China Dominates First FINA Diving World Cup Stop in Xi’an with Sweep of Golds

CHANG Yani CHN, CHEN Yiwen CHN 3m Springboard Synchro Women Preliminary Diving FINA 19th World Championships Budapest 2022 Budapest, Duna Arena 03/07/22 Photo Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Chang Yani, and Chen Yiwen of China; Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

China Dominates First FINA Diving World Cup Stop in Xi’an with Sweep of Golds

China swept all nine gold medals and added two silvers in the first FINA Diving World Cup meet of the year in Xi’an, held last Friday through Sunday.

Only five nations look home medals, with Great Britain leading the rest with five silvers and two bronze. Germany secured a silver and four bronze, while Ukraine and Japan had two medals each.

Xi’an native Yang Hao led the way in men’s platform with a score of 574.40 points. For the 25-year-old, that was 56 points clear of Ukraine’s Oleksii Sereda and a preposterous 140 up on bronze-winner Rikuto Tamai of Japan. Yang and Junjie Lian teamed to win the 10-meter synchro with a score of 457.23.

The women’s platform provided the only compelling battled for gold of the meet, thanks to a pair of teens. Chen Yuxi reversed the placement from the Tokyo Games, this time getting the better of Quan Hongchan but just seven points. Chen, the elder stateswoman at 17, scored 431.20. Andrea Spendolini Sirieix of Great Britain was a distant third.

Chen and Quan teamed to dust the field in the synchro competition with 373.20 points, out front by nearly 60 points.

There was no catching Chen Yiwen in the women’s springboard. She tallied 392.70 points, well ahead of countrywoman Chang Yani. Chang was 56 points back of the reigning world springboard champ, with Japan’s Sayaka Mikami third, 90 points in arrears.

The Chinese divers paired to win gold in synchro with a score of 329.52. They beat the British duo of Scarlett Mew Jensen and Yasmin Harper by 48 points. Chen and Chang are the reining world champs from Budapest last year.

Wang Zongyuan continued his ascent as one of the best springboard divers in the world with two more gold medals. He thoroughly dominated the 3-meter field with a score of 553.15, the 21-year-old a monstrous 110 points clear of runner-up Jack Laugher of Britain. He teamed with Daoyi Long to win 3-meter synchro at 484.84, 69.99 points up on the field. (Laugher, with Anthony Harding, gleaned another silver.)

Wang won Olympic gold in synchro in Tokyo and was second to partner Xie Siyi in the individual competition. He’s since won the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard titles at Worlds in 2022 (he had won the shorter board at Worlds in 2019 as a teen) and 3-meter synchro.

China unsurprisingly romped in the team competition, representing both genders and heights. Yang, Chen Yuxi, Wang and Chen Yiwen won with 469.35. The Germans were second at 425.35, edging Great Britain by five points.

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