Nur Dhabitah fighting against time to be in 10m platform action at Asiad

KUALA LUMPUR - The country's elite diver Nur Dhabitah Sabri is fighting against time to reach her target of returning to action in the 10 metres (m) platform event at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games from Sept 23 to Oct 8.

With less than two months left, Nur Dhabitah said the event is not one of her coach's choices at the moment because she is still in the process of recovering from a left wrist injury.

However, the 24-year-old insists that she still wants to compete in the event either as an individual or in the women's synchronised by partnering with Datuk Pandelela Rinong if she is at her best level.

"The coach's plan is the 1m individual springboard, 3m individual springboard and synchronised, he didn't include the 10m platform but I said I wanted the event.

"The coach said it depends on the condition of my hand, if I can do it maybe one event will have to be rejected because four is too many, I'm not 20 years old anymore," she said when met at the diving squad's training session at the National Aquatic Center in Bukit Jalil here recently.

She admitted to missing the 10m platform action which saw the women's 10m synchronised platform bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships being her highest achievement so far in the event, in addition to also clinching two silvers at the Commonwealth Games, one bronze at the Asian Games and two golds at the SEA Games in the same event.

"When I joined the national squad the coach before this continued to train me for 10m and 3m, it's like in my blood, there were times when I thought 10m was easier and the next day 3m was easier, at least I had a choice there," she said.

Nur Dhabitah said her coach is optimistic that she has a great chance in the women's 1m individual event if she is able to increase the difficulty level of the dives, thus not having a choice if she has to drop one of the events.

Since returning from the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan last month, Nur Dhabitah, who has been injured for the past few months, has only dived from a height of 5m while hoping to start from 7m followed by 10m as soon as possible.

"Doctors only gave advice and expect when I will fully recover, but it depends on the condition of my body.

"Now for 5m the pain is less, if I am really strong I will go up 7m and 10m. The pain is from the impact of the entry, the pain will 'spread' up to the top until it (hand) becomes numb," said the Kuala Lumpur-born athlete.

The 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games will be her third consecutive appearance in the Asiad since the 2014 edition in Incheon, South Korea. - BERNAMA