THE national diving squad anticipates a challenging competition to maintain regional dominance at the SEA Games in Thailand this December.
Regional rivals, particularly Singapore, have demonstrated significant improvement in the sport according to coach Aznizal Najib.
Despite the looming challenge, Aznizal remains optimistic about Malaysia’s preparations to remain Southeast Asia’s diving powerhouse.
He cited athletes’ encouraging performances at the 60th Malaysia Invitational Age Group Diving Championships as evidence of being on the right track.
“I expect this year’s SEA Games to be highly competitive,” Aznizal told Bernama on Saturday.
“We’ve also taken note of Singaporean divers who delivered strong performances at the recent World Championships.”
He added that Malaysia can still provide strong competition with dedicated effort in the remaining months before the Games.
Diving events at the Thailand SEA Games will feature four gold medals across men’s 1m and 3m springboard, men’s 3m synchronised springboard, and women’s 10m synchronised platform.
Aznizal confirmed that national platform specialist Elvis Priestly Clement will focus on springboard events due to a left-side back injury.
“We were aware of his injury which happened about two weeks before MIAG,” he explained.
“He did compete but not in his favourite platform event during the championships.”
The coaching team remains hopeful that Clement’s injury will fully heal within the next few weeks.
The national diving squad will compete in two upcoming tournaments as part of their SEA Games preparation.
These include the Asian Aquatics Championships in India from September 28 to October 1 and the Malaysian Open from October 31 to November 2. – Bernama
