KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — A dismal dive in her fourth attempt cost national elite diver Nur Dhabitah Sabri a place in the final of the women’s 3-metre (m) springboard individual event at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan today.
According to the tournament website worldaquatics.com, it cost her a top-12 finish in the semi-finals held at the Fukuoka Prefectural Pool.
As such, Nur Dhabitah, who finished fourth in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, missed out on securing an early ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Only the 12 best divers in the semi-finals qualify for the final and the Paris Olympics.
Nur Dhabitah performed well to finish in the top five in the morning qualifying rounds but failed to keep the momentum going in the semi-finals, accumulating a disappointing 285.45 points to finish 15th out of 18 divers.
In the semi-finals, the 24-year-old was among the top six after the first three dives but a dismal fourth dive saw her plummet to 16th position before she bounced back with a good fifth and final dive to end up in 15th spot.
Nur Dhabitah, who scored 67.50, 60.45 and 58.50 points in her first three dives, could only manage a poor 36.00 points in her fourth dive. She made up for it by scoring 63 points in her final dive.
China’s Chen Yiwen, the 2022 world champion, and Chang Yani completed a 1 – 2 sweep after accumulating 363.70 points and 354.75 points while Japan’s Sayaka Mikami (340.55 points) was third.
Another national diver, Ng Yan Yeem fared even worse when she crashed out in the qualifying rounds of the same event after finishing in the 36th spot.
Four more Malaysians will be in action, with Bertrand Rhodict Lises and Enrique Harold competing in the men’s 10m platform event tomorrow (July 21) and Gabriel Gilbert Daim – Ong Ker Ying in the mixed 3m springboard synchronised event on Saturday (July 22).
— Bernama
