KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 — The Nur Dhabitah Sabri-Kimberly Bong partnership is showing signs of improvement and maturity despite finishing empty-handed in the second round of the 2019 Fina Diving World Series in Beijing, China, today.
National diving coach Christian Brooker said the duo put up an outstanding performance despite accumulating 268.26 points to finish fifth in the women's 3-metre synchronised springboard event at the Beijing National Aquatic Centre, which is also known as the ‘Water Cube'.
In the first round in Japan last week, Nur Dhabitah-Kimberly garnered 265.50 points to finish seventh.
“I’m very proud of the girls in this high-pressure competition, that was particularly eventful. They managed to keep their cool and dive consistently,” said Brooker.
“They are still very young and inexperienced, but this competition will go a long way towards helping them mature.”
Brooker said he was also satisfied with the performance put up by Pandelela Rinong-Nur Dhabitah in the women’s 10m synchronised platform earlier today, especially since they had a very short time to prepare for the competition.
Pandelela-Nur Dhabitah finished fourth with 305.76 points to lose out on the bronze medal to Canadians Meaghan Benfeito-Caeli McKay (313.14pts).
“They performed a little bit better than last week (in Japan). They're performing more consistently and, with a few minor tweaks, they will be in medal contention.
“I’m happy that despite the very short preparation and unusual pairings, they still performed to world-class standard,” said Brooker.
Nur Dhabitah, who was happy that they had improved, said: “Alhamdulillah, but there’s still a lot to pay attention to and improve on.”
Nur Dhabitah will partner Muhammad Syafiq Puteh in the mixed 3m synchronised springboard event tomorrow. — Bernama
