Pandelela and Jun Hoong won the medal in the 10m synchronised platform event at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre.
The duo, paired for the third time in international championships, accumulated 344.34 points behind China's Chen Ruolin and Liu Huxia who collected 354 points.
Canadaian pair Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion won the bronze medal with 336.18 points.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 10 — Pandelela Rinong and Cheong Jun Hoong created history when they won a silver medal in the women’s 10m platform synchronised event yesterday.
This is Malaysia’s first ever silver medal in diving at the Olympics and diving’s second, four years after Pandelela won a bronze in the 10m platform.
The Malaysians collected 344.34 points to trail China’s Chen Ruolin-Liu Huixia (354.00) and ahead of Canada’s Meaghan Benfeito-Roseline Filion (336.18).
Pandelela said she was both surprised and delighted with their performance.
“I never thought that we could win the silver medal today because the competition is very tough and all of the divers of other countries are very, very good.”
“We started to warm up and after that we found our footing,” she told olympic.org, the official website for the Olympics.
Jun Hoong said the silver medal made up for her disappointment in the synchronised 3m springboard with Nur Dhabitah Sabri on Sunday.
“I told myself to forget what had happened in the 3m springboard and to focus on the 10m platform. Everyday is a new day and I focus on my performance in the 10m platform,” said the 26-year-old.
Jun Hoong has said that it was her error that cost Malaysia a first medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics earlier this week. She said she messed up her dive in round four of the women's synchronised 3m springboard with Dhabitah.
Pairing with Jun Hoong, Pandelela was unperturbed when North Korean pair Kim Kuk Hyang and Kim Mi Rae took second spot after the third dive.
“We were focused on our dives and what we needed to do. Although points were flashed on the giant scoreboard across the platform, we didn't look at our position,” said Pandelela.
She said that the pair had been training together for almost two years and often matched other divers in international championships.
“This is the third time we have competed in a competition as a pair,” said Pandelela who had often paired with Leong Mun Yee.
She said the coaches often experimented with new combinations and found the right match in Rio.
“I am recovering from a string of injuries and the training stint in China was put to good use here,” she said.
Pandelela will compete next in the 10m individual platform on Aug 17, while Jun Hoong will take part on the 3m springboard on Friday. Pandelela's parents and elder brother will watch her in action in the individual event.
China's Chen, who is competing at her third Games, has won every major title in the synchronised 10m platform event since 2006, which makes her overall tally of Olympic goals to five.
This puts her on par with fellow athlete Wu Minxia for scoring the most Olympic diving gold medals in a career.
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