KUCHING (June 30): Sarawak’s diving talents made waves on the regional stage, powering Malaysia to the top of the medal standings at the 47th Southeast Asian Age Group Diving Championships.

Young divers from Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia vied for regional honours at Singapore’s OCBC Aquatic Centre from June 27-29.

Malaysia emerged as overall champions with a commanding tally of 13 gold, 8 silver and 4 bronze medals.

Eight divers from Sarawak delivered a stellar performance, contributing seven gold, seven silver, and two bronze medals which was more than half of Malaysia’s total gold medal haul.

Leading the charge was Cecelia Olivia Christopher Leoneil who bagged four medals in Group B. She claimed gold in the platform synchronised event, silver in both the 3m springboard and individual platform, and bronze in the 1m springboard. It was a testament to her consistency and versatility across events.

In the senior boys’ Group A category, Jared Aiden Harold added a gold in platform and a silver in the 3m springboard while Muhd Lutfir Rahman Mohd Razak earned a silver in the 1m springboard.

Sisters Nurul Farisya Alia Affendi and Nur Aryna Balqis Affendi were also standout performers. Nurul Farisya struck gold in the Group A synchronised platform and silver in the individual platform, while younger sister Nur Aryna dominated Group C with two golds in the platform and 3m springboard.

Sarawak divers also won two events in girls’ Group C with Fabiana Anderianna Brook winning in the platform and Nur Ikmas Ikeram in the 1m springboard.

Siti Nurul Jannah Malik rounded off Sarawak’s impressive show with a bronze in the 1m springboard.

Sarawak head coach Shi Yang was thrilled with the promising display from his young charges.

“I’m really happy our divers can achieve amazing results especially Nur Aryna Balqis and Fabiana Anderianna as both young divers obtained the same score in the same event to collect two golds for Team Malaysia.

“I hope and wish that all Sarawak divers can continue to pay more passion and work hard in their training to achieve more success in the future and always remember our battle cry and motto: “Agi Idup Agi Ngelaban” (Still Alive, Fight to the End),” he exclaimed.

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