As Cheong Jun Hoong and Pandelela Rinong begin their hunt for an Olympic medal today, coach Yang Zhuliang feels the Malaysian duo have what it takes to match China's world-beating divers.
Zhuliang, a renowned expert in the sport, is not impressed by the scores of China's divers at the Tokyo Olympics.
He believes Jun Hoong and Pandelela can give their much-vaunted rivals a run for their money.
Zhuliang said the Malaysians shouldn't feel inferior to the Chinese divers because things are no longer like before.
"We should not be afraid of them (China) because they are not of the same level (as before)," he said yesterday.
Zhuliang, who himself was formerly a coach in China, felt that the competition should be quite open in Tokyo due to the Covid circumstances.
"This is also a time when many divers have an opportunity (to do well against China's) because the training systems of many countries have changed due to the Covid-19 situation.
"We can also see that the marks scored in these Olympics (by the participating countries including China) have been quite low," he said.
"But we'll take it one step at a time. We will focus on the preliminary round first and take it from there."
Jun Hoong and Pandelela's first target is to finish in the top 18 out of 30 divers in the women's 10m platform today if they are to reach the semi-finals.
If they both make the cut, they will return to action tomorrow with the top 12 progressing to the final on the same day
Sarawakian Pandelela, 28, looks strong enough to be a medal contender, having tasted success at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in winning the Diving World Cup here in May. But at the time, China's top divers did not take part.
However, at the Tokyo Games, China are fielding their best, with super teens Chen Yuxi and Quan Hongchan leading the charge.
Perakian Jun Hoong, 31, who won gold at the 2017 World Championships under Zhuliang, can surprise in Tokyo if she is able to cleanly execute her dives which have a high DD (degree of difficulty).