SEA Games: Singapore's Fong Kay Yian and Mira Dewan finish fifth and sixth in women's 1m springboard finals

HANOI: The face mask she wore did little to hide the disappointment etched across Fong Kay Yian’s face as she spoke to reporters after finishing fifth at the SEA Games in the women's 1m springboard finals on Sunday (May 8).

The event, held at the Aquatics Sports Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam, was won by Malaysia's Nur Dhabitah Sabri, with compatriot Kimberly Bong taking silver. Vietnam's Ngo Phuong Mai clinched bronze.

Nur Dhabitah's gold is Malaysia's first in this edition of the Games.

“Honestly, I think I could have done a lot better. In terms of trying to get used to the environment here, it was quite a big change for us,” Fong said. 

She acknowledged there was room for improvement in her dives, which saw her score a total of 204.25.

“In general, I feel like all the dives could have been much, much better. Because actually leading up Games and even training over here, my dives were not this standard, I would say. It could be a lot better than this.”

Fong’s compatriot Mira Dewan sixth in the event (181.65). The 20-year-old was making her Games debut.This is Fong's fifth Games. She has a total of one gold, two silvers and two bronzes to her name, all across 3m springboard events.

However, this is the first time she has competed in the 1m event at the Games. “Although 1m is not my pet event, but I still wanted to do my best,” she added.

The last time the 1m event was held was at the 2017 Games in Kuala Lumpur when Malaysia also won both gold and silver.

Fong will compete with Ashlee Tan in the women’s synchronised 3m springboard event on Monday, and she is looking forward to partnering up with Tan once again.

The duo took home a silver in the 2019 Games.

Said Fong: “We always have a lot of fun together. And I hope that this time round, this edition, we will be able to have even more fun. And hopefully we'll be able to do good synchro dives tomorrow.”