China on cloud 9 with clean sweep of titles
Print Edition
CHINA claimed all nine gold medals on offer at the FINA Diving World Cup in Shanghai after Shi Tingmao and Yang Jian won the last two events at the Oriental Sports Center yesterday.
In the men’s 10-meter platform final, Qiu Bo took the lead after the first three rounds but made a mistake on his entry during the fourth-round dive, allowing compatriot Yang to take over. Yang then led the pack and won the title with a total of 543.85 points.
Qiu scored a day-high 105.45 points on his fifth attempt to take the silver medal on 528.50. Ivan Garcia won bronze with 504.90 for Mexico’s only medal at the Shanghai event.
Britain’s Thomas Daley, however, was the crowd favorite, receiving vociferous support, marginally less than the two Chinese divers last night.
The London Olympics bronze medalist showed good form in the earlier part of the competition, ranking third after the first three rounds. However, a mistake in the fourth round proved costly, and he missed the podium with a fourth-place finish.
“It was a long day. The primary round was in the morning, and we were still out diving at 9pm. But that’s what makes it interesting,” Daley said.
Earlier in the women’s 3m springboard final, Shi Tingmao and He Zi brought home a 1-2 finish in the scorching Shanghai afternoon.
The two took turns to lead in the first four rounds. Shi managed a more stable performance and clinched the title on 384.40 points.
He, making minor mistakes in the third and fourth jumps, scored the highest 81.0 points in the final attempt to overtake Canadian Jennifer Abel and claim second place on 369.65. Abel had to settle for bronze on 364.05.
“I feel I was not fully prepared for today’s final,” said He, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist, who obviously was not happy with her performance. “The mistakes were caused by lack of self-confidence when it comes to outdoor events, which I need to work on.”
It was Shi’s second gold at the 6-day event. She partnered local veteran Wu Minxia to win the women’s 3m synchronized final earlier in the week.
“I was focused on the synchro competition coming to the Shanghai event. The gold in the singles event is an encouragement and good experience for me,” Shi said.
China diving team leader Zhou Jihong proclaimed himself happy with the squad’s performance, especially since the team comprised young divers as China tries to uncover new talents for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
“We need to strengthen the squad for the men’s 3m springboard. Apart from veteran divers He Chong and Qin Kai, who is injured right now, there are no other male divers who can present a promising performance in the event,” Zhou conceded.
He Chong overtook compatriot Cao Yuan on his last attempt on Saturday to win the 3m springboard gold.
Zhou said Chinese male divers have raised the difficulty level during the past two years. Stability will be the key to a good result.
“A diver can accomplish a difficult motion, but it would be meaningless if the rate of failure is high. The higher level of difficulty also means more injuries to some divers, and we will have to make adjustments accordingly.”
China’s performance was a repeat of its clean sweep at the London World Cup two years ago when its divers won all eight titles on offer. A new Team Event was added in Shanghai.
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