MALAYSIAN DIVING IN THE DOLDRUMS AS TWO-DECADE DOMINANCE IN MEN'S 3M SPRINGBOARD EVENT ENDS

From Amiril Muttaqien Meketar

BANGKOK, Dec 18 (Bernama) -- Is Malaysia losing its superiority in diving at the regional level?

That certainly seems to be the case, given that the national divers have yet to deliver a gold medal at the SEA Games Thailand 2025 in Samut Prakan as of today.

And the signs couldn't be any clearer when not a single Malaysian diver got on the podium of the men's 3-metre (m) springboard event - the only one contested on the second day of competition - at the Assumption University Aquatic Centre, Suvarnabhumi Campus.

Malaysian divers have won the men's 3m springboard gold medal since the 2005 edition, but today, both Malaysian divers - debutant Elvis Priestly Clement and Muhammad Syafiq Puteh, who won gold at the 2021 Vietnam and 2023 Cambodia editions - failed to get on the podium.

Sarawakian Elvis finished fourth after six dives with a total of 359.80 points, while Muhammad Syafiq ended up fifth with 356.30 points, thus ending Malaysia's two-decade domination of the event.

Thailand's Chawanwat Juntaphada not only bagged the gold medal with 378.30 points, but also ended the host nation's 22-year drought in the event, which Suchart Pichi last won at the 2003 edition in Vietnam.

Two Singaporeans - Avvir Pac Lun Tham (376.55 points) and Max Lee Shen Oon (366.00 points) - settled for silver and bronze respectively.

Muhammad Syafiq, meanwhile, blamed the left hip injury he sustained during training camp in South Korea at the end of last month for his poor performance today.

"I am still not 100 per cent fit, but I am soldiering on. I don't feel good because of the injury…,” he said.

The 30-year-old also apologised to all Malaysians for his failure here and vowed to bounce back from this setback.

As for Elvis, he is just glad to have had the chance to compete in the SEA Games, saying it gave him valuable experience and hopes to do better next time.

Yesterday, the national diving squad began their SEA Games Thailand 2025 campaign with a bronze medal through Yong Rui Jie in the men's 1m springboard event.

-- BERNAMA