Elvis and Jinq En make waves at worlds with personal bests
PETALING JAYA: Debutant diver Elvis Priestly Clement and seasoned swimmer Phee Jinq En put up heart-warming performances for Malaysia on the penultimate day of the World Championships in Singapore yesterday.
Sarawakian Elvis splashed to 10th place to comfortably make his way into the semi-finals after scoring 64.50, 72.00, 82.50, 86.70, 62.40 and 64.80 for a total of 432.90 points.
Only the top 18 divers from the preliminary stage advance to the semi-finals and Elvis delivered on his promise not just to beat the Minimum Qualifying Score (MQS) of 380 but also breached the 400-point barrier for the first time.
The 18-year-old, a double gold medallist when Sarawak hosted the Malaysia Games (Sukma) last year, is the last Malaysian athlete remaining in the world meet.
No Malaysian diver has qualified for the top 12 individual final at the world meet so far.
The second Malaysian diver Enrique Maccartney Harold, however, failed to advance further after settling for 37th from 48 divers on 323.45 points (36.00, 67.20, 52.80, 37.95, 52.70, 76.80).
Elvis and Enrique had finished seventh for Malaysia in the men's 10m platform synchro final earlier in the week.
In swimming, Jinq En turned back the clock by posting her fastest time in six years in the 50m breaststroke event.
The former SEA Games multiple gold medallist swimmer clocked 31.78s to place 30th from 53 starters in the heats at OCBC Aquatic Centre.
The 27-year-old Jinq En, who picked up a hip injury during training in Bukit Jalil last week, had opted to sit out the 100m breaststroke on Monday to focus on the shorter race.
Jinq En's decision paid dividends as her time was just over three-tenths of a second off her national record (31.40s), which she set en route to winning the gold at the 2019 Manila SEA Games.
It was at the same pool 10 years ago when Jinq En made a stunning SEA Games debut by winning gold in the 100m breaststroke and silver in the 50m breaststroke.
"First time under 32 seconds at the worlds. Of course, I am pleased given that I swam with half a leg not kicking properly.
"I need proper rest for maybe two weeks after this and we see how. I need to be vigilant during the rehabilitation period," said Jinq En.
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