The battle for the minor medals was not so
clear cut with the positions changing regularly. Mexico’s Yahel Castillo would
be disappointed to miss a medal after sitting in second place coming into the
fifth round, but a strong performance from eventual silver medalist Zakharov
saw him post the highest score of the final with a 93.60 in the fifth round
which reversed the placings and pushed Castillo out of the medals. China’s Qin
Kai was trying to make it a one-two for China, but even a 93.10 point fifth
dive couldn’t lift him above third. After leading after the first round Evgeny
Kuznetsov could not maintain the consistency required and finished in fifth,
with USA’s Troy Dumais paying dearly for a poor last dive finishing sixth.
When asked later how he felt about the
competition, He said “I am very happy to have performed like this with only 2
days training here. I will be competing in all the series as this competition
is very good preparation for the Olympics.
The second final, the women’s 3m springboard
synchro saw the Chinese champion duo of Wu Minxia and He Zi take centre stage
with a solid performance which saw them take the top spot form the first dive
and stay there throughout the competition. The USA’s Christina Loukas and
Kassidy Cook overcame a slow start to take the silver medal with the Ukrainan
pair of Anna Pysmenska and Olena Fedorova recovering from a low scoring third
dive to regain and hold third place. Italy’s Fancesca Dallape and Tania
Cagnotto held onto fourth while Canada’s Emilie Heymans and Jennifer Abel would
have been disappointed to slip from second to fifth with a low scoring fifth
dive which cost them on synchro points. They pulled out a solid last dive but
missed fourth by just .90 points. The German team of Katja Dieckow and Uschi
Frietag rose to third at one stage but were never really in the medal hunt.
He Chong (CHN)
The men’s 10m platform synchro final featuring
crowd favourites Tom Daley and Pete Waterfield of the UK had the crowd
mesmerized as they witnessed s a stunning display of skill. The Chinese
partnership of Cao Yuan and Zhang Yanquan showed their dominance with a
flawless display which earned them the first and only 10 of the evening. They
immediately took the top spot and never relinquished it, even in the face of
some spectacular diving from the other teams.
Speaking at the press conference afterwards,
Cao Yuan said “We don’t think about the other teams, we only focus on what we
have to do”. Clearly this works for them and the crowd’s vocal support for the
UK team did not concern them. Daley and Waterfield were in second place after
two dives but dropped to sixth with their third dive. A superb 89.10 score in
the next round was the best of the round and pulled them back into third but
they could not repeat that and the next two dives saw them edged out of fourth
by a mere 1.44 points.
The Ukraine’s Oleksandr Gorshkovozov and
Oleksandr Bondar performed strongly and their consistency saw them move into
second place in round two, and stay there for the remainder of the competition.
Illya Zakharov backed up from his silver in the 3m springboard to pair with
Victor Minibaev to take the bronze. After a hesitant start the pair gradually
increased their placing and to just edge ahead of Daley and Waterfield in the
last round, who in turn managed to stay ahead of Patrick Hausding and Sascha
Klein by a mere .33 of a point.
The USA team of David Boudia and Nick McCrory started strongly and
looked to be challenging for the minor medals until poor dives in the fourth
and sixth rounds put them out of contention, finishing sixth. The Mexican pair
of Ivan Garcia and German Sanchez were outclassed and despite a strong dive in
the sixth round they sat in seventh place for the whole competition.
Wu Minxia and He Zi (CHN)
The last final of an action packed evening was the women’s 10m platform, and the crowd was treated to the most nail biting
session with the competition going down to the wire. Mexico’s Paola Espinosa
looked to be the strongest chance yet to break the Chinese domination, with
some brilliant dives which took her to within .40 of Chinese champion Chen
Roulin going into the last dive. While she produced a solid last dive Chen made
no mistakes and took the gold with a mere 3.60 margin. Malaysian sensation
Pandelela Pamg also challenged hard and produced some great dives to secure
third place, ahead of the UKs Tonia Couch who also looked to be in the medals
for much of the session. Canada’s Meaghan Benfeito dived will, producing the
best dive of the session with an 87.45 in the fifth round but couldn’t push her
way into the medals, finishing fifth.
Tiny Hu Yadan could not follow up a great semi
final this morning, and faded to sixth after missing her second dive and
dropping down the leader board.
Paola Espinosa said later “I am happy to have
come so close to the Chinese, and that my hard work with my coach is paying
off. This series helps with my training and gives me confidence for the
Olympics.” “I still want to improve and I believe we are getting closer to the
Chinese and anything can happen, I just need to focus on my strengths and
concentrate on getting better”.
FINA Executive Director Cornel Marculescu is
on hand to experience the first diving competition in Dubai and is full of
praise for the venue and for the vision of the organizers. “I want to thank the
UAE Swimming Federation and the Dubai Sports Council for staging this
competition, this is an amazing venue and I believe it sets a great example to
all other countries of what can be done” he said.
“This pool in one of a kind with the fully
equipped warm up and competition facilities for diving and I know the divers
are enjoying being here” he added. “It is a real pleasure for me to be in Dubai
for the third FINA event at this venue, and I am sure it will be another great
success”.
“We are very excited about welcoming the
competitors and teams to this first ever diving event in Dubai at the wonderful
Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex” said Ahmed al Falasi, President
of the UAE Swimming Federation. “The standard of diving is world class, and as
we have seen today, the crowd will be treated to some amazing displays of
talent and skill” he added.
From a Press Release by Sarah Marks