Pandelela fails to defend gold but satisfied with silver

National diver Pandelela Rinong failed to defend the 10m Platform gold she had won at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games in India four years ago but winning a silver while nursing an injury is an achievement that everyone can be proud of.

"I am satisfied with the silver medal because I was out of action for a long time due to a knee injury. The injury is getting better but I had to train only from a height of 5m," she told reporters here Friday.

Pandelela had to rest for three weeks following an injury to her left knee and was in fact a doubtful starter here but she managed to recover in time to train using a height of 5m.

"Hopefully I will be fully fit for the Asian Games next month," she said.

In the women's 10m Platform individual diving competition held at the Royal Commonwealth Swimming Complex Thursday, Pandelela accumulated 368.55 points, 4.10 points behind gold medal winner Meaghan Benfeito (372.65) from Canada.

The Sarawakian who had teamed up with Nur Dhabitah Sabri for the first time competed in the women's 10m Platform Synchronized diving on Tuesday and won a bronze medal.

Meanwhile, National diving coach Yang Zhuliang was also proud of Pandelela's achievement.

"She is very tough and a determined diver. After she injured herself during training in China, the doctor advised her to skip training for a month to fully recover.

"But she is a determined diver, after two weeks she came back to train," said Zhuliang.