RP divers hope to turn around misfortunes in Laos

he Philippine diving team to the 25th Southeast Asian Games hopes to turn its series of adversities into victory. In what had been a trying time for the Filipino divers, the year about to end saw them lose their long-time coach Rommel Kong to a lucrative job abroad, the contract of their Chinese mentor was not renewed and all of them did not have the benefit of competing in any international tournament.

Yet, they remain upbeat that everything will turn out fine in their campaign here as they look to win a gold medal or two. “Pinaka-meaningful at pinaka-interesting ang SEA Games na ito para sa mga bata because of what they went through," said team official Anne Dimanche Thursday on the eve of the diving competitions at the National Sports Complex pool in Vientiane, Laos. “It's been a difficult year," added Dimanche, Olympian Sheila Mae Perez will be at the forefront of the divers’ assault when she begins the defense of her 3m springboard title in the morning, before fellow Beijing Olympian Rexel Ryan Fabriga and Jaime Asok try their luck in the 10m platform later in the day. Fabriga and Asok also combined for the synchronized diving gold in the 2007 edition of the biennial meet in Thailand, where they also won four silver medals and a bronze. Also in the team are Niño Carog and Zardo Domenios with Lourence Ifourong as team manager and coach. – GMANews.TV