National leaders congratulate divers for winning Olympic silver

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak congratulated national divers Pandelela Rinong and Cheong Jun Hoong who won Malaysia's first medal, a silver, at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro early today.
"The nation's first medal! Proud of the success of @Pandelela_R and Cheong Jun Hoong! Congratulations! #Rio2016 #MAS #Olympics," the Prime Minister posted on his official Twitter account.
Pandelela and Jun Hoong won the medal in the 10m synchronised platform event at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre.
The duo, paired for the third time in international championships, accumulated 344.34 points behind China's Chen Ruolin and Liu Huxia who collected 354 points.
Canadian pair Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion won the bronze medal with 336.18 points.
Thirty-two Malaysian athletes are competing in the Rio Olympics, which is on from last Friday to Aug 21.
In BALI, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also congratulated Pandelela and Cheong, saying the victory would drive other Malaysian athletes to excel in their respective events as well as offer stiff competition at the SEA Games next year in Kuala Lumpur.
He also said it was hoped that the victory would encourage the Youth and Sports Ministry to focus on enhancing the performance of Malaysian athletes at the international level in sports suitable to the physique of Malaysians.
"This victory will offer a new challenge to the Youth and Sports Ministry to ensure that our national athletes perform well in the SEA Games that we will host next year," he told reporters here.
Both divers will share a will share a RM600,000 cash incentive and a monthly pension of RM3,000 following feat.
Pandelela became the first Malaysian woman to win a medal at the Olympics when she won the bronze in the 10m individual platform event at the 2012 London Olympics. — Bernama