Saturday, August 16, 2008 Davao's Perez finishes 23rd By Charles Raymond A. Maxey
SHEILA Mae Perez finished only 23rd in the preliminary round of the women's 3-meter springboard Friday and failed to advance in the face of world-class competition at the Beijing Games.
The 22-year-old Perez, the top Filipino lady diver from Davao City, managed only 251.15 points after five dives in the preliminaries, some 122.75 points off pacesetter Guo Jingjing of China who topped the round with her 373.90 points.
Even with her fifth round score of 56.55 points, Perez couldn't pull through as she misfired in her second, third, and fourth dives at the National Aquatics Center. A total of 30 divers are entered in the event.
Julia Pakhalina of Russia amassed 358.15 points to stay at second place, or 15.75 points behind. Blythe Hartley of Canada is at third after her 350.60 points, while another Chinese -- Wu Minxia -- is placed fourth with her 349.45.
A total of 18 divers have qualified to the next phase, with another two listed as reserve.
Perez, a gold medal winner in the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, was eyeing to land in the finals, but apparently ran into a very tough field.
Two Malaysian divers in the field even finished with better scores. Elizabeth Jimie and Mun Yee Leong each had 253.50 to share the 21st places.
Another diver from Davao, Rexel Ryan Fabriga, will make his Olympic debut on August 22 in the men's 10m platform also at the National Aquatics Center.
