Synchro Focus Puts Elvis-enrique At Heart Of Asiad Medal Hopes

KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 (Bernama) — Through several Asian Games campaigns, Malaysia’s diving medal hopes have largely rested on household names such as Ooi Tze Liang, Nur Dhabitah Sabri, Wendy Ng Yan Yee and diving queen Datuk Pandelela Rinong.

With Nur Dhabitah sidelined by health reasons and both Tze Liang and Wendy now retired, the responsibility of keeping Malaysia on the Asian Games podium has now fallen to the likes of Elvis Priestley Clement and Enrique Harold Maccartney at the 2026 edition to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan from Sept 19-Oct 4.

While admitting that Malaysia will prioritise the synchronised events in its medal hunt, national diving technical director Yeoh Ken Nee said the country’s best bet to win a medal at the upcoming Asiad lies with Elvis and Enrique.

Ken Nee said Elvis-Enrique’s creditable performance during last year’s World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, where they finished seventh in the men’s synchronised 10m platform final, proved that they are capable of challenging Asia’s elite in the Land of the Rising Sun.

“Based on their final rankings (at the World Aquatics Championships), they would have been in silver or bronze medal position among the Asian participants alone, so there is a strong chance of bringing home a medal,” he told Bernama recently.

Although Ken Nee believes there is reason for optimism, he cautioned that Elvis-Enrique will have to overcome stiff competition from the region’s traditional heavyweights such as China, South Korea and Japan.

Nevertheless, the six-time Asian Games medallist is encouraged by the steady progress shown by the pair, saying consistency will be key if they are to turn their promising performances into a podium finish at the Asian Games.

The former Olympian also said that the duo have been working on new dives to raise their degree of difficulty, although the coaching team will only decide whether to include them in competitions after assessing the situation on the day.

“So far, their progress has been so good. They’ve been learning new dives, but there’s always a risk involved, and it depends on the situation on the day of the competition

“If they’re able to put up a strong fight, we may use dives with a higher degree of difficulty. But if we decide to prioritise consistency, we might not use them,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ken Nee said Pandelela’s path at the Asian Games is expected to be far more demanding amid a rapidly improving field of Asian competitors in the women’s 10m platform.

He said that while Pandelela remains a key figure in the squad, the level of competition from regional powerhouses has made the individual event particularly unforgiving.

“Although she is one of our senior divers, he competition now comes from countries such as China, South Korea and Japan. Most of their divers are young and performed well at last year’s World Aquatics Championships,” he said.

Pandelela, who has won two Olympic medals, had to pull out from the women’s 10m platform preliminary competition during last year’s world meet due to a shoulder injury.

The 33-year-old Sarawakian is also likely to compete in women’s synchronised 10m platform with former SEA Games gold medallist Lee Yiat Qing.

Also in the men’s squad for the upcoming Asian Games are Olympian Bertrand Rhodict Lises, Muhammad Syafiq Puteh, Nurqayyum Nazmi Mohamad Nazim and Yong Rui Jie, while others in the women’s team are Nur Eilisha Rania Muhammad Abrar Raj and Ong Ker Ying.

— BERNAMA

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