representative at Paris 2024, Bertrand Rhodict Lises will start his campaign in the men’s 10m platform, tomorrow.
