KUALA LUMPUR: Youngster Yong Rui Jie is looking to continue raising his game after clinching a commendable bronze at the Malaysia Open Diving Championships yesterday.
Rui Jie scored a decent 368.15 to place third behind Uzbekistan's Vyacheslav Kachanov (379.05) and national team senior Ooi Tze Liang (418.80) in the men's 3m springboard individual final.
The 17-year-old said it was an eye-opening experience and was hungry for more.
"My last dive could have been better. But I think, overall, I did quite well," Rui Jie said.
"I was really nervous because this was my first big competition. I have not experienced anything like this before.
"My goal now is to keep improving my techniques and my (dive) heights to allow me to score higher marks and get better results."
Tze Liang, who is at the other end of the age spectrum, is working more on his mental approach.
The 30-year-old hopes to make his second Olympic appearance in Paris, France, next year, and to do that, he will have to qualify via the Doha World Championships in February.
"It's different for me compared with the last time I qualified for the Olympics, which was about eight years ago (Rio 2016)," Tze Liang said.
"I am not really focusing too much on improving my techniques. It is more about working on my consistency, as well as the mental and physical side.
"I also hope to continue progressing with my partner, Syafiq Puteh. I think we have done very well, so far."
Tze Liang-Syafiq clinched bronze in the men's 3m springboard synchronised event at the Hangzhou Asian Games last month.