Pandelela eyes consistency

NATIONAL diving veteran Datuk Pandelela Rinong has emphasised the need to strengthen both physical and mental aspects to achieve greater consistency ahead of the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore this July.
The 32-year-old athlete acknowledged the importance of maintaining optimum performance, particularly during the preparation period leading up to the prestigious tournament.
'There are a few things I need to improve – my physical and mental levels. I need to be more consistent,' she said when met after the medal presentation ceremony of the National Diving Selection Trial at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil today.
Pandelela's best result at the World Aquatics Championships was winning the silver medal in the women's 10m synchronised platform event alongside former diver Datuk Leong Mun Yee at the 2019 edition in Gwangju, South Korea.
In today's action, Pandelela lived up to expectations by clinching gold in the women's 10-metre platform event after amassing 270.20 points, ahead of backup diver Nur Eilisha Rania Muhammad Abrar Raj in second place (249.65 points) and Podium athlete Lee Yiat Qing in third (242.85 points).
It was the first time Pandelela failed to surpass the minimum qualifying score (MQS) of 290 points set by the Malaysian Swimming Federation for senior divers, having cleared the mark twice previously.
'I already passed the MQS twice, so I've qualified for the World Championships. But I still wanted to compete today, so that training doesn't get too boring.
'The junior athletes have improved a lot – give them a year or two, and they'll be able to compete with me,' added the 2016 Rio Olympic silver medallist in the women's 10m synchronised platform.
Pandelela also shared that she competed injury-free today, which puts her in a good position to prepare for the World Aquatics Championships, scheduled to be held from July 11 to Aug 3.
Meanwhile, a surprise occurred in the men's 10m platform event as backup diver Elvis Priestly Clement claimed gold with a total of 375.50 points.
The 18-year-old outperformed fellow backup diver Muhammad Anilrian Normatrud, who took silver with 350.50 points, while senior diver Bertrand Rhodict Lises had to settle for bronze with 350.40 points.
MQS serves as the primary benchmark for determining which divers qualify to represent Malaysia in international tournaments, where each diver must surpass the required minimum score.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

New Straits Times

3 hours ago

• New Straits Times

Shuttler Yew Sin marries Japanese star Ohori

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian shuttler Ong Yew Sin's courtship with Japanese badminton player Aya Ohori has turned into nuptial bliss. The lovebirds got married at the National Registration Department (NRD) in Melaka two days ago. Yew Sin and Ohori signed their marriage registration before NRD officer Nur Fatehah Razali, witnessed by representatives from both families. Melaka NRD said in a statement it is honoured to being part of the couple's marriage, and extended its well wishes to their union, which brings together two cultures, Yew Sin, 30, won a men's doubles bronze medal at the 2021 World Championships with Teo Ee Yi, and is currently ranked No. 31 in the world. Ohori, 28, won the Thailand Masters and the 2024 Australian Open before announcing her retirement earlier this year. "Different countries, different cultures, different lifestyles. We've learned to adapt, accept each other's ways of life, and understand one another's cultures over the years," Yew Sin wrote in a post in March. Yew Sin and Ohori have joined a distinguished list of badminton power couples. Malaysia boasts some of the most well-known pairs, including Datuk Lee Chong Wei and Wong Mew Choo, and Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Lai. Other notable couples include China's Lin Dan and Xie Xingfang, and Chen Long and Wang Shixian, India's Parupalli Kashyap and Saina Nehwal, Indonesia's Alan Budi Kusuma and Susi Susanti, and England's Chris and Gabrielle Adcock. What makes Yew Sin and Ohori's love story particularly special is that they not only hail from different countries but also competed in different disciplines.

The Star

3 hours ago

• The Star

Yew Sin marries former Japanese ace Aya Ohori in Malacca

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian men's doubles shuttler Ong Yew Sin and former Japanese women's singles ace Aya Ohori have officially tied the knot. The couple were wed in a civil marriage ceremony at the National Registration Department (JPN) in Malacca on Thursday (June 19). The ceremony took place at JPN Malacca's Marriage and Divorce Division, where the couple exchanged vows in the presence of assistant registrar Nur Fatehah Razali and close family members from both sides. In a statement, JPN Melaka expressed its honour in being part of the couple's special moment and extended its best wishes for a lasting union that celebrates the coming together of two cultures. "Celebrating the love of Malaysian shuttler Ong Yew Sin and his bride Aya Ohori. "Our heartfelt congratulations to the couple. May this beautiful union of love between two cultures last a lifetime," shared JPN in a social media post. Yew Sin, 30, won bronze at the 2021 World Championships with his partner Teo Ee Yi, and the pair currently sit at No. 31 in the world rankings. Ohori won a bronze medal at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and also captured titles at the Thailand Masters and Australian Open last year. However, she announced her retirement at the end of the season.

The Sun

4 hours ago

• The Sun

As sports embrace gender tests, Coventry and IOC may follow

AS the gender furore that engulfed boxing at the 2024 Paris Olympics rumbles on, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is weighing reintroducing testing, while several sports have already embraced testing for male chromosomes. Such testing has its critics and the Olympics have already tried it once only to abandon it in 1996. Incoming president Kirsty Coventry, who will become the first woman to lead the Olympic movement when she starts her term on Monday, signalled a change of direction on this politically inflammatory and scientifically complex issue when she was elected in March. 'We will protect the female category and female athletes,' said Coventry, a Zimbabwean swimmer who won seven Olympic medals. At recent Games, the IOC has left responsibility for setting and enforcing gender rules to the international federations who run their sports. 'I want the IOC to take a little bit more of a leading role,' Coventry said, adding that she planned to create 'a task force.' Even before Coventry begins her consultations, World Athletics and World Boxing have adopted chromosomal testing -- generally a cheek swab. World Aquatics in 2023 adopted a policy that foresees such testing. Their rules make participation in women's competition conditional on the absence of Y chromosome genetic material -- known as the SRY gene, an indicator of masculinity. 'Non-invasive' Only 'XX athletes', as World Athletics calls them, can compete. Both transgender women and those who have always been considered female but have XY chromosomes -- a form of 'differences in sex development' (DSD) -- are excluded. On the surface, chromosomal screening simplifies access to women's competition, which has long been the subject of varied regulations and scientific and ethical debates. Last October, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls, Reem Alsalem, told the UN General Assembly that such tests were 'reliable and non-invasive.' The gender debate reignited in June around Paris Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif. The Algerian was at the centre of a violent controversy over her gender last summer stoked by Donald Trump, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. World Boxing, which is taking over running Olympic boxing in Los Angeles in 2028, ordered Khelif to undergo testing before a competition in the Netherlands in early June. She skipped the event. During the Paris Games, the International Boxing Association, which was booted out of the Olympics by the IOC in 2019, accused Khelif, raised as a girl, of carrying XY chromosomes. Chromosomal screening attracts criticism, notably from the World Medical Association and human rights organisations. 'Highly invasive' 'It is far from being scientifically accurate as a performance indicator, while being very harmful to the athletes affected,' Madeleine Pape, a sociologist of gender in sport at the University of Lausanne, told AFP. While World Athletics and World Aquatics both say transgender women have a muscular advantage, Pape, who ran the 800m for Australia at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, disagrees. She said there is a lack of research proving that transgender athletes or those with or one of the many forms of DSD gain a 'disproportionate advantage' over XX competitors. Explaining performance is so complex that this uncertainty applies to 'all athletes,' said Pape. She also said it was possible to have an XY chromosome while being 'totally or partially insensitive to testosterone,' as was the case with Spanish hurdler Maria Jose Martinez-Patino, who after missing out on the 1988 Olympics was the first woman to successfully challenge the femininity tests in court. Aware of these limitations, World Boxing and World Athletics are proposing additional steps after SRY screening which could include anatomical examination. 'Chromosomal tests seem very simple, very clean, but there is a lot of complexity behind them: potentially a highly invasive and non-standardised gynaecological examination, or expensive genetic sequencing that is inaccessible in many countries,' said Pape. Ultimately, the future of such tests could be decided in the courts. The European Court of Human Rights is expected to rule on July 10, for a second time, on the case of DSD athlete Caster Semenya, the double Olympic 800m champion. The South African was barred from competing under an earlier version of the World Athletics rules. In 2023, the court ruled that her rights had been infringed but that decision did not force WA to reinstate her.