In front of a full-house screaming audience all day, the Chinese divers captured all five gold medals on offer during the first day of the World Aquatics Diving World Cup–Super Final at the Water Cube on Friday in Beijing.
Men's 3m Springboard Synchro | Strong Synchronization Seals Victory for China’s Freshly Formed Duo
China's newly paired Zheng Jiuyuan/Hu Yukang, who teamed up at the beginning of 2025, led through all six dives and collected a total of 448.65 points. Anthony Harding/Jack Laugher of Britain took the silver medals in 434.88, and Lou Noel Guy Massenberg/Moritz
Wesemann of Germany came third, at 390.78, respectively.
"We want to say Thank You to the audience for their warm support and applause, which gave us courage and confidence. We performed our best today compared to the last two stops of the World Cup competitions," said the 20-year-old Zheng.
"We are new partners and are still learning how to get familiar with each other, such as pace, dive, and synchronization. We had a rusty start in Guadalajara, Mexico, with 413.16 and felt nervous in our last dive at the second stop in Windsor, Canada. This time, we felt much better in synchronization," Hu added.
Jack Laugher always enjoyed competing and seeing different cultures, food and people in China.
"Everything's great here. I love coming back here. I really, really enjoy being here and competing like it. Solid performance we pulled off today. We learned a lot from the first two stops of the World Cup, but we still don't have our full diving list back when we competed at the Paris 2024 Olympics. There's still time for that to come for the Singapore World Championships. A really good step forward," said the 30-year-old veteran Laugher.
Anthony Harding said he still struggles with his body from a long time off after the Paris Olympic Games. "I'm super proud of our bombs today. It gave me a lot of confidence knowing that a good dive would be rewarded," Harding said.
The German duo of Lou Noel Guy Massenberg and Moritz Wesemann held off the French pairing Gwendal Bisch and Jules Bouyer for bronze, by 12/100ths of a point, 390.78 to 390.66.
Women's 3m Springboard Synchro
Paris 2024 Olympic champions Chen Yiwen/Chang Yani met no substantial challenges on the way to the top podium, winning 323.13, beating Maddison Keeney/Alysha Koloi of Australia 297.75 and Yasmin Harper/Scarlett Mew Jensen of Britain 293.31.
Chen Yiwen, a double winner in the women's 3m springboard individual and synchro at the Paris Olympics, said she was happy to return to the Water Cube.
"I felt emotional as I competed here when I was a rookie, and now I'm back as a veteran. We have set a goal of 340 points for our synchro event, but so far, we have only achieved it one time in a major competition. We need to improve our techniques further," Chang Yani said.
As Chang's long-time friend, Maddison Keeney was happy with their performance. "I have been friends with Chang for about 8 or 9 years and competed all the time together. It was an amazing environment across the events today, and we did better than our previous two stops. I believe it is a good preparation for the Singapore Worlds."
The British girls loved the Super-Final mascot very much. "It is a golden fish, with the elements of gold and red colours that may bring luck and victory. It is so cute," Yasmin Harper said.
"We're really, really pleased with the outcome. We've been working on that， but I think we just wanted to have fun, embrace our training, and be confident in each other and ourselves, "Scarlett Mew Jensen said.
Women's 10m Platform Synchro: China’s Dominant Duo Triumph Again as Australia and Britain Complete Podium
Every dive before and after Quan Hongchan/Chen Yuxi's were met with thunderous cheers as the two sensations had just made their first synchro performance of the year.
Known as the Magicians of splash disappearance techniques, the Olympic synchro winners Quan/Chen showed stable and clean dives as usual, earning 350.88 to retain the World Cup title.
Aleksandra Kedrina/Anna Konanykhina, representing NAB, came second at 302.94, and Maisie Bond/ Lois Toulson, from Britain, came third at 287.88.
"We haven't trained together for the synchro since the Paris Olympics. We just teamed up this morning before the competition and found ourselves still in the good sense of synchronization, especially the last dive, 5253B. However, I need to perfect my individual techniques," said the 19-year-old Chen.
Quan, 18, admitted she has tried more physical training recently to combat her growth problem. "I am getting more powerful than before, and hopefully, I can find a better way to reconcile with my current weight and height," Quan said.
British veteran Lois Toulson felt younger coming back to Water Cube with her 17-year-old new partner Masie Bond. "It's been really nice and fun to have something new and young to dive with. It makes me feel young again. The competition was so close that we could even get silvers or finish the seventh, so we are delighted with the bronzes," Toulson, 25, said.
Men's 10m Platform Synchro | Cheng and Zhu Impress in Debut Season with Dominant Home Victory
The new Chinese pairing Cheng Zilong/Zhu Zifeng pleased the home crowds by leading all the way to the title 460.92, 34.23 points ahead of Nikita Shleikher/Rusian Ternovoi of NAB. Mark Hrytsenko/Oleksli Sereda of Ukraine finished in third place at 395.37.
"Cheng is a funny guy and makes me laugh all the time, even though I am shy. We communicate well during daily training and competitions. Our goal is to show our best in Singapore worlds," the 22-year-old Zhu said.
From Cheng's point of view, Zhu is hard-working and low-key. "He is diligent, and I need to learn from him. Our goal is to improve together and qualify for the Olympic Games," Cheng said.
Mixed Team: China Closes Day 1 of the Super Final with Commanding Mixed Team Victory
Chen Yiwen, Wang Zongyuan, Chen Yuxi and Cheng Zilong showed strong team world by sealing the last victory of the day with 507.20, while team Ukraine came to second place with 423.70 and Mexico took bronze medals with 411.95.
"We felt grateful to all the fans today. We in the mixed team competed in the synchro events earlier in the day and did better on each dive. We will continue to show our best in the individual events," Chen Yuxi said.
"Ni Hao, Ni Hao!" Oleksii Sereda of Ukraine kept saying "Hello" in Chinese to the fans and expressed his "extreme happiness". "I got two medals personally, and I didn't expect a super medal in the mixed team at last because we didn't make that before at the previous World Cups. We are extremely happy to show these powerful and great results," Sereda, 19, said after the awarding ceremony.
Mexican star Osmar Olvera, runner-up in men's 3m springboard synchro and bronze in 3m individual at the Paris Olympics, said he was very happy with all he achieved in Paris.
"In this new Olympic cycle, I will keep the same goal: to reach as high a level as possible. It is amazing to compete in China with so many friendly fans," said the 19-year-old.
Coming Up Next | Saturday at the Beijing Water Cube
The new head-to-head competition format will debut on Saturday with the men's 3m springboard and women's 10m platform.