China Dominates During Day Two of FINA Diving World Cup

CHANGZHOU, China, June 3. CHINA's Olympic champion Qin Kai and new partner Luo Yutong won the men's 3m springboard synchro event on the second day (June 3, 2010) of the FINA Diving World Cup in Changzhou, China.

The pair Qin/Luo took the lead after their second dive and never looked back for the remaining of their four dives, winning with a total of 460.62 points. This is Qin's second synchro gold medal at the World Cup as he wrapped up the title together with Wang Feng in 2008 before they became Olympic champions in Beijing.

The American duo Troy Dumais/Kristian Ipsen took silver, totalling 440.01 points while Ukraine's Illya Kvasha/Oleks Prvgorov settled for the bronze with 432.30 points. The Canadian pair Alexandre Despatie/Reuben Ross finished just out of medal-range in fourth place while Russian diving czar Dmitry Sautin pairing with Yury Kunakov placed sixth.

Qin had paired with Zhang Xinhua at the FINA/Li-Ning Diving World Series earlier this year but changed with Luo five days before the World Cup. Qin, reigning champion of the World Cup, World Championships and Olympic Games, appeared fully satisfied with their performance: "We are happy with our performance since we only paired up for five days. My technique is very close to Luo's."

In the women's 10m platform event, China's 14-year-old rookie Hu Yadan upset two-time Olympic champion Chen Ruolin finishing on top of the list.

In her World Cup debut, Hu showed consistence by collecting eleven perfect 10s in her first two dives. She dominated the final from the start to the end and won her first world title in 452.80 points.

Ruolin Chen had to settle for silver with 437.20 points while Australia's Melissa Wu took bronze in 374.30. World champion Paola Espinosa of Mexico finished eighth in the final with 338.15 points.

Hu currently trains with the same coach as Chen in the national team. Following her performance, Hu expressed her surprise: "I have never thought about becoming champion until I reached the final. It's an unexpected victory. I still need to improve my consistence comparing to Chen."

She added: "I don't feel nervous during the competition. I think of my every dive, just like it's a normal training session."

After missing the gold at last year's World Championships and World Cup, 18-year-old Chen admitted:"I have experienced weight troubles while growing up. I hope I can compete in the platform event in 2012 while I start training more on the springboard."

The finals for the women's 10m platform synchro and men's 3m springboard events will be held on June 4, 2010.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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