National Divers Bag First 3 Medals At The SEA Games To Give Malaysia A Flying Start
The national athletes won the medals ahead of the SEA Games official opening ceremony.
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National diver Nur Dhabitah Sabri bagged the first gold medal at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Hanoi, Vietnam yesterday, 8 May, even before the official opening ceremony is held
The official opening of the 31st SEA Games is slated for Thursday, 12 May.
At the women's 1m springboard diving event at the My Dinh Aquatic Centre, Nur Dhabitah finished first, and she was joined by another national diver, Kimberly Bong, who finished second, reported New Straits Times.
The duo shared the podium on Sunday.
Bong's win came as a surprise as national diving squad manager Datuk Leong Mun Yee said the athlete performed well and that the team did not set a medal target for her
"I hope this good showing can be continued in the coming days so as to obtain good results," Bernama quoted her as saying.
It is learnt that Nur Dhabitah had won four gold medals in her previous SEA Games outings.
From left to right: Kimberly Bong, Nur Dhabitah Sabri, and Vietnam's Ngo Phuong Mai.
Image via The Thao Van Hoa
Other than the women's 1m springboard event, Malaysia also won gold in the men's synchronised 3m springboard diving event
Chew Yi Wei and Ooi Tze Liang brought home the gold medal after accumulating 395.79 points from six dives to beat Vietnam's Nguyen Tung Duong and Phuong The Anh, who settled for silver with 305.64 points, reported Bernama.
The victory yesterday meant that Chew and Ooi managed to defend the gold they won at the 2019 Games in the Philippines.
Ooi is set to return to the stadium today, 9 May, for the men's individual 1m springboard event.
Chef de mission Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad said the national diving squad has made Malaysia proud at the SEA Games by giving Malaysia a flying start
He is optimistic that the national divers will be able to continue their excellent momentum in the remaining six events to achieve the target of making a clean sweep of all eight gold medals on offer at the biennial Games.
He hopes that the success of the national divers could galvanise the spirit of other national athletes in their respective events in Hanoi and exceed the 36-gold target set, reported Bernama.
From left to right: National divers Nur Dhabitah Sabri, Kimberly Bong, Chew Yi Wei, and Ooi Tze Liang.
Image via Free Malaysia Today
Nur Dhabitah Sabri caught national attention last year when she finished in fourth place at the Tokyo Olympic Games:
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