KUALA LUMPUR: Pandelela Rinong-Nur Dhabitah Sabri have their work cut out for them as they finished only sixth in the preliminary round of the women's 10m platform synchro at the World Championships.
The pair scored 270.90 points in their opening round in Budapest today.
The Hanoi Sea Games champions, whose last major outing together was the Commonwealth Games in 2014, in which they took a bronze medal, were not as sharp and precise as they would have liked as they only scored 52.80 and 57.60 in the fourth and fifth dives.
Still, it was a good warm-up for the pair to shake off the rust before the final, held late today.
As expected, China's Quan Hongchan-Chen Yuxi topped the preliminaries with 352.08 points.
Americans Delaney Schnell-Katrina Young came in second with 296.28, while Germans Elena Wassen-Christina Wassen rounded off the top three with 281.88.
With only nine pairs in the field, all made the final.
For Pandelela, though, she will be looking to bring her best to the final in the hopes of adding to the bronze medal she won in the 10m platform individual earlier.
The four-time Olympian had missed out on a chance of a second medal after she finished fifth in the mixed team event with Ooi Tze Liang on Wednesday.
The pair had looked good for a podium finish as they were placed second after four dives.
But a poor showing by Tze Liang, scoring only 40.25 in the fifth dive, cost them dearly, as despite Pandelela's 81.60 effort in the sixth dive, they only finished with a total of 350.25 for fifth place.
China's Bai Yuming-Quan Hongchan powered to the gold with a score of 391.40, followed by France's Alexis Jandard-Jade Gillet (358.50) and Britain's Andrea Spendolini Siriex-James Heatly (357.60).
In the mixed 3m springboard synchro event, Syafiq Puteh-Wendy Ng also missed out on a medal.
The pair, who were third at one point, finished seventh on 275.46.
China's Lin Shan-Zhu Zifeng grabbed gold with 324.15, followed by Italy's Chiara Pellacani-Matteo Santoro (293.55) and Britain's James Heatly-Grace Reid (287.61).
"It was my best chance to get a medal. We were in a medal position at one point but could not hold on to it," said a disappointed Wendy.
"Maybe it is not my luck to win a world championships medal in my career.
"But I will put this disappointment aside and focus on the 3m springboard synchro with Dhabitah," added Wendy.