KUALA LUMPUR: Sports analyst Datuk Dr Pekan Ramli believes that Malaysian sporting authorities should set the bar high and aspire to beat China as they look to rebuild in the sport of diving.
While dethroning the all-conquering Chinese may sound far-fetched considering recent results, Pekan stressed that Malaysia should never be content with finishing anything less than first.
"I think over the years we have become complacent in diving because we know that besides the Olympics, we can always win medals in other competitions such as the Asian, Commonwealth and Sea Games," said Pekan when contacted recently.
"Being too comfortable has subsequently led us to a decline in performance in the sport.
"We have always appeared to be content with finishing behind China in the major competitions.
"The gap in scores to China has been vast over the last three to four Olympic cycles and we had not shown any signs of improving.
"Our divers train regularly in China, however, they have not used that opportunity to really learn from the Chinese.
"We should not be going there just because they have better facilities. We should be learning from them and sparring against their divers.
"This is the only way we can have a chance of beating them. This should be the aspiration."
National divers endured a dismal outing at the Doha World Aquatic Championships earlier this week; not a single diver was able to earn direct qualification to the Paris Olympics via the competition.
Malaysia will now have to wait for FINA to reallocate unused quota places in June to know if there are any slots available, though chances are slim at best.
If not, Bertrand Rhodict Lises, 19, will be Malaysia's sole representative in the sport in Paris, the lowest since Malaysia made its Olympic debut in diving at Sydney 2000.
Pekan added that Malaysia must boost its talent development efforts in the sport and stop depending on the same old faces to produce results.
"If you look at China, most of their national divers are teenagers," said Pekan.
"They have slender physiques which, in addition to their technical skills, allow them to achieve phenomenal dive entries.
"It is like watching a knife falling, they just slice into the water.
"It is tough for our divers, who are already in their late 20s and 30s, to achieve this as they have bigger physiques."
Malaysia Aquatics and the National Sports Council are currently implementing a blueprint for 2024-2028 that aims to put the sport back on track.