KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 — Try as they might the competition proved too strong for Malaysian divers Leong Mun Yee and Pandelela Rinong in the women’s 10m synchronised platform event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics today.
Chinese pair Chen Yuxi and Zhang Jiaqi who led from the start with clean and high-scoring dives took the gold.
Pandelela-Mun Yee, Malaysia's best hopes for a medal, were in second place after the second dive only to the Chinese pair with a total of 100.20 to the latter’s 111.0 points.
However, their third dive was way off the mark and they tumbled to seventh place with a total of 155.1 points to the Chinese pair’s 192.90 points.
They repeated the same mistake with their fourth dive, a splashy entrance that caused them to earn only 64.32 points and relegated them to last place.
In order to secure a place on the podium, they needed a near-perfect final two dives while hoping the competition faltered.
That did not happen, however, as the American duo Jessica Parratto and Delaney Schnell took silver, while Maxican duo G. Agundez-Garcia and A. Orozco Loza took bronze.
Malaysia ended with a total of 277.98 points. China won gold with 363.78 points, while USA scored 310.80 points and Mexico, 299.70 points.
At the previous Olympics in Rio, Pandelela partnered Cheong Jun Hoong and won silver in the same event.
In Tokyo, China are aiming for a clean sweep of all eight diving golds on offer in both the women's and men's events.
The Asian powerhouse struck gold in the men’s event yesterday with Shi Tingmao and Wang Han leading the five-round final from the very start, finishing on 326.40 points.
