KUALA LUMPUR: Following her back injury sustained while competing at the Asian Games in Indonesia in August, national diver Pandelela Rinong explained that despite being on the road to recovery, she will not be taking part in any diving competitions for the remainder of the year.
"I am getting better and recovering from my back injury, and I should not face any niggling problems returning to competition next year.
"For me, I have achieved my target for this year and now I will be preparing myself to improve on my performance for next year,” stressed Pandelela.
At the Indonesia Asian Games, the 2015 national sportswoman of the year pulled out from the women’s 10m synchronised platform, and she also had to drop out of the final for the women’s 10m individual platform event despite getting past the qualifying rounds.
Pandelela, 25, said that she will be skipping the three FINA Diving Grand Prix that will take place next month.
The Diving Grand Prix takes place first here in Kuala Lumpur from November 9-11, followed by Gold Coast, Australia (November 15-18), and rounding off in Singapore (November 23-25).
The first Diving Grand Prix for next year will be in February with the World Diving Series beginning in March.
Earlier in April during the Diving World Series, Pandelela teamed up with fellow national diver Cheong Jun Hoong to win Malaysia’s first gold in the win the women's 10m platform synchro event in the third leg of the series in Montreal, Canada, and the pairing proved just as successful when the duo won gold in the same event at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.