KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian divers continue to disappoint local sports fans when the combination of Bertrand Rhodict Lises-Enrique Maccartney Harold became the latest to miss out on qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Bertrand Rhodict-Enrique Maccartney could only finish ninth out of 22 participants in the men’s 10-metre platform synchronised at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar after accumulating just 355.71 points last night.
They needed to finish among the top four to earn a spot in the world’s biggest multi-sports Games from July 26-Aug 11.
China’s Junjie Lian-Hao Yan clinched gold in Doha with 470.76 points, followed by Great Britain’s Thomas Daley-Noah Williams (422.37 points) and Ukraine’s Oleksii Sereda-Kirill Boliukh (406.47 points).
The World Aquatics Championships in Doha have been a disaster for Malaysia, so far, with none having won a medal or booked a ticket to the Paris Olympics.
Bertrand Rhodict, however, can take pride as the only Malaysian diver to have confirmed an Olympic ticket, so far, when he became the first Malaysian athlete to qualify on merit after finishing 10th in the semi-finals of the men’s 10m platform individual event at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan last year.
On Feb 4, two-time Olympic medallist Pandelela Rinong failed to secure an Olympic spot for the women’s 10m platform diving event after a poor performance.
Pandelela only managed to secure 29th place with 231.15 points, trailing 204.05 points behind reigning world champion Chen Yuxi (435.20 points) in the event that offered automatic qualification for the Olympics.
Another representative from the country, Nur Eilisha Rania Abrar Raj also missed the Paris qualification list after ending in 44th place from the 46 participants, accumulating 167.55 points. – BERNAMA
