Pandelela books slot to 10m platform final in Budapest

KUALA LUMPUR: National diving queen Datuk Pandelela Rinong has booked her ticket to the final of the women’s 10 metre (m) platform event at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

The 29-year-old is scheduled to be in action at 7 am Malaysian time tomorrow (1 am local time), after finishing seventh in the semi-finals earlier this morning.

She managed to collect 313.15 points overall while 2019 world champion and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games silver medalist Chen Yuxi, 16, of China, topped the semis after amassing 427.00 points.

Yuxi’s 15-year-old compatriot and Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Quan Hongchan came in second with 413.70 points while Caeli McKay of Canada was third with 336.30 points.

Pandelela, who won the 2021 World Cup gold medal in Tokyo, is the most senior diver in the women’s 10m platform event in Budapest.

In the 2019 edition, Pandelela finished in fifth place in the 10m platform but managed to take home silver in the women’s 10m platform synchronised with her partner Datuk Leong Mun Yee.-Bernama