Identical twins and a 16-year-old sensation helped the People’s Republic of China complete a memorable golden artistic swimming double in Doha.
Yang Shuncheng, who turns 17 later this month, pulled off a magnificent performance to take Men Solo Technical gold from the experienced Giorgio Minisini of Italy at the World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024.
His stunning display capped a brilliant day for China after Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi returned to the top of the Women Duet Technical podium.
Redemption for Wang twins in Women Duet Technical
Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyimissed out on a medal at Fukuoka 2023 but there was to be no mistake at the Aspire Dome as they swept to an impressive victory.
It is the pair’s eighth world title overall and second in the Qatari capital having been part of China’s success in the Mixed Team Acrobatic yesterday.
Seeking to reclaim the crown they last won at Budapest 2022, the Chinese sisters delivered a fantastic display that demonstrated precision, fluidity and synchronization in all of their elements.
Performing to the theme “Lotus”, the Asian Games champions produced beautiful choreography to gain 266.0484, including 161.0984 for elements and 104.9500 for artistic impression to a difficulty of 35.050.
“We hope that we will get a gold medal [at the Olympic Games] in Paris, it is our goal and we will work hard for this,” said Liuyi Wang.
They were the last to perform after Great Britain’s Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe held top spot with 259.5601.
Shortman and Thorpe earned 161.5601 for elements and 98.000 for artistic impression to a difficulty of 36.700 after a wonderful performance to the theme “Big Ben”.
Their timing was impeccable throughout, showcasing terrific height out of the water and producing fabulous rotations.
It is their first world medal as a pairing having also captured bronze at the European Games last year.
“The feeling today is indescribable because you've got to consider the years of training and what we’ve put in to get to this level,” said Shortman.
“We’ve been training together since seven years old, and we are now 22 years old.”
The top three in the preliminaries all finished on the podium with Spain’s Alisa Ozhogina Ozhogin and Iris Tio Casas claiming bronze.
The Spaniard duo were awarded 258.0333, including 156.4333 for elements and 101.6000 for artistic impression to a difficulty of 37.200 following a energetic performance to Michael Jackson’s Beat It.
“We are really happy with our performance,” said Tio Casas.
“We know we have a lot to improve as a duet but I think we deserve this podium today.”
Teenage sensation sparkles in Men Solo Technical
Last September, Yang was picking up gold in the Mixed Duet Free at the World Aquatics Youth Artistic Swimming Championships in Athens, Greece.
Just five months later, Yang is topping the podium at the World Aquatics Championships thanks to a performance of power and gracefulness that won over the judges.
Performing to the song The Cello Song by The Piano Guys, Yang captivated the Doha crowd with his strength and flexibility in the water to secure 246.4766, including 151.4766 for elements and 151.4766 for artistic impression to a difficulty of 34.200.
“When I saw the Italian competitor got a score higher than that, I felt super stressed,” said Yang.
“But I turned stress into motivation, to perform better. I had to make sure I had enough energy because my performance under water was a difficult one. I focused a lot on achieving high-quality performance on artistic impression compared to difficulty.”
Minisini, who is 11 years older than Yang, had put himself in pole position to win his first individual world title after receiving 149.3666 for elements and 95.9500 for artistic impression for a total score of 245.3166.
The Italian showcased great musicality in a display that was full of expression and personality to the song “Still Loving You” by Scorpions.
But the three-time duet world champion was denied by the Chinese star who held his nerve in the final performance of an entertaining evening.
“I think I can be more focused and more self-confident in the solo,” said Minisini.
“In competition, you do not look up to your rivals but Chinese competitors are very good at adapting to rules.
“They do their job very well but I think we can do even better.”
Colombia’s Gustavo Sanchez, who came fourth in the event at Fukuoka 2023, took the bronze after registering 231.0000, including 136.9500 for elements and 94.0500 for artistic impression.
He increased his difficulty to 32.000 after the preliminaries in his pursuit of a medal and he was rewarded after performing excellently to the theme “Dangerous Love”.
“This is a reward for the huge effort we have made as we didn’t stop training all December and January and it gives me a great satisfaction,” said Sanchez.
“In the final we tried to improve a lot the artistic impression because it was rather low in the qualification round, so we had to step it up, and also improve my movements and technique in order to reach for the winners’ podium.”