KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 — Former world champion Cheong Jun Hoong is expected to spearhead a strong squad of Malaysian divers to the 2021 Fina Diving World Cup to be held at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Japan from April 18-23.
Malaysia Swimming secretary-general Mae Chen said the World Cup would serve as the final qualifying tournament for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which will be held in July.
She said the final selection of divers to the World Cup would be decided by national head coach Christian Brooker.
“The national diving squad have been undergoing training for the past few weeks under the quarantine-based approach at the National Aquatics Centre in Bukit Jalil.
“Everyone who trains there has undergone the Covid-19 swab test. All of them tested negative,” she told Bernama today.
Jun Hoong made her first competitive appearance since May 2018 when she took part in the first Malaysia International Online Diving Competition at the National Aquatics Centre in Bukit Jalil last month.
She made history when she became the first Malaysian woman diver to win the world title in the 10m individual platform event at the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary in 2017, a year after winning the Rio Olympic silver medal with Pandelela Rinong in women’s synchronised 10m platform.
Jun Hoong’s last competitive outing was in the final round of Diving World Series in Kazan, Russia in May 2018, where she won a bronze medal in the 10m synchronised platform event with Pandelela.
The Perak-born old Jun Hoong then skipped the Indonesian Asian Games in August 2018 for knee surgery and rehabilitation.
Meanwhile, Mae Chen revealed that they do not plan to send the national divers to continue their training stint in China prior to their participation at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics following the surge in Covid-19 cases over the past few months. — Bernama
