KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — National diver Nur Dhabitah Sabri finished a credible fourth place in her maiden appearance in the finals of the 3m individual springboard event at the Tokyo Olympics today.
Dhabitah, better known as Bitah, was the only Malaysian to make the finals after compatriot Ng Yan Yee failed to get past the semifinals stage.
China’s Shi Tingmao was in incredible form, leading from start to finish, consistently scoring in the high 70’s to defend the title she won at the Rio Olympics five years ago.
Shi added to her 3m springboard synchronised gold medal she won with partner Wang Han on July 25.
Dhabitah scored 63 points in her first dive to sit in 6th place after round one. She scored 66.65 in second dive (fifth place), followed by 61.5 points in her third dive (fourth place), 67.5 in the fourth dive (fourth place) and 67.50 in her fifth dive (fourth place), with a total score of 326.15.
Bitah was in a close fight with US diver Krysta Palmer who climbed up the ranks following a good third dive, scoring 73.5 to sit in third place. She only managed a 66.65 in her fourth dive but was still ahead of Bitah.
Palmer took the bronze home for the US when she scored 73.1 in her fifth and final dive, with a total of 343.75 points.
As for the Chinese divers, Wang Han was the only one who was able to challenge Shi. Wang scored a 72 for her first dive, followed by 67.5, 66.0, 69.0 and 73.5, for a total of 348.75 points.
Shi scored 76.5, 76.5, 75.0, 77.5 and closed out with the final dive with an outstanding score of 78 points for an insurmountable total of 383.50, winning by a huge margin of 34.75 points against Wang.
As for Bitah, this is her second Olympics, having finished fifth in the women’s 3m springboard synchronised event with Cheong Jun Hoong and ninth in the 10m platform individual at the 2016 Rio Games.
