JAKARTA: Leong Mun Yee and Nur Dhabitah Sabri trained only for two days together before the women’s 10m platform synchro event at the Asian Games here.
And despite the shortcoming, the duo went on to win the bronze medal, retaining Malaysia’s third position from the 2014 Incheon edition, at the Gelora Bung Karno Aquatics Complex on Tuesday.
Nur Dhabitah was a last-minute replacement for Pandelela Rinong who injured her back during training.
Mun Yee-Nir Dhabitah amassed a five-dive total of 310.80 points to finish on the podium.
As expected, China dominated the event with Zhang Jiaqi-Zhang Minjie emerging victories with a 361.38 total while North Korea’s Kim Kuk Hyang-Kim Mi Rae secured silver with 337.86.
Mun Yee said she was only informed that she would be partnering Dhabitah at the eleventh-hour following Pandelela's injury.
"We only trained two days before the event, so I am satisfied with the result,” said Mun Yee.
"I think finishing third is a satisfactory result as the North Koreans are among the best pairs in the world.”
Dhabitah said she was delighted to clinch her first Asian Games medal though believed there is still room for improvement in their routines.
"I want to thank Mun Yee as she has been helping me a lot to improve. I am really happy to win my first medal."