DIVING WORLD SERIES DWS 2013, Dubai day 3: China finish with a gold rush

Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – LONCAT INDAH INDONESIA - China returned to the top of the podium tonight to take out the final two events on the competition programme at this year’s FINA/Midea Diving World Series Dubai. After the shock result last night when China was beaten into third in the men’s 3m springboard finals, China reasserted themselves as the world leaders with commanding performances in both  the men’s and women’s 10m platform finals.

In the women’s final, the dual world and Olympic champion Chen Ruolin continued her spectacular form, taking her second gold of the meet to go with the 10m synchro gold she won with partner Liu Huixia on Thursday. As is customary for her, Roulin took the lead with her first dive and produced another consistent display to finish the competition with 403.85, 21.95 points clear of second placed Meaghan Benfeito (CAN).

Benfeito achieved the consistency she had been aiming for with every dive scoring in the 70s, finishing with 381.90, taking her second silver for the competition after finishing in the same position with partner Roseline Filion in the 10m synchro. 

Benfeito was delighted with the result, saying: “I am feeling more confident, after the qualifying I re-set myself and just focussed on the corrections my coach suggested. My goal now is to get 400 points, if I do that I should be able to win. I have had a great time here, I love it here in Dubai and this pool is amazing”.

It was a tight tussle for the bronze with Brittany Broben of Australia sitting in third position until a superb 407C inward 2 ½ somersault tuck from Russia’s Yulia Koltunova in Round 4 which topscored for the competition, pushed Broben into fourth. Broben produced the best dive of the round in the final round, finishing with 369.80, but fell short of a medal by 1.75 points, with Koltunova finishing with 371.05. Like Ruolin and Benfeito, Koltunova’s bronze was also her second after placing third in the 10m synchro.

Malaysia’s Pandelela Pamg finished fifth with 353.50, and Canada’s Roseline Filion finished sixth with 289.15.

The men’s final was a breathtaking display of world class diving which delighted the crowds. China’s Aisen Chen took the early lead, with a brilliant 102.60 for his first dive, a 6245D back armstand double with 2 ½ twists to take a 19.40 point lead, which he then extended with his second dive which earned him three tens for a total of 95.70.

A perfect scoring dive from Chen’s team mate Lin Yue in round 3 wowed the appreciative audience and earned him 108.00 for his 207B 3 ½ back somersault pike. This pushed Lin to within 5 points of Chen. Lin continued to apply the pressure, taking the lead in the fourth round and despite a near perfect dive from Chen in the final round which scored him 108.00, he could not catch Lin, and finished on 571.50 to Lin’s 586.90.

A delighted Lin Yue said later: “I am satisfied with my results here (two golds) but there is still some room for improvement. I want to do better, especially in Barcelona (2013 FINA World Championships in July)”.

The race for the minor medals saw some spectacular performances with Ivan Garcia of Mexico  topscoring in round two to move into third place. However he faltered badly on his next dive, scoring only 34.85 which put him out of contention for a medal, finishing fifth with 451.15. 

Victor Minibaev of Russia started strongly and was in second position going into round three but the brilliant dive of Lin Yue pushed him into third. Consistent diving saw him hold on for the bronze with 538.05. Minibaev said later: “I have to work harder and train harder to beat the Chinese, but I have really enjoyed it here in Dubai”. 

Artem Chesakov of Russia started slowly and despite his top scoring dive in round five he could not catch Minibaev and finished in fourth with 495.25.

The FINA/Midea Diving World Series continues in Edinburgh (GBR) on April 19-21, then moves to Moscow (RUS), then Guadalajara, Mexico before the final leg in Mexico City on May 24-26.

DIVING WORLD SERIES 2013: Dubai day 2: China loses gold in the men's 3m springboard

Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – LONCAT INDAH INDONESIA - China suffered a rare defeat tonight in the finals of the men’s 3m springboard, with Illya Kvasha of Ukraine taking the gold, and Javier Garcia Illana the silver in an upset defeat of reigning world champion He Chong.

Chong predictably took the lead with his first dive, but uncharacteristically faltered on his second to drop to third. Kvasha top scored for the competition on his second dive with 96.90, stamping his authority on the event and never letting go. A solid 91.00 for his third dive put He Chong back into second and by the fourth round he was only 6.80 points behind Kvasha, but the Ukrainian had a superb night, keeping his nerves under control and putting together a consistent performance to retain the lead and cause the upset of the competition, finishing with 493.40.

Kvasha, clearly delighted with his performance, said later: “Each dive wasn’t perfect tonight, but they were good and Chong made more mistakes than me. We should remember the Chinese are human not machines and they can be beaten. I didn’t think about beating him, just about making each dive and it worked

Chong struggled to display the level of perfection usually associated with Chinese divers and after finishing the fifth round in second dropped to third on his last dive, finishing with 466.35, just 1.85 points behind Javier Illana Garcia of Spain. Chong said: “I haven’t been working on my single diving enough, I have spent a lot of time on synchro and I need to work more on individual dives and have competition practice”.

Illana Garcia was elated with his medal, saying: “This is my first medal and my first silver in my international career, I always make finals but never win medals so this is great. I aimed for consistency tonight, and it worked”. This medal is going to my family, they always support me,” he added.

After qualifying just behind He Chong in this morning’s semi final Patrick Hausding of Germany was expected to perform well but also suffered with inconsistency, finishing in fourth with 449.10. Troy Dumais of the USA also looked threatening early on but also slipped back to fifth with 427.95, ahead of Christopher Mears (GBR) who finished with 423.30.

Earlier in the evening the script for the Chinese team ran to plan with 2012 Olympic Silver medallist He Zi taking out the women’s 3m springboard final in commanding fashion.

He Zi was a picture of the customary Chinese perfection on every dive, scoring in the 70s on each dive except for her fourth where she top scored for the competition with 83.70, giving her a total of 391.20.  Jennifer Abel of Canada started well, but faltered slightly on her third dive to drop back to 5th. She had a medal firmly in her sights though and put together two more solid dives to take silver by 4.8 with 309.30 ahead of Olena Fedorova of Ukraine who finished with 304.50

Abel was thrilled to take silver to go with the bronze she won yesterday in the 3m synchro event, and was particularly pleased with her fourth dive which put her back in contention for a medal. 

After not medalling in Dubai in 2012 Abel said: “Last year was an Olympic year and the pressure was on to pre-qualify and I got nervous. This year I’m much more relaxed, I’ve changed some of my techniques and I’m doing better”.

Fedorova was in second position until a 58.50 on her final dive cost her the silver. After just missing a medal in the synchro last night by only .9, Fedorova said the difference for her tonight was: “I was angry, so I concentrated more. But this means more to me because it is an individual medal.” Laura Sanchez of Mexico started well sitting in second place in rounds two and three but missed the bronze by 2.70 points.

Hannah Starling of Great Britain was appearing in her first World Series final and by the third round had climbed to third but could not hang on and finished fifth with 282.45, ahead of Jaele Patrick of Australia, who finished with 280.95.

After a thrilling night of exciting competition the large crowd was also treated to a visit by football legend Maradona who presented the medals for the men’s final. 

The action continues tomorrow at the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Sports Complex, with the final day of competition featuring the 10m platform semi finals from 10-12noon, followed by the finals from 5-7pm. The Jerobeam Diving clowns will also be performing again at 4.15pm. (fina)

Dubai day 1: China starts with golden display

Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - LONCAT INDAH INDONESIA,- The seemingly invincible Chinese diving team kicked off their FINA/Midea Diving World Series Dubai 2013 campaign this morning in their usual manner, taking the first two gold medals on offer in convincing fashion.

The first session on the competition program provided a breathtaking display of world class diving, much to the delight of several hundred schoolchildren who came to the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Sports Complex to see multiple world and Olympic champions in action.

The first event on the programme was the women’s 10m synchro platform final and the Chinese team of Chen Ruolin and Liu Huixia were hot favourites. Even though they are a new pairing they took gold in the first round of the FINA/Midea Diving World Series in Beijing last weekend, establishing themselves as the team to beat. They did not disappoint, taking the lead with their first dive and never letting it slip, finishing with 353.04, their last two dives both scoring 83.52.

The pair have only been diving together for two months, and Chen Roulin later said: “We are feeling better together now, as we get to know each other better. We are learning to understand each other more”.

Their biggest threat was from Canada’s diminutive duo of Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion, who performed solidly, eventually finishing with the silver medal, with 331.44, 21.60 points behind the Chinese. The Canadians were very happy with their performance, Benfeito saying: “This was a stronger performance than in Beijing, there our dives were shakier individually and here we were much better synchronised”. “We had three months off after the Olympics so we’re happy with this”.

The pair, who took bronze in London, are aiming for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Filion said: “With a lot of hard work and training we can take the gold”.

After a slow start sitting in fifth place for the first two dives the Russian team of Yulia Koltunova and Natalia Goncharova put in three dives scoring in the 70s to finish with the bronze with 315.36.

Malaysia’s Pandelela Pamg Rinong and partner Mun Yee Leong finished in fourth with 307.26 after sitting in third for the first three rounds. Rebecca Gallantree and Jenny Cowen from Great Britain finished in fifth with 288.42, ahead of Mexico’s Alejandra Orozco and Carolina Mendoza who couldn’t match their fourth place performance in Beijing and finished sixth with 281.28.

The second event of the morning was the men’s 10m synchro platform and again the Chinese dominated from the outset. Lin Yue and Chen Aisen have only been diving together for one month and were not as happy with this performance as they were with their Beijing result. “We did better in Beijing, we had a few mistakes in synchro today and need to train together more” said Lin Yue. 

Their second dive (401B, Inward dive pike) scored the first tens of the competition from both of the execution judges. Their top scoring dive of the day was 99.90 for a 109C (Forward 4 1/2 tuck), which gave them an unassailable lead and saw them finish with 490.95, 46.83 points ahead of the Russian team of Victor Minibaev and Artem Chesakov.

While finishing with a higher total pointscore here, the Russians were happier with their performance in Beijing.

“This is a new partnership and we are still getting comfortable with each other” said Minibaev, “we still need to put more work in”.

The Cuban pair of Jose Antonio Guerra and Jeinkler Aguirre finished with 417.39, 20.22 points more than in Beijing, a result that pushed them into the bronze medal position ahead of Ivan Garcia and Adan Zuniga of Mexico, who finished with 407.16

“We are delighted to see these amazing divers competing again in Dubai” said Ahmed Al Falasi, President of the UAE Swimming Federation. “It is exciting to see world class diving again, and we look forward to enjoying the competition over the next two and a half days” he added. (fina)

Loncat Indah Try-out di Barcelona

JAKARTA – LONCAT INDAH INDONESIA - Pemusatan latihan nasional (pelatnas) loncat indah akan mengikuti tiga turnamen uji coba di luar negeri guna persiapan sebelum menghadapi SEA Games XXVII Myanmar, Desember.

"Yang paling utama memang untuk semua tim akan try out di Barcelona, di bulan Juli yaitu Kejuaraan Akuatik Dunia," kata pelatih nasional loncat indah Harly Ramayani di Jakarta, Rabu (27/2).

Uji coba lainnya adalah kejuaraan kelompok umur di Malaysia pada April dan kemudian uji coba di Asian Youth Games yang akan dilangsungkan pada 16-24 Agustus di Nanjing, China.

Menurut Harly, Indonesia sudah sewajarnya ambil bagian di Kejuaraan Akuatik Dunia mengingat saingan terdekat tim Merah Putih di Asia Tenggara, Malaysia sudah kerap ikut serta dalam turnamen yang digelar Federasi Renang Internasional (FINA) tersebut.

Ia juga mengatakan kejuaraan loncat indah di kawasan Asia frekuensinya masih cukup rendah, oleh karena itu ambil bagian di Kejuaraan Akuatik Dunia yang akan berlangsung pada 19 Juli-4 Agustus2013 tersebut menjadi salah satu prioritas dengan target menaikkan peringkat serta mengukur kekuatan sesama negara Asia Tenggara.

Atlet loncat indah Indonesia pada Kejuaraan Atletik Dunia 2011 di Shanghai ambil bagian di enam nomor yaitu papan satu meter individual putra, menara individual putra, papan tiga meter berpasangan putra, menara berpasangan putra, papan satu meter individual putri dan papan tiga meter individual putri.

Prestasi terbaik atlet Indonesia di Kejuaraan Atletik Dunia 2011 adalah menempati peringkat ke-17 di babak penyisihan nomor menara berpasangan putra melalui Muhammad Nasrullah dan Husaini Noor.

Sementara itu di babak penyisihan nomor papan tiga meter putra, pasangan Andriyan dan Luthfi Niko Abdillah hanya menduduki peringkat ke-18.

Kemudian di nomor menara individual putra, papan satu meter individual putri, papan satu meter individual putra dan papan tiga meter individual putri masing-masing menempati peringkat 30, 35, 38 serta 39.

Meski demikian, Harly menyebutkan setidaknya ada dua uji coba yang akan diikuti atlet pelatnas loncat indah di kawasan Asia walaupun hanya terbatas untuk para atlet junior.

DWS 2013, Beijing day 3: Chen (CHN) untouchable in 10m platform, China captures 8 golds on offer

Chen 10 m

Beijing, CHINA – LONCAT INDAH INDONESIA - Four-time Olympic champion Ruolin Chen won the women's 10m platform in convincing fashion, leading with more than 40 points ahead of her rivals, sealing China's complete golden sweep on day 3 of the FINA/Midea Diving World Series at Beijing's Water Cube on March 17, 2013.

Chen, who claimed the 10m platform title at both the Beijing and London Olympic Games, dominated the final to win the gold with 403.75 points. Canadian Meaghan Benfeito came second with 362.25 points while Malaysia's Pandelela Rinong Pamg took third with 337.75 points.

"I am satisfied with my performance today. It's my first major competition after the London Games and I wanted to do my best in each dive. I was not confident before the event because I did not train much these days," Chen said.

"I know it is hard to beat the Chinese divers, because they are very strong and their dives are beautiful. I tried my best today, I am happy with the silver," Benfeito said.

Chinese Yue Lin tasted his first individual victory at international level since 2008 as he and Aisen Chen finished 1-2 in the men's 10m platform.

Lin, 2008 Olympic champion in the synchro platform, scored 555.55 points after performing six stable dives to claim the title. Young teammate Chen earned more than 100 points for two of his dives, collecting an overall 551.55 points while Russian Victor Minibaev took the bronze medal with 499.35 points.

"I had not competed for both individual and synchro in a single meet for more than four years. There were some mistakes in my dives today and I was nervous in the final," said Lin.

"I still need to improve my high DD compared with my younger teammate Chen and other competitive rivals," he added. 

On competing at the Water Cube, Minibaev said: "The conditions here are very good. I like it very much!"

Russia's Artem Chesakov finished fourth while Mexico's Ivan Garcia injured his right ankle and withdrew from the final after his second dive. (fina)

DWS 2013, Beijing: Chinese divers sweep synchro events on day 1

Beijing, CHINA – LONCAT INDAH INDONESIA - Spearheaded by Olympic champions Minxia Wu, Ruolin Chen, Kai Qin and Chong He and some fresh faces of the traditional diving powerhouse, China's divers swept the four synchronised diving events on day 1 of the FINA/Midea Diving World Series at Beijing's Water Cube on March 15, 2013.

With a record of six Olympic diving medals, Wu, who partnered with Olympic champion Zi He in synchro events, now combines with 1m springboard World champion Tingmao Shi. And it proved to be a winning combination for the Chinese as they claimed victory with a margin of 30.81 points ahead of silver medallists Alicia Blagg/Rebecca Gallantree of Britain, who totalled 305.79 points. The bronze went to Ukrainians Olena Fedorova/Anna Pysmenska with 305.79 points.

"Shi is a newcomer. We pair with each other because we have a similar rhythm. We train so hard and know each other better and better since we started training together for the synchro event. We hope we can be more synchronised in the future," Wu said.

Olympic champions Chong He and Kai Qin also partnered for the first time and took out the men's 3m springboard synchro with a total 468.90 points. The new pair met little challenge in the final as they pulled away the six other pairs competing after the first round and never looked back.

"This is our first international event as a pair, I'm happy to train together with Qin, who is my best friend," He said.

"Today's result is better than what we expected because we only trained with each other for one month."

Russians Evgeny Kuznetsov/Ilya Zakharov finished second with a margin of 38.58 behind the Chinese while Mexico's Yahel Castillo/Daniel Islas placed third with 396.15 points.

Olympic champion Ruolin Chen and new partner Huixia Liu were the best in the women's 10m platform synchro with 351.78 points.

"It's my first title at the Water Cube," said Liu. "My dives were not perfect but I'm so happy that we still won. I want to say thank you to my partner Chen."

Canadian duo Meaghan Benfeito/Roseline Filion was second with 316.71 points. Yulia Koltunova/Natalia Goncharova from Russia settled for the bronze with 316.56 points.
 

In the men's 10m platform synchro, Chinese pair Yue Lin/Aisen Chen carried the lead of the four-pair field until a decisive win, totalling 493.47 and beating runner-ups Victor Minibaev/Artem Chesakov of Russia by 53.82 points. Mexicans Ivan Garcia/Adan Zuniga picked up the bronze with 403.47 points.

"We did what we expected," said 2008 Olympic champion in the event Lin. "There were only four pairs in the final today but I think we all performed well." (fina)