Fina World Championship 2013: Golden 10m triumph for Qiu

LONCAT INDAH, Bo Qiu retained his 10m crown in spectacular style, defeating Olympic gold medallist David Boudia of the USA to bring China their ninth diving title out of 10 on offer at the FINA World Championships. Qiu uncorked two dives worth more than 100 points as well as a barrage of perfect 10 marks from the judges in a master class from the 10m tower. Qiu, the first man to retain the world platform crown since Russia's Dmitry Sautin in 1998, began inauspiciously in the first round after a shaky semi-final but only two of his six final dives turned out to be worth less than 99 points. 

Qiu, Olympic silver medallist behind Boudia at the London Games, amassed a colossal 581.00 points to win by a vast 63.60 points from Boudia (517.40). The American dived consistently but had to settle for the silver behind Qiu for the second successive World Championships. Germany's Sascha Klein, who shared gold with Patrick Hausding in the 10m synchro, the only title to escape China at the Montjuic Municipal Pool, finished third with 508.55 points, repeating the world bronze he achieved in 2011. Tom Daley of Great Britain, the 2009 world champion ahead of Qiu, held third spot for two rounds in the middle of the competition but faded to sixth (470.60). Olympic bronze medallist Daley has been plagued by injury and said he had been happy just to make the final. It was China's fifth men's 10m win in 15 editions of the championships.

Fina World Championship 2013: He claims second Barcelona gold

LONCAT INDAH, Zi He claimed her second gold medal of the FINA World Championships when she added the 3m springboard title to the 1m crown she won five days earlier. He emerged triumphantly from the shadows of her illustrious predecessors Jingjing Guo and Minxia Wu and swooped to China's eighth Barcelona diving title out of nine so far contested, with one final still to come. It was China's seventh successive win in the event, following Guo's unique set of five and the 2011 victory of Wu, who did not defend her individual title in Barcelona but won a 3m synchro gold medal for the sixth time.

He, world and Olympic 3m silver medallist behind Wu in 2011 and 2012, amassed 383.40 points from her five final dives for a clearcut victory ahead of Chinese team-mate Han Wang (356.25) and Canada's Pamela Ware (350.25). Wang, who already had a 1m silver and two 1m bronzes in her world championship medal collection, claimed her first medal on the 3m board in China's fifth one-two in the event.

15th FINA World Championships 2013: Clash of titans in Men’s 10m platform

LONCAT INDAH, 10m platform is diving's hottest event at the 15th FINA World Championships. Today the stands at Montjuïc Swimming Pool were full despite the high temperatures. The podium this time was the same as in Shanghai 2011: Qiu Bo (CHN) earned gold, David Boudia (USA) won the silver medal, and the bronze was awarded to Sascha Klein (GER), ratifying their current titles

The figures of the final show that Qiu Bo kept the lead throughout the competition obtaining the highest scores while Boudia and Klein were fighting to stay in 2nd and 3rd place each round. Qiu Bo marked a distance to Boudia with 63.60 points and 72.45 to Klein. 'Considering that I was not in my best shape before the Olympics, and also had many injuries after, I think that everyone could see that I have worked very hard. Today I got my reward', said the Chinese diver.

Bo's final score was 581.00, obtaining more than 90 points in five rounds out of six. Fifth round was the best one (110.70) after performing backward dive with four-and-a-half somersaults. Boudia was in the first position in the two first rounds but ended up winning the silver medal (517.40). 'It's been a hard year for me. After the gold in London 2012 and getting married, being back to competing has been tough. To me World Championships check how much I've worked, and which dives I need to improve".

The bronze made Klein keep on fighting until round 5, where he ranked third (508.55). 'It's been a difficult year to me too. I've been injured and it's been only a few months ago that I started training. I'm very happy with my workout and very proud with today's bronze'.

Mexico's Germán Sánchez and Iván García also fought for climbing up on the podium and getting a new bronze medal, but the level was too high and they could not make it. Sánchez, ranked fourth, finished only 2.2 points behind the bronze medal.

The British diver Thomas Daley, who made diving popular on an international level and is a specialist in the 10m platform, arrived injured to the 15th FINA World Championships. This meant that he only finished in sixth place with 470.60 points. "It has been one of the most painful experiences of my life. Despite the injury I wanted to compete but it has been frustrating not to be able to fight for the podium".

With this triumph Qiu Bo has become the second man to win a medal in three World Championships in the 10m platform, he achieved the silver in Rome 2009 and the gold in the following two championships. The first to achieve this feat was Greg Louganis (USA).

Even though David Boudia had reserved all his energies for this event, Sasha Klein collected his second gold in Barcelona 2013, after already having won the 10 m synchronised platform.

China and all of its divers have established themselves as the one to beat for the rest of the countries. They have only lost one of the ten events disputed and have achieved nine gold medals, three silver and two bronze. Wenjin Zhao, coach of the team, confessed that Barcelona 2013 "has been a really special place to compete but now it´s time to return home and continue competing on a national level".

Asked about the possibility of seeing them compete from 27m platform like in the high diving, the three medallists laugh and shake their head. They confirm "10 metres is already high enough" and although Boudia clarified that "in reality the jumps are the same as ours with a bit of variation of movement" he isn't going to dare try it.

FINA World Championships 2013: Zi He denies Cagnotto in close 1m duel

LONCAT INDAH INDONESIA-Zi He, an Olympic gold medallist last year, reclaimed the women's world 1m springboard  title in a desperately close duel with European champion Tania Cagnotto, overtaking the Italian on the last dive of the final to win by just one-tenth of a point, the smallest margin in any diving event in the history of the World Championships. Cagnotto, who led through three of the five rounds of dives, could not have come closer in her bid to scoop Italy's first World Championship diving gold in 38 years since Klaus Dibiasi won the men's 10m title at the first two editions in 1973 and 1975.

Cagnotto, silver medallist in the 3m synchro springboard at these championships, was poised tantalisingly close to gold, having led at the end of the penultimate round by five points, but saw it snatched away by He, who unfurled the highest score of the final with a reverse 1-1/2 somersaults and 1-1/2 twists which earned her 66.30 points.That sealed China's fourth title out of five thus far contested in Barcelona, He winning with 307.10 points, with Cagnotto having to settle for silver on 307.00 and He's Chinese team-mate Han Wang, who collected the bronze in 2009 and silver in 2011, taking bronze on 297.75.

FINA World Championships 2013: Qin and He triumph in 3m synchro final

LONCAT INDAH INDONESIA-Double Olympic champion Kai Qin clinched an unprecedented fourth successive men's 3m synchro springboard gold, triumphing with new partner Chong He, himself a former winner of the event, and maintaining China's winning ways at the FINA World Championships.The victory was China's fifth in six diving finals so far contested in the Montjuic Municipal Pool and the second of the day, following Zi He's narrow win over Italy's Tania Cagnotto in the women's 1m springboard final. Qin and He led throughout to amass 448.86 points and win by 20.85 points but it was not an entirely straightforward victory on a day when none of the pairs was immune from error.

Russia's Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilia Zakharov, silver medallists behind Qin and Yutong Luo at the 2011 Worlds and 2012 Olympics, had to settle for silver again (428.01), while Mexicans Jahir Ocampo and Rommel Pacheco proved steadier than some of their more fancied rivals to take bronze (422,79). Zakharov, who beat Qin and He for the 3m individual gold at the 2012 Olympics, and Kuznetsov were seeking to emulate fellow countrymen Alexander Dobroskok and Dmitry Sautin, the only non-Chinese duo to win the event when they prevailed in 2003. But they could not prevent the Chinese from making it seven wins in eight editions of the World Championships.

FINA Open Water World Championships, Day 4: Zi He denies Cagnotto in close 1m duel

LONCAT INDAH INDONESIA-Zi He, an Olympic gold medallist last year, reclaimed the women's world 1m springboard  title in a desperately close duel with European champion Tania Cagnotto, overtaking the Italian on the last dive of the final to win by just one-tenth of a point, the smallest margin in any diving event in the history of the World Championships. Cagnotto, who led through three of the five rounds of dives, could not have come closer in her bid to scoop Italy's first World Championship diving gold in 38 years since Klaus Dibiasi won the men's 10m title at the first two editions in 1973 and 1975.

Cagnotto, silver medallist in the 3m synchro springboard at these championships, was poised tantalisingly close to gold, having led at the end of the penultimate round by five points, but saw it snatched away by He, who unfurled the highest score of the final with a reverse 1-1/2 somersaults and 1-1/2 twists which earned her 66.30 points.That sealed China's fourth title out of five thus far contested in Barcelona, He winning with 307.10 points, with Cagnotto having to settle for silver on 307.00 and He's Chinese team-mate Han Wang, who collected the bronze in 2009 and silver in 2011, taking bronze on 297.75.

He partnered Minxia Wu to gold in the 3m synchro at the 2012 London Olympics, where she also took silver in the individal event, repeating the tally she achieved at the 2011 Worlds in Shanghai. He, the top qualifier from the preliminary round, seized the lead in the first round of the final ahead of Cagnotto and Wang but the 28-year-old Italian, the oldest finalist, overtook her in the second, as Wang dropped to seventh. Cagnotto stayed in front in the third round, with He inching closer and Wang back in the top three but nearly 12 points behind the leader. Cagnotto slightly increased her advantage but there was no change in the order in the fourth round, by which time the destination of the medals looked almost sure to be settled between the top trio, Canada's then fourth-placed Pamela Ware having fallen off the pace.

It was the fifth Chinese victory in the event at the World Championships since the illustrious Min Gao won the first edition in 1991. Cagnotto went into the final having been four times a bronze medallist - three times in the 3m individual event and once, at the last Worlds in 2011, on the 1m board- as well as Silver medallist in the 3m synchro in 2009 and here in 2013. But gold, so near, was to elude her once more.

Gold Medal: Zi He (CHN)

“I was a bit surprised with the victory, but I am obviously very happy. Wang and I performed very consistently and the outcome was highly positive. Before the last dive, I was really nervous because the notes were very close. I managed to remain concentrated and I got the gold”.

On this being the tightest difference in the history of World Championships between the gold and silver medallist: “I couldn’t imagine! Knowing that, I even give more value to my gold medal!”

Silver Medal: Tania Cagnotto (ITA)

“I am really satisfied with this silver, taking into account my last year. After the London Olympics, I took a break, and I came here not so well prepared as in previous major competitions. I have already two silver medals, so I am thrilled! Moreover, it was the first time I got so close from the Chinese- this is a good sign, I am getting closer to them…”

“I got nervous going to the last dive, as I had a real opportunity of getting my first world title. I finally remained calm, but the dive was not perfect”.

On the tight finish: “It’s a kind of experience for me… In London, I lost the bronze medal by 0.20, here I lose the gold by 0.10… At the Games, I was really disappointed, here I am happy. Diving results shouldn’t be so close, because sometimes it hurts…”

“I know that perhaps I won’t have many future opportunities to get the gold, and it’s a bit pity that I lost this chance, but considering my preparation in these last months, it’s even better than what I expected”.  

Bronze Medal: Han Wang (CHN)

“I worked very much for this result and the effort paid off. The conditions were a bit difficult – wind and heat – but the divers are able to overcome all challenges”.

FINA World Championships 2013: Li retains world 1m springboard title

LONCAT INDAH INDONESIA-Shixin Li became the first man to retain the world 1m springboard crown, stretching China's hold on the event and bringing the leading diving nation its second World Championship title in three days. But China, who had claimed gold and silver in the 1m event for the last three World Championships, were denied a second medal as European champion Illya Kvasha of Ukraine and Alejandro Chavez of Mexico claimed silver and bronze.

Li trailed for the first four rounds of the six-round final but was always in contention, finally seizing the lead in the fifth round with an excellent inward 2.5 somersaults.

FINA World Championships 2013: Fourth world 10m synchro gold for Chen

LONCAT INDAH INDONESIA-Olympic champion Ruolin Chen swooped to her fourth successive world 10m synchro gold medal when she partnered Huixia Liu to victory to bring China their third diving title in the first three days of the FINA World Championships.Chen, twice double Olympic champion in 10m individual and synchro, was diving at the Worlds with her fourth different partner but the result was the same as it had been at the last three editions of the championships: top spot on the podium by a big margin.

Diving against the stunning backdrop of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia basilica, with the city of Barcelona spread beneath, Chen and Liu flew high in a class of their own, soaring to gold with 356.28 points from their five final dives.Experience counted as Canada's Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion, bronze medallists at the 2005 Worlds and the 2012 Olympics, took the silver(331.41) and Malaysia's Pandelela Rinong Pamg and Mun Yee Leong, world bronze medallists in 2009, bronze again (331.14).

Diving - Double Gold for China at Montjuïc Municipal Swimming Pool

Diving - Double Gold for China at Montjuïc Municipal Swimming Pool

FINA World Championships Barcelona 2013: Germany snatches the men´s 10 m synchronised title from China

LONCAT INDAH INDONESIA-Sasha Klein and Patrick Hausding have ended China´s seven year reign in the diving competition today at 15th FINA World Championships. The Russian partnership made up of Victor Minibaev and Artem Chesakov went up to second place after a tough fight with the Mexican pair

Excitement until the last round of dives is the only way to describe what happened today at the Municipal Swimming Pools in Montjuïc. Yuan Cao and Yanquan Zhang had come to ratify the title they had owned since Melbourne 2007, but the German partnership was not prepared to give up the possibility of getting gold and the Russians were going to give their all until the end. There was not just a fight for the first two places but also for third and fourth place. The Chinese and the Aztec pair consisting of Germán Sánchez e Iván García fought until the last round for the chance to get on the podium.

The German partnership reached the highest place on the podium with 461.46 points. It seems that the city of Barcelona does not bring much luck to the Chinese team as they repeated the third position that they also had to be happy with in Barcelona 2003. Going over the final scores shows the potency of Minibaev and Chesakov to climb the positions in the qualification and finish with 445.95 points. Cao and Zhang were only 0.39 tenths apart and finished with 445.56.

“We can´t believe that the dream has come true. We are really happy, and we don´t know what to say. The dream has come true. We have the positive feeling, and positive motivation for the next competitions”, have declared both German divers after his sensational performance.

Klein and Hausding achieved the best score in the last round and the judges gave them a score of 96.12 for execution for their backwards dive with two and a half somersaults and two and a half twists entering the water head first. The Chinese pair executed the same exercise in the last round and were awarded 99.36 but it was not enough to reach the Russian duo in second place despite the fact that in the same round and with the same dive they had got 88.56 points.

The duel from the 10 metre platform will be repeated on an individual level in the preliminaries and semifinals on the 27th July with the big final taking place on 28th July.

Tomorrow the Montjuïc Municipal Swimming Pools will open its doors again to spectators for the preliminary round of the women´s 10 m synchronised (10.00 am – 12.45 pm) and two finals: men´s 1 m springboard (2.00 pm – 3.25 pm) and women´s 10 m synchronized (5.30 pm – 6.50 pm).

Facts & Features:

Germany's Sascha Klein and Patrick Hausding won the gold medal in the Men's 10m Platform Synchro event, providing a stunning start to the men's diving competition at the 2013 Aquatics World Championships. China, which had won all 10 events in Shanghai two years ago, will not provide another clean sweep.

Germany won their first gold medal in Diving events at the World Championships. Since Germany's reunification, their divers had won silver medals but until today never a gold.

China's divers came third in this event. It was only the second time in the history of the Aquatics World Championships that no Chinese pairing made it into the top two of one of the Synchro events. In this very event in 2003, also in Barcelona, Australia took gold and Ukraine collected silver, as China were made to settle for bronze.

China have dominated this event in World Championships history, winning a medal in all seven previous World Championship editions in which this event was held, collecting five gold, one silver and one bronze medal.

FINA World Championship 2013: China’s Wu Minxia makes history in first Diving final of Barcelona 2013

LONCAT INDAH INDONESIA-Under the eyes of many fans at the Montjuïc Municipal Pool, main competition of the 15th FINA World Championships Barcelona 2013, Wu Minxia claimed the first diving gold medal in the 3m springboard synchro today. The Chinese star has only missed out on winning the event in 2005, at the World Champs in Montreal, where she did not compete

In the preliminary round (morning session), Wu Minxia and Shi Tingamo took the lead with 334.20 points. The Italian duet formed by Tania Cagnotto and Francesca Dallape finished second ahead of Canada’s up-and-coming stars Jennifer Abel and Pamela Ware.

In the evening, China and Italy showed brilliant performances keeping the crowd well entertained at the Montjuïc Municipal Pool.

In the end, China kept the lead with 338.40 points, followed on the first diving podium by Italy (307.80) and Canada (292.08).

With the triumph, Wu Minxia has added another gold medal to her impressive career, earning the sixth gold medal in the same event at the World Championships (fourth consecutive title). “I am very happy to win another gold medal with my third partner,” she said. “We have worked very hard and communicated very well.”