Malaysian Diver Unlikely To Retire After Sea Games, Eyeing Tokyo Olympics

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 (Bernama) -- The most experienced diver in the Malaysian squad, Leong Mun Yee, is unlikely to retire after the 2017 SEA Games and is eyeing another Olympic outing to boot. The 32-year-old, who had initially expressed her wish to retire after the biennial SEA Games, now hopes for a fifth appearance at the Olympics after becoming the first Malaysian woman athlete to compete in four consecutive Olympics since her debut at the 2000 Sydney Games. "I want to try for the next (Olympic Games), it'll be tough for me as I'll be 36 years old by that time. "Let's see how it goes with the SEA Games. If everything goes well, I'll try for the 2018 (Gold Coast) Commonwealth Games and (Jakarta 2018) Asian Games. Based on that, I'll decide on the Tokyo Olympics (2020)...one step at a time," Mun Yee told Bernama. The diver, who is listed under the high performance athletes' Podium Programme, missed the 2016 Rio Olympics when head coach Yang Zhuliang decided to pair up Pandelela Rinong with Cheong Jun Hoong in the women's synchronised 10m platform. They returned home with a silver medal. The Perakian now aims to add to her SEA Games gold collection after winning 15 gold medals in 10 consecutive outings since her debut at the 1997 Jakarta edition at the tender age of 13. Two years later in Brunei Darussalam, she won her first SEA Games medals - two silvers - and her best achievement in the Games so far was at the 2001 Kuala Lumpur edition, with four gold medals. "Currently, I'm focusing on my fitness first because age is catching up and I've to compete with the younger ones for a spot. So, I have to improve and maintain my fitness. "Next year, the focus is on improving the techniques and so on. I need to work hard to ensure consistency in my dives," she said. On her future plans, the diving ace said she wanted to remain in the sports industry. "I would also like to finish my studies as I had deferred it so many times," said the Bachelor of Communication student at Universiti Putra Malaysia. -- BERNAMA