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Young diver Qaisara captivates national camp
🇲🇾 Malaysia /Sports

Young diver Qaisara captivates national camp

From Utusan Malaysia · () Malay

Translated from Malay, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Noor Qaisara Dayana Saiful Nazam, a young diver from Pahang, is gaining attention in Malaysia's national diving camp.
  • Technical Director Yeoh Ken Nee sees potential in Qaisara, noting her young age and ability to perform dives with difficulty levels similar to older competitors.
  • While Qaisara is in the development program, her international exposure will be gradual, with potential for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics if she progresses as expected.

Young Pahang diver Noor Qaisara Dayana Saiful Nazam is making waves in the national diving camp, with officials identifying her as a future prospect for the women's 10m platform event. Technical Director Yeoh Ken Nee has been closely observing Qaisara's progress during the Malaysia Games (SUKMA) in Selangor 2026.

If we look to the future, one of those with potential is Qaisara from Pahang. She is still young, but the difficulty of her dives is almost the same as Eilisha Rania, who is much older.

— Yeoh Ken NeeTechnical Director of the national diving squad, Yeoh Ken Nee, commenting on Noor Qaisara Dayana Saiful Nazam's potential.

Ken Nee noted that Qaisara's youth is a significant advantage. She is already performing dives with a difficulty level comparable to Eilisha Rania Muhammad Abrar Raj of Sarawak, who is considerably older. This gives Qaisara ample time to refine her skills and improve her performance.

So, she still has a lot of time to improve and perfect her dives.

— Yeoh Ken NeeTechnical Director of the national diving squad, Yeoh Ken Nee, on Noor Qaisara Dayana Saiful Nazam's development.

Despite the promising outlook, Ken Nee cautioned Qaisara against complacency. He stressed that there is still a considerable gap to bridge before she can reach the level of elite divers like Datuk Pandelela Rinong, who executes higher-difficulty dives to score more points. The national diving camp faces the challenge of narrowing the gap between podium finishers and emerging talent, a situation exacerbated by factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, coaching changes, and shifts in the diving lineup.

The gap between podium divers and the next generation is indeed large. Many things happened during those few years, including coaching changes and divers coming and going.

— Yeoh Ken NeeYeoh Ken Nee explaining the challenges facing the national diving program.

Qaisara is currently part of a special development program and trains with the national squad. However, her international competition experience will be introduced gradually, as she is not yet 14 years old, the minimum age for open categories. If Qaisara meets the set development benchmarks after SUKMA, she could be given greater opportunities, including a pathway to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

That's why the gap is widening, while Pandelela is still at a high level.

— Yeoh Ken NeeYeoh Ken Nee on the disparity between elite divers and emerging talent.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Utusan Malaysia in Malay. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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