Saturday, December 16, 2006 Davao's Fabriga finishes sixth By Marianne L. Saberon-Abalayan
DAVAO City's Rexel Ryan Fabriga finished sixth while Jaime Asok came in 10th at the close Thursday of the 15th Asian Games diving competition at the Hamad Aquatic Centre in Doha, Qatar.
Chinese Yue Lin amassed 551.50 points to capture the gold medal while his compatriot Luxin Zhou garnered 533.90 for the silver in men's individual 10-meter platform finals.
Democratic Republic of Korea (PRK) bet Chon Man Kim salvaged the bronze with 456.35 points.
Fabriga was 132.50 points behind the champion with 419.00 while Asok was way behind with 170.70 after registering 380.80 in the last stint of the six-member RP diving team.
Japan's Kazuki Murakami placed fourth while PRK's Jong Nam Ri was fifth, Japan's Kotaro Miyamoto seventh, Korea's Yi Taek Oh eighth, Malaysia's Bryan Nickson Lomas ninth, Korea's Jin Yong Kim 11th and Thailand's Sareerapat Pimsamsee in 12th.
The all-Dabawenyo RP diving team will come home with another medal shutout in the Asiad, the same misfortune it suffered in the 2002 Busan Asian Games.
The muscular back injury that hit top bet Sheila Mae Perez, 2005 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games triple gold medallist, hurt the country's chances for its first ever medal in diving.
The hunt continues in the World Championships in May but Perez will have to recuperate completely from her injury to be able to make another shot for an Olympic appearance in Beijing come 2008.
A good performance in the World Championships will ensure her and the other Davao divers of an Olympics stint.
