PETALING JAYA: It was always going to be an uphill task for the Malaysian divers to get past the preliminary stage of the men's 3m springboard individual event at the World Championships.

But what came as a surprise was the failure of divers Mohd Syafiq Puteh and Nurqayyum Nazmi Mohd Nazim to outperform even their SEA Games rivals from Singapore and Thailand during the preliminaries at OCBC Aquatic Centre in Singapore yesterday.

Reigning SEA Games springbard champion Syafiq and Nurqayyum were placed 53rd and 54th respectively in the field of 65 participants.

Seasoned campaigner Syafiq faltered in his final two dives, scoring only 36.75 and 40.25 points. His total of 310.55 was well short of the mark needed to break into the top 20 and advance.

It was also a forgettable debut for World Junior Championship bronze medallist Nurqayyum who struggled to keep pace with the level of competition throughout.

The 19-year-old, who was competing on a lower difficulty standard compared to Syafiq, finished with 303.55 points.

Only the top 18 divers advance to the semi-finals.

Technical director Yeoh Ken Nee did not expect the outcome.

"The boys under-performed. They did not qualify if based on the Minimum Qualifying Score of 370," said Ken Nee.

He said the long waiting time before each dive may have also affected the composure of the divers.

"The waiting time was also longer than usual for this competition.

"Nurqayyum is competing for the first time in the world championships but Syafiq has featured a few times but this time, he did badly.

"We will sit down with the coaches and divers to understand more about the situation."

Singaporean youngster Avvir Tham, only 20, finished a commendable 22nd with a total of 363.90 points.

His teammate Max Lee, only 18, also showed hope for the future after placing 44th with a total of 32625 points.

Even Thai Chawanwat Juntaphadawon finished way above with 29th position, amassing 357.00 points.

It is certainly a confidence boost to Chawanwat as he gears up for the SEA Games in December at his own backyard.

South Korea, who are Malaysia's rival at the Asian level, also managed to get both divers into the semi-finals stage under the charge of former national diver Bryan Nickson Lomas.

Yi Jaegyeong and Shin Jung-whi finished 14th (384.10) and 17th (379.20) respectively.