BEIJING—Ryan Rexel Fabriga closes out the national team’s forgettable campaign at the Beijing Olympics here Friday when he competes in the 10-meter platform qualification stage at the Water Cube aquatics center.

The 5-foot-3, 130 lb Fabriga is not among the entries expected to secure a berth in the semifinals based on pre-event seedings in diving’s final competition, which starts at 7 p.m.

The tough field of 30 divers includes reigning world champion Huo Liang and his equally brilliant compatriot Zhou Louxin, the second-ranked entry who won gold in two of four legs of the 2008 World Series in Nanjing and Tijuana, Mexico.

Fabriga clinched his place in the Olympics by finishing fourth in the third phase of qualifying of the 2008 FINA Diving World Cup, won by Germany’s Sascha Klein, in the Chinese capital.

“Pipilitin kong maka-qualify sa (I will do my best to qualify to the) next round,” said the 22-year-old from Zamboanga City. “Nothing to lose ako kaya pagbubutihin ko ito (so I have to give it my best).”

Fabriga snared two gold medals at the 2003 Vietnam Southeast Asian Games, earning him the distinction as the region’s finest diver, and another at the 2007 Thailand Games. He sustained an elbow injury in the 2005 Manila edition and failed to make an impression.

Fabriga’s stint follows that of teammate Shiela Mae Perez who failed to make it past the qualification stage of the women’s 3-meter springboard event on Aug. 14, winding up 23rd in a field of 30.

She fell five rungs short of the last semifinalist led by eventual gold medalist Guo Jingjing of China.

Malaysia’s Bryan Nickson Lomas, the man who succeeded Fabriga as the region’s best diver in Thailand last year, is the only other Southeast Asian entry in the event, which closes the aquatics schedule at the showcase venue.

“Wala tayong aasahang medalya kay Ryan, pero siguradong magpupursige ang bata para makagawa ng magandang dive (We are not expecting a medal from Ryan but you can expect him to perform good dives),” said a Team Philippines official.