Despite a positive start, there were no medals in sight as Malaysia's barren run continued on the second day of competitions in the 30th Olympics here today.     

Fencer Yu Peng Kean pulled of an upset by beating a much higher ranked opponent in the men's individual Sabre event but the women divers' dismal performance earned them the last slot in the 3m Springboard Synchronised diving.     

Peng Kean brought some cheers to the local fencing fraternity and hope that the sport might one day become a medal contributor to the country.     

In the Men's Sabre Individual event, Peng Kean, ranked world number 37, beat world number 28, Zeid Mannad from Egypt, 15-2 in the first round but was shown the way out by world number five from Hungary, Szilagyi Aron, losing out 1-15.     

"Fencing is an Olympic sport but back in Malaysia, its not quite popular. I hope more Malaysian fencers will take up the sport seriously," he said.     

Peng Kean is the second Malaysian fencer to compete in the Olympics after Ronnie Theseira who competed in the individual foil, epee and sabre events at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.     

At the Aquatics Centre, Pandelela Rinong and Cheong Jun Hoong finished last of the eight competitors after qualifying for the final of the women's Synchronised 3m Springboard.     

The Malaysian pair managed 283.50 points, 62.70 points adrift of the gold medal winning pair from China, Wu Minxia and He Zi who amassed 346.20 points.     

At the Wembley arena, world number eight men's doubles pair, Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong booked a place in the men's doubles quarterfinals after beating Tony Gunawan/Howard Bach of USA 21-12, 21-14, to register their second consecutive victory in their group.     

Tomorrow, the third day of the London Olympics, world number two men's singles player Lee Chong Wei will start his quest for the gold, in efforts to better the silver medal feat at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.     

Chong Wei who was away from competitive tournament for a few months due to a series of injuries will face Ville Lang from Finland while Tee Jing Yee will battle against Agnese Allegrini from Italy in the women's singles.     

Haziq Kamaruddin will have a chance to redeem his dismal performance in the Men's Team Recurve when he takes on Gankin Denis from Kazakhstan in the men's individual Recurve event.

Sailor Khairulnizam Mohd Affendy will be hoping for strong winds to conquer his peers in the men's Dinghy (Laser) event which also sets sail tomorrow.     

Women divers make ‘splash’

Meanwhile Pandelela and Jun Hoong who took a giant stride by qualifying for the final however, collected just 283.50 points, 62.70 points adrift of the gold medal winning Chinese pair Wu Minxia, He Zi who amassed 346.20 points.     

Abigail Johnston, Kelci Bryant from the United States took the silver with 321.90 points while Emilie Heymans, Jennifer Abel from Canada were the bronze medallist with 316.80 points.     

Malaysian national coach from China Yang Zhu Liang said the Malaysian duo made a mistake as early as their first round dive and that cost them a good finish.     

"They failed to synchronise themselves which forced a big splash and the judges awarded a low score," he told reporters after the competition, here today.     

Pandelela and Jun Hoong managed just 46.20 points in the first round, 47.46 in second, 54.0 in third, 71.10 in fourth and 64.8 in the fifth and final dive.     

- Bernama