Chinese athletes were in great shape in the fifth leg of the FINA Diving Grand Prix 2014, by winning seven out of the eight titles at stake in San Juan (PUR), from May 8-11. The only non-Chinese victory went to Australia’s Melissa Wu in the women’s 10m platform.
Among men, the Asian supremacy was complete, with new names on the circuit dominating the operations: Sun Zhiyi in the 3m springboard, and as in Gatineau (CAN), the previous meet of the series, the 1-2 from China in the 10m platform (gold for Liang Huo and silver for Yanquan Zhang). The winners of the individual events were also successfully in action in the synchro competition, easily assuring the triumph in both 3m and 10m.
In the women’s field, China was also very strong in 3m springboard and in both synchro events, but couldn’t beat a very consistent Melissa Wu (AUS) in the 10m platform individual. Wu finished with a total of 370.70, slightly better than Ji Siyu’s 366.55 (silver) and Qian Ren’s 361.30 (bronze). The Australian diver was silver medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in the 10m platform synchro, and was also second in this event at the 2007 and 2011 FINA World Championships, respectively in Melbourne (AUS) and Shanghai (CHN).
Besides China and Australia, other countries with medals in San Juan include Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Italy, Mexico, Russia and USA.
MEDALLISTS IN SAN JUAN (PUR)
Men
3m springboard: 1. Sun Zhiyi (CHN) 442.25; 2. Cesar Castro (BRA) 422.05; 3. Michele Benedetti (ITA) 413.85
10m platform: 1. Liang Huo (CHN) 534.00; 2. Yanquan Zhang (CHN) 530.30; 3. Hugo Parisi (BRA) 466.25
3m springboard synchro: 1. Li Shixin/Sun Zhiyi (CHN) 400.83; 2. Sebastian Villa Castaneda/Sebastian Morales (COL) 380.37; 3. Yahel Castillo/Daniel Islas (MEX) 353.31
10m platform synchro: 1. Yanquan Zhang/Liang Huo (CHN) 400.68; 2. Roman Izmaylov/Arkadii Aidarov (RUS) 372.24; 3. Mark Anderson/Toby Stanley (USA) 348.99
Women
3m springboard: 1. Wu Chunting (CHN) 345.90; 2. Wei Ying (CHN) 336.75; 3. Maren Taylor (USA) 300.90
10m platform: 1. Melissa Wu (AUS) 370.70; 2. Ji Siyu (CHN) 366.65; 3. Qian Ren (CHN) 361.30
3m springboard synchro: 1. Wu Chunting/Qulin Zheng (CHN) 299.70; 2. Esther Qin/Anna Gelai (AUS) 263.70; 3. Emma Friesen/Hailey Casper (CAN) 253.20
10m platform synchro: 1. Qian Ren/Ji Siyu (CHN) 327.48; 2. Amy Cozad/Katrina Young (USA) 293.16; 3. Rachel Bugg/Melissa Wu (AUS) 291.54
Full FINA Diving Grand Prix 2014 calendar:
No1 in Madrid (ESP) from February 14-16
No2 in Rostock (GER) from February 21-23
No3 in Gatineau (CAN) from May 1-4
No4 in San Juan (PUR) from May 8-11
No5 in Guanajuato (MEX) from May 16-18
No6 in Bolzano (ITA) from August 1-3
No7 in Singapore (SIN) from October 17-19
No8 in Kuala Lumpur (MAS) from October 24-26
Courtesy of FINA.