SHANGHAI: A Malaysian made the breakthrough to qualify for the men’s 3m springboard individual final at the World Championships in Shanghai at the Oriental Sports Centre yesterday and in the process earned an early ticket for the London Olympics next year.
However, it was not seasoned diver Yeoh Ken Nee but Bryan Nickson Lomas who achieved the feat of being the first Malaysian springboard diver to claim a place in a World Championships final.
The 21-year-old from Sarawak was even bleeding from his nose half-way through the preliminaries of the men’s 3m springboard in the morning but that did not stop him.
A quick treatment and he was back in action as he slogged his way through to amass 426.75 points to enter the semi-finals as the 11th best qualifier.
The top-18 divers from the preliminaries advanced to the semi-finals where six are eliminated for the final.
The 12 divers in the final will all automatically qualify for the London Olympics.
Ken Nee did not do well in the preliminaries and eventually fizzled out at 25th spot with 385.89 points.
And in the semi-finals, Bryan delivered a more composed performance throughout the six-dive routine to finish 10th with 442.70 points.
Bryan can certainly hold his head high with his efforts as he joined reigning Olympic champion He Chong and Qin Kai as the Asian representatives in the men’s 3m springboard individual final today.
Qin Kai pipped his Chinese team-mate He Chong as the top qualifier for the final yesterday, chalking 523.50 against He Chong’s total of 523.25.
Bryan surprised even himself by qualifying for the men’s springboard final by not focusing on the discipline.
“As everyone know, I am concentrating on the 10m platform individual. I’m pleased with my performance in the springboard as I remained consistent despite having a nosebleed. I had this problem sometimes if my body is a bit heaty.
“But it stopped after that. I never expected to win a place in the Olympics through the world championships today.
“Even the two good Japanese divers (Sho Sasaki and Ken Terauchi) were doing well in the preliminaries but they did not execute their last dives well and missed out.
“I’m pleased with how things turned out and moreover, this is my first participation in springboard events at a world championships.
“My coach has told me to forget about the pressure and just go out and complete the final tomorrow,” said Bryan, who also made the final at the last world meet in Rome two years ago but in his pet platform event.
