BEIJING, Aug 20 (Bernama) -- Young Pandelela Rinong, out to gain experience, was a bundle of nerves in making her Olympics debut in the women's 10m platform and finished 27th out of 29 contestants with 249.20 points.
The Malaysian, the youngest on the platform, got off to a wobbly start with a low of 36.45 points and was placed 29th after the first dive.
She recovered six rungs to 23th in her second dive with 53.65 points and in her third -- despite posting her best show of the night with 67.50 from a forward three an a half somersault -- she slid to 26th spot.
By the fourth she was in 25th place after marking 57.60s. In the fifth and last jump of the qualifying round, a nervous Pandelela could not hold herself together as she flailed into the waters with her worst of 34 points.
Behind the Malaysian were Natalia Goncharova of Russia who had 240.45 points and Annett Gamm of France with 234.20.
China's Chen Ruolin stunned with a 96.90 in the fifth round with a back two and one half somersault with one and a half twists to lead the field of 18 into the semifinals with a total of 428.80 points.
China have already grabbed six golds from the diving board and are tipped to wrest both the men's and women's 10m platform for a clean sweep.
Malaysia's platform ace, Bryan Nickson Lomas, hits the dive board on Friday, with hopes of making the last 18 to qualify for the semifinal.
He was placed 19th in Athens and was ranked seventh in the World Diving Championships last year.
-- BERNAMA
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