CHINA DOMINATE DIVING ON OPENING DAY
China's divers sent out a signal to the world less than a
year out from Beijing with a clean sweep of gold on the opening
day of the FINA Diving World Series in Sheffield.
Chinese divers Ruolin Chen and Xin Wang claimed gold and
silver in the women's 10m Platform, while synchro pairing
Minxia Wu and Jingjing Guo were victorious in the women's
3m event, duo Yue Lin and Liang Huo were top in the 10m Synchro
and Qin Kai secured gold in the men's 3m Springboard.
It was also a promising afternoon for British Diving as synchro
pair Tandi Gerrard and Rebecca Gallantree held their own amongst
the best in the world and finished within touching distance
of a medal on the 3m Springboard and junior divers Thomas
Daley and Callum Johnstone scored a personal best at their
first major senior international.
China's best performance of the day came from 15-year-olds
Chen and Wang who provided a diving showcase to a thrilled
Sheffield crowd on the 10m Platform. Chen was on top form
to score four perfect 10s on her way victory - three of those
in an almost textbook inward 3 ½ somersaults.
After falling level with her team mate from a dropped armstand
back 2 somersaults 1 ½ twists, Chen regained form and
a further 10 (in the back 2 ½ somersaults 1 ½
twists) to boost her final score to 433.30 points. Wang won
silver with 388 points and Emilie Heymans of Canada secured
bronze with 356.55 points.
"That was an exciting competition," said Chen.
"I enjoy competing against Wang but I just try to think
about my own dives. It was an exciting final."
Earlier in the day, British platform diver Tonia Couch (Plymouth
Diving) reacted well to a tough Group A draw for a season's
best of 310.95 points - a score that would have qualified
her for the finals if drawn in Group B and one that will fill
the 18-year-old with confidence moving forwards.
In the women's 3m Synchro, the field was split as a revitalised
duo from Russia took on the Chinese for the title while the
rest of the field fought for bronze. Pushed by the Russians,
China's Olympic and World Champion duo Minxia Wu and Jingjing
Guo forged an unassailable lead and were scored highly on
synchronisation - never dipping below an eight.
Ending on a series of technically difficult dives which culminated
in a well-marked back 2 ½ somersaults, the duo took
gold with 340.20 points. Russians Anastasia Pozdnyakova and
Yuliya Pakhalina claimed silver with 306.54 points and Germany's
Katja Dieckow and Nora Subschinski only just held onto their
bronze position with 286.20 points.
"That was a very difficult competition," said gold
medallist Guo. "Although we won, it was very hard and
wasn't what we expected.
"We were pleased with how we dived. It was very different
from the World Championships. We're looking to the Olympics
now and in the lead-up there are many competitions and we
will do our best to prepare and get the right result in Beijing.
The Diving World Series helps in that process."
Competing for only the second time together, Britain's new
pairing of Gerrard and Gallantree (both City of Leeds) put
in an awesome performance to finish within 0.03 points of
a podium spot, beating some of the best nations in the world,
including World Championship bronze medallists Australia.
The duo risked some high tariff dives and benefited from
strong home support to clock up a personal best of 99 points
after the first two dives. Their final score was 286.17 points
in a close field where less than a point separated positions
three to five.
"We didn't expect it to go so well here but we're both
over the moon with how we've performed," said Gerrard.
"We aren't very experienced together, this is only the
second time we've competed - our first time was in the Rostock
Grand Prix where we tried out the pairing.
"It's a PB for us both to get 99 in our first two dives
and that's the first time that's been done since Jane [Smith]
and I went to the Olympics. We're really surprised to beat
the Australians and it just shows we're performing well together.
We're really hopeful for future success."
In today's opening event, World Champion Qin Kai of China
claimed the first ever FINA Diving World Series gold with
a commanding performance in the 3m Springboard.
Kai, who has recently returned from injury, offered a technical
programme for a high final score of 517.65 points. He fought
off a challenge from Canada's Alexandre Despatie with a well-executed
reverse 3 ½ somersaults to earn a further 94.50 points
and move ahead of the field.
Following the same programme, World Championship silver medallist
Despatie was unable to reverse the result from Melbourne and
finished second with 496.75 points. Dmitry Sautin of Russia
claimed bronze with 483.50 points.
"This is my first competition since suffering an injury
after the World Championships so it was very important for
me to get the right result," explained Kai. "I'm
over the injury now, I need no further treatment and can look
forward to my Olympic preparation. That was a really important
win for me and a great routine.
"I expect this will be the field in Beijing. Everybody's
extremely strong so I need to make sure I work hard to keep
up. What you've seen tonight is the top three divers in the
world competing in a new and exciting competition. I wouldn't
be surprised if we see something very similar in Beijing."
Great Britain's Ben Swain (City of Sheffield) was knocked
out in this morning's semi-finals, finishing fourth in his
group with 361.80 points.
In the final event of the day Chinese duo Lin and Huo confirmed
their team's clean sweep in Sheffield with a commanding performance
on the men's 10m Synchro. The pair scored seven perfect 10s
over three dives to demonstrate their consistency and help
them to the title with a final score of 485.64.
Russians Gleb Galperin and Dmitriy Dobroskok won silver with
463.08 points and Thomas Finchum and David Boudia of the USA
claimed silver with 455.22 points.
"I think we dived really well," said Lin. "We
were really pleased with our synchro although we do still
need to work on some areas of our routine and we'll aim to
improve that. It's a high quality of competition here in Sheffield
and we're very happy and excited to be part of the FINA Diving
World Series."
Great Britain's Daley (Plymouth Diving) and Johnstone (City
of Leeds), diving for only the third time together in competition,
managed a personal best score of 388.89 points.
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