Malaysian divers Yong Rui Jie and Nurqayyum Nazmi Mohd Nazim secured a surprise bronze medal in the men’s 3m springboard synchronized event at the Asian Games on Sunday, marking Malaysia’s first diving medal at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. The 20-year-old duo clinched the podium spot with a total of 345.81 points, overtaking South Korea in the final round.
China’s Wang Zongyuan and Zheng Jiuyuan dominated the competition, taking gold with 465.87 points, while Japan’s Ikuma Senri and Suyama Haruki earned silver with 355.56 points. The Malaysian pair’s achievement matched the bronze finish secured by Mohd Syafiq Puteh and Ooi Tze Liang at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023.
Malaysia has a strong history in this event, having reached the podium in five of the six previous editions of the men’s 3m springboard synchronized diving at the Asian Games. Malaysian team technical director Yeoh Ken Nee praised the young pair for their resilience and composure, noting that despite beginning the competition in seventh place after the first dive, they maintained consistency and performed strongly on their last two attempts to secure third place.
“Based on the start list, other teams appeared to have a better chance for the bronze given their higher-difficulty dives. However, diving is also about execution and composure,” Yeoh said. “They remained focused until the very end and were rewarded for it.”
In the women’s 10m platform synchronized final earlier, Malaysia’s Pandelela Rinong and Nur Eilisha Rania Abrar Raj narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth with a total of 247.29 points. The pair lagged 29.61 points behind South Korea’s Kim Na-hyun and Moon Na-yun, who claimed bronze with 276.90 points. South Korea secured this medal coached by former Malaysian technical director Bryan Nickson Lomas.
After four dives, the Malaysian pair were close behind the Koreans but faltered on their final dive, which hampered their chance at the podium. Kim and Moon secured their medal with a strong final dive scoring 64.32 points. Gold went to China’s Chen Yuxi and Lu Wei, who scored 347.82 points, while North Korea’s Jo Jin Mi and Kim Mi Rae took silver with 317.64 points.
This result marked the first time South Korea has medaled in the women’s 10m platform synchronized event at the Asian Games and was the first time in 20 years that Malaysia failed to earn a medal in this discipline since the event’s introduction at the 2002 Busan Games.
Pandelela, a two-time Olympic medalist and experienced Asian Games competitor, previously won bronze in this event alongside Nur Dhabitah Sabri at the 2023 Hangzhou Games. She also secured silver with Leong Mun Yee in 2010 and bronze in 2014, while Mun Yee teamed up with Dhabitah to win bronze at the 2018 Games. Yeoh noted that the pressure of competing at this level affected the pair, particularly Pandelela’s performance on the day.