FORMER coach Yang Zhuliang has questioned the concerned parties in aquatics for the growing injury issues in the national diving team.
With only two weeks before the World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, the national team suffered a blow when 17-year-old Kimberly Bong sustained a career-threatening shoulder joint injury during training in Wuhan, China, a few days ago.
The Sarawak-born will return to Kuala Lumpur to undergo rehabilitation at the National Sports Institute.
It is feared that if her injury is not treated properly, it may well end her hopes of becoming a world champion in the platform discipline one day.
Her injury is a blow to Malaysia as the reigning Malaysia Games gold medallist was slated to partner Pandelela Rinong to fight for an early Olympic ticket in the women's 10m platform synchro event at the world meet.
The only option left is to pair up Pandelela with veteran Leong Mun Yee.
Nur Dhabitah Sabri has partnered Pandelela before, winning bronze in the event at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
However, the Kuala Lumpur-born Nur Dhabitah is focusing on the 3m springboard individual and synchro disciplines.
Pandelela’s regular partner Cheong Jun Hoong has also withdrawn from the world meet after undergoing knee surgeries last year.
The reigning world champion is only expected to return to competitions in the Asian Cup in KL in September.
It is believed that the Sarawak-born Pandelela is also not fully fit following a back injury recently.
“In my experience, if a diver suffers a shoulder joint injury, it is the end of his or her career in the platform discipline. I fear it is the end for Kimberly,” said Zhuliang, who is now based in Brisbane after his contract was not renewed in December 2017, in a statement.
“Jumping from 10 metres puts extreme pressure on the shoulders when you hit the water.
“I am sad for Kimberly as I groomed her for the first two years when she was absorbed into the national team.
“I am surprised why there are many injuries.
“Are the coaches unable to manage the divers? Or is the quality of training poor?
“And what happened to the so-called emphasis on sports science training.
“I thought one of the many reasons my contract was not renewed was my failure to implement sports science into my training programme.
“I am sad that Malaysian diving is not progressing accordingly. Don’t even talk about winning Olympic gold. I am not sure if we can qualify in numbers like before.”
Many would see his outburst as a form of venting his frustration at the National Sports Council for not renewing his coaching contract. But the China coach certainly has a point.
Malaysian diving not only qualified by the biggest number but also contributed medals for Malaysia at the last two Olympics.
Pandelela clinched bronze in the 10m platform individual in the 2012 London Games and partnered Jun Hoong for the silver in the (platform) synchro four years later in Rio de Janeiro.
Zhuliang was also the mastermind behind Jun Hoong’s success in winning the individual platform title at the 2017 world meet in Budapest.
The diving team is now handled by China’s Li Rui and Australian Christian Brooker.