18TH FINA DIVING WORLD CUP 2012

SERI KEJUARAAN DUNIA DUBAI 2012

SERI KEJUARAAN DUNIA BEIJING 2012

China delights fans in the “Water Cube” in Beijing

Lausanne (SUI), March 24, 2012 – In front of its fans at the “Water Cube” in Beijing, the team of China dominated without surprise the second meet of the FINA/Midea World Series 2012, taking place in the Chinese capital from March 23-24, getting all the eight gold medals at stake.

On Day 1, the four finals were won by the same athletes that had triumphed in Dubai (UAE, the first meet of the series on March 16-17): Olympic and world gold medallist Chong He in the men’s 3m springboard and his compatriots Yuan Cao/Yanquan Zhang in the 10m platform synchro. Among women, Olympic champion Ruolin Chen easily dominated the operations in the 10m platform, while world champion Minxia Wu successfully paired with Zi He in the 3m springboard synchro.

Kai Qin (CHN), third in Dubai in the men’s 3m springboard, upgraded his medal in Beijing, while Julian Sanchez (MEX) finished with the bronze in the “Water Cube”. In the men’s synchronised event, the minor medals went to Great Britain (silver, with Tom Daley and Peter Waterfield – fourth in the Emirates) and to Germany (bronze for Patrick Hausding and Sascha Klein – fifth in the first leg of the series). In the women’s field, China also did the 1-2 in the individual 10m platform, with Yadan Hu getting the silver behind Chen. As in Dubai, Malaysian Pandelela Rinong Pamg got the bronze. Paola Espinosa (MEX), second in the Emirates, finished fifth in Beijing. In the synchro event, Kelci Bryant/Abigail Johnston (USA) and Jennifer Abel/Emilie Heymans (CAN) finished tied for the silver (306.30), but an additional dive to untie gave the silver to USA (71.10) and the bronze to Canada (68.40).

On Day 2, the only minor surprise was the victory of Zi He (CHN) over her compatriot Minxia Wu in the women’s 3m springboard (Wu had won in Dubai and is the world champion of this event). In the other three finals, the gold medallists of Dubai were the same: Bo Qiu (CHN) in the men’s 10m platform, Kai Qin/Yutong Luo (CHN) in the men’s 3m springboard synchro, and Ruolin Chen/Hao Wang (CHN) in the women’s 10m platform synchro.

In the individual events, Tania Cagnotto (ITA) got also the bronze in Beijing in the 3m springboard, while Thomas Daley (GBR) was again silver medallist in the 10m platform. On the synchro events, the minor medals went to Mexico, Canada, Ukraine and Germany. 

The World Series’ next stop is Moscow (RUS) from April 13-14 and last meet is Tijuana (MEX) from April 20-21. Follow all the action of the FINA/Midea Diving World Series 2012 on FINA TV and iPhone/iPad (LIVE+ application @appstore) by visiting fina.org.

MEDALLISTS IN BEIJING
Men’s 3m springboard: 1. Chong He (CHN) 548.70; 2. Kai Qin (CHN) 509.55; 3. Julian Sanchez (MEX) 471.05
Men’s 10m platform: 1. Bo Qiu (CHN) 566.50; 2. Thomas Daley (GBR) 541.15; 3. Peter Waterfield (GBR) 531.80
Men’s 3m springboard synchro: 1. Kai Qin/Yutong Luo (CHN) 464.49; 2. Illya Kvasha/Oleksyi Prygorov (UKR) 431.43; 3. Stephan Feck/Patrick Hausding (GER) 426.96
Men’s 10m platform synchro: 1. Yuan Cao/Yanquan Zhang (CHN) 480.18; 2. Thomas Daley/Peter Waterfield (GBR) 437.40; 3. Patrick Hausding/Sascha Klein (GER) 431.64

Women’s 3m springboard: 1. Zi He (CHN) 395.55; 2. Minxia Wu (CHN) 394.50; 3. Tania Cagnotto (ITA) 353.25
Women’s 10m platform: 1. Ruolin Chen (CHN) 422.55; 2. Yadan Hu (CHN) 400.65; 3. Pandelela Rinong Pamg (MAS) 372.15
Women’s 3m springboard synchro: 1. Zi He/Minxia Wu (CHN) 347.70; 2. Kelci Bryant/Abigail Johnston (USA) 306.30; 3. Jennifer Abel/Emilie Heymans (CAN) 306.30
Women’s 10m platform synchro: 1. Ruolin Chen/Hao Wang (CHN) 360.66; 2. Paola Espinosa/Alejandra Orozco (MEX) 327.48; 3. Meaghan Benfeito/Roseline Filion (CAN) 326.10

(fina)

DWS 2012, Beijing: Daley cheers for day-high as China sweeps in the "Water Cube"

Zhou Xin, FINA Press Correspondent in China

With a day-high score 103.60 points for his 109C (forward 4 1/2 somersault, tuck), Britain's talent Thomas Daley was satisfied with a silver medal behind world champion Qiu Bo in the men's 10m platform final. The Chinese divers got all eight gold medals on offer once more at the 2012 FINA/Midea Diving World Series in Beijing (CHN).

Comparing to last year's 600 plus form, Qiu collected only five full marks and 566.50 points for the gold, after a mistake for his fourth dive (a 207B - back 3 1/2 somersault, pike) with a poor 88.20 which just came after Daley's 109C. Daley finished with silver in 541.15 and Peter Waterfield of Britain came third in 531.80.

Qiu, gold medalist at the 2011 FINA World Championships and 2012 FINA World Cup, said he was not in a good shape since last year's World Championships. "I have been suffering injuries after the World Championships that obliged me to reduce the time for training and added time to recovery. My form is not as good as I was last year. However, I am happy to compete with Daley, he performed very well today," Qiu said.

For Daley, what he performed in the "Water Cube" is the best competition he has competed in the last years. "This is the highest score I've got in two years, including last year's worlds, London World Cup and World Series in Dubai. I've improved my DD and consistence. I'm  really happy with a silver. Because a silver means a gold when the Chinese diver is here, it's hard to catch them," Daley said.

In the women's 3m springboard, Chinese diver He Zi beat her veteran teammate Wu Minxia to claim the title. The 21-year-old He, who was almost 11 points behind Wu after her fourth dive, made a game-high last dive to rank first with 395.55, edging world champion Wu by 1.05. Italy's  Tania Cagnotto finished third in 353.25.

"I didn't expect to surpass Wu before my last dive," said He, who trailed Wu to take the silver at the 2011 Shanghai worlds. "I just focused on my performance. Of course I'm very happy, because I made no mistake today and had some luck."

Chinese pair Qin Kai/Luo Yutong won the men's 3m springboard synchronised on 464.49, 33.06 points more than the runners-up Illya Kvasha/Oleksiy Prygorov of Ukraine. The bronze went to Ukraine's Patrick Hausding/Stephan Feck, who collected 426.96 points.

Chen Ruolin/Wang Hao dominated the women's 10m synchronised platform with 360.66, ahead of Paola Espinosa/Alejandra rozco of Mexico (327.48) and Meaghan Benfeito/Roseline Filion of Canada (326.10).

(fina)

DIVING: Beijing: Chinese divers boil up "Water Cube" on Day 1

Coming back to the "Water Cube", China's National Aquatic Center in Beijing, Chinese divers maintained the status quo on Day 1 of the second stage of the 2012 FINA/Midea Diving World Series 2012 by winning the four gold medals on offer, leaving the silver and bronze to divers from Mexico, Canada, USA, Great Britain, Germany and Malaysia.

Olympic and World Cup champion He Chong dominated the men's 3m springboard, winning in 548.70 points with a game-high 99.45 for his last dive - a Forward 2.5 Somersault 3 Twists, Pike. He led teammate Qin Kai for a 1-2 finish as Qin totalled 509.55 points. Mexico's Julian Sanchez was third with a score of 471.05, ahead of American veteran Troy Dumais and Canadian diving star Alexandre Despatie, who stunned the audience with brilliant performances.

"It's great to come back to my familiar place, I'm OK but not satisfied with my performance because I've had fever for almost one week since I returned from Dubai, the previous leg of World Series," the Chinese winner admitted.

Two-time Olympic champion and World champion Wu Minxia, pairing with He Zi, led all the way through the last dive with their commanding performances to lift the women's 3m springboard synchro gold. American duo Kelci Bryant/Abigail Johnston and Canada's Abel Jennifer/Heymans Emilie totalled the same score, 306.30 points, but the Americans took the edge in the one-dive tiebreaker with a slim 2.70 point advantage over the Canadians.

"We made two little mistakes and fortunately we made it up later," said Abel after the competition. "It's really unusual to compete in a tiebreaker, which never happened to me before. It's a new experience, interesting and different," she added

Buoyed by their World Cup and World Series n°1 successes, Chinese pair Zhang Yanquan/Cao Yuan proved invincible in the men's 10m platform synchro with a grueling score of 480.18. Thomas Daley/Peter Waterfield of Great Britain took silver with 437.40 points and Germans Patrick Hausding/Sascha Klein claimed the bronze, totalling 431.64.

Speaking after the event, Waterfield said: "We were third last year here. This time we have improved and got the second place. We still have a lot of space for improvement".

Teammate Daley said he remains focused on his sport: "I've tried my best on diving, for every training session. I can say that I am focused on diving, though I also need to study in school. I get close to the media because I want to be a TV commentator someday in the future".

The women's 10m platform crown was reserved for Chen Ruolin (CHN), who won the event in convincing fashion with a total 422.55, ahead of compatriot Hu Yadan (400.65) and Malaysia's talent Pandelela Rinong Pamg (372.15). Mexico's Paola Espinosa, silver medallist at Dubai's first meet of the Series, took a disappointing fifth place.

Hu dropped to last spot among six finalists after her second dive, collecting a poor 57.60. She made a strong comeback to take the runner-up position in the last three dives. Her last dive - Back 2.5 Somersault 1.5 Twists, Pike - earned the young prospect the highest score of the session, 91.20.

Reflecting on her performance, Hu said: "I am growing up right and getting taller and heavier than before. It's not easy to dive like before, but I'm trying to do that".

(fina)

DWS 2012, Dubai: Chinese reign supreme taking all 8 golds

In a somewhat predictable, but nonetheless still thrilling result, the Chinese diving team reigned supreme this weekend at the FINA/Midea Diving World Series in Dubai. After collected four golds from four finals on the first night, China again proved their dominance of world diving by taking the final four events tonight.

In the first final of the evening, the women’s 3m springboard synchro, Wu Minxia showed her composure and experience, coming from behind to take the gold.  She started slowly with a relatively low scoring dive which put her in fifth place, but showed her mettle by gradually building throughout the competition to take first place with her last dive. She top scored with her second last dive, collecting 81.00 points. Wu took gold by the smallest of margins, edging out countrywoman He Zi by just .70 of a point on her last dive, for China to take gold and silver.

Tania Cagnotto of Italy sat in third for most of the competition and couldn’t quite catch He, missing silver by 20.4 to take the bronze, but was delighted with her medal. “I don’t really think about the Chinese, they are so good so I am really happy with what I’ve done” she said.

Laura Sanchez of Mexico started with a solid dive but couldn’t get into the medals. She was pushed all the way by Christina Loukas of the US. Loukas, who took silver in the 3m springboard synchro with partner Kassidy Cook last night, could not maintain her medal winning form tonight and finished in fifth 1.5 points behind Sanchez. Canada’s Jennifer Abel had another disappointing night, after finishing fifth in the 3m springboard synchro she could not produce her best and faded to sixth place.

China continued their domination of the competition with a solid win in the next event, the men’s 3m springboard synchro final. The pairing of Qin Kai and Luo Yutong were never bested, going straight into top spot and staying there throughout the competition. Their only dive which was not the highest scoring was in round 4 when the Ukrainian pair of Oleksyi Prygorov and Illya Kvasha performed the top dive of the night, scoring 91.20 points.

The Ukranians recovered from a low scoring first dive to settle into second place, only being edged into third by the surprising performance of Mexico’s Yahel Castillo and Julian Sanchez on the last dive. The Mexicans performed well throughout the session, and were delighted to take the silver. Castillo said “We haven’t been diving together long, this is only the third or fourth time we have competed together and we are very happy and surprised to get the silver”.

Germany’s Patrick Hausding and Stephan Feck could not quite meet the standard required to be in the medals and had to settle for fourth. The Russian pair of Illya Zakharov and Evgeny Kuznetsov improved with each dive but gave the rest of the field too much of a start and finished fifth, 3.26 points ahead of Great Britain’s Nicholas Baker Robinson and Christopher Mears.

n the next final, the women’s 10m platform synchro, Chen Ruolin and Wang Hao showed diving fans in Dubai why they are world champions with a resounding win. They performed the best dives of each and every round, to stay in the number 1 position throughout the competition.

The battle for the minor medals caught the crowd’s attention though, with three teams battling it out for silver and bronze. Malaysian pairing of Pandelela Rinong Pamg and Mun Yee Leong were able to put it together when it counted and edged out Canada’s Meaghan Benefieto and and Roseline Filion by just .42 of a point to take the silver. Early challengers Paola Espinosa and Alejandra Orozco were neck and neck with the Chinese team until they dropped away with their third dive, and even a solid last dive was not enough to put them back in the medals, missing out by .87 of a point.

Germany’s Christin Steuer and Nora Subschinski were only 6.56 points behind in fifth, with Tonia Couch and Sarah Barrow of Great Britain finishing in sixth and Ukrainians Iuliia Prokopchuk and Viktoriya Potyekhina in seventh.

The men’s 10m platform final provided a suitably dramatic finish for the event with the battle of the teenage sensations Qiu Bo and Tom Daley taking centre stage. After qualifying second for the final, crowd favourite Daley of the UK was carrying the weight of expectation that he would be the one and only diver to break the Chinese dominance of the entire competition. After taking top spot with his first dive, and Qiu Bo of China taking third after David Boudia, Qiu kicked it up a gear and went into first where he stayed for the remainder fo the competition.  Daley was unable to break his hold and finished in second by almost 30 points.

The teenagers did not have it all their own way however, with the US’s David Boudia producing the highest scoring dive of the night with a 105.45 in the third round, to eventually take the bronze by a convincing margin from Russian Victor Minibaev. The US’ Nick McCrory could not repeat his performance in the semi finals and faded to fifth ahead of Sascha Klein of Germany

Daley was very positive about his result, saying “I have a lot of room to improve in some of my dives, I will just keep working on that, I know I can get there”.  “Qui Bo is a very strong diver and is doing well every single competition, but I will just keep working on some of my mistakes and work to get myself closer to getting 10s, and train towards perfection, and to Qui Bo”.

Despite winning gold Qui Bo is well aware that he is the target of the other divers, saying “I made some mistakes tonight and I will head back to China and work harder, especially on my reverse dives” he said. “I think the pressure is good for me, it makes me work so I get to the point where I can win every time. I will pay less attention to the pressure and more to my performance and training”.

“This has been a wonderful weekend of world class diving and we are thrilled to have had the best in the world compete here in our very first diving competition in the UAE” said Dr Ahmed Al Sharif, Secretary General of the Dubai Sports Council. “It has been a great introduction to diving for Dubai and we hope to see the divers back here again soon” he added.

Ahmed Al Falasi, President of the UAE Swimming Federation was also delighted with the competition saying “We are very fortunate to have experienced such amazing competition, and I hope that this will be the beginning of the development of diving in Dubai”. “We have enjoyed hosting these teams of very talented athletes and we look forward to seeing them compete here again” he added.

FINA Executive Director Cornel Marculescu was full of praise for the events organizers. "Yet again Dubai has hosted a wonderful competition" he said. "This venue is fantastic, one of the best in the world, and the organizing committee have once again put on a successful event which we have all enjoyed. Thank you, Dubai".

From Press Release by Sarah Marks

Foto: Men's Synchro 3M Springboard Gold Medallists Kai QIN and Yatong LUO (CHN)

10M Men’s Platform Medallists: Thomas DALEY (GBR) - silver, Bo QIU (CHN) - gold, & David BOUDIA (USA) - bronze

(fina)