Diver Yiat Qing Bemoans Poor Performance Despite Springboard Gold 

By Vikneswaran Raman

KUCHING, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- Federal Territories (FT) diver Lee Yiat Qing always strives for perfection - be it in training or competition.

That explains her frustration when, after redeeming herself by winning the women’s 3m springboard gold medal in the 2024 Malaysia Games (SUKMA) at the Pandelela Rinong Aquatic Centre, she still moans about how she should have done better.

This is despite her competing with a right wrist injury!

The 16-year-old, the reigning women’s 10m platform SEA Games gold medallist who could only bag silver in the platform event on Wednesday (Aug 21), struck gold in the springboard event by amassing 231.20 points.

Instead of basking in the glow of her gold medal achievement, her mind was transfixed on the poor execution in her second dive today, which not only earned her 27.00 points but also pushed her into fourth place before she bounced back with improved dives in the next three attempts.

“I am grateful for the gold, but still not satisfied because I think I did better in training but didn’t perform well on competition day. I need to be more consistent and train harder. I was overthinking the second dive, it messed me up mentally and it (the dive) ended up worse.  

“I didn’t aim for anything in the platform because I just recovered from injury, couldn’t do too many dives in training because my wrist hurts if I push too hard. I train for platform but, for now, no decision to switch to springboard,” she said, adding that she could only compete in a maximum of two events due to her status as a SEA Games medallist. 

Yiat Qing, who is still undergoing physiotherapy after suffering the injury during training in March, aims to perform better in the trials in September to meet the minimum qualification score set by Malaysia Swimming to book her ticket to the World Junior Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from Nov 24 to Dec 1.

Meanwhile, Sarawak took the silver and bronze medals in the women’s 3m springboard through Dayang Nursharzyra Awang Nasaruddin (228.25 points) and Nur Eilisha Rania Muhammad Abrar Raj (225.70 points).

Earlier, Sarawak’s Muhammad Lutfir Rahman Mohammad Razak-Nurul Farisya Alia Affendi triumphed in the mixed platform synchronised event with 234.66 points on the final day of diving competition. 

Perak’s Megat Azim Hakimi Megat Nor Ismail-Cecelia Olivia Christopher Leoneil (209.94 points) and FT’s Nurqayyum Nazmi Mohamad Nazim-Ng Jia Gee (203.97 points) settled for silver and bronze.

Sarawak maintained their dominance in diving by winning nine golds, three silvers and two bronzes to emerge as overall champions, while FT finished second with a haul of 3-4-4, followed by Terengganu (0-2-3) and Perak (0-2-2).

-- BERNAMA