China bags last 2 diving golds
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MELBOURNE - Powerhouse China grabbed the last two diving golds here on Monday at the 12th FINA World Championships.
Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia took the lead in the women's three-meter springboard synchronized final from the first round. Then, the Olympic gold medallists breezily picked up the gold with a total score of 318.45 points. Ditte Kotzian/Heike Fischer from Germany took the bronze with 318.45 points and Sharleen Stratton/Briony Cole grabbed the host a bronze with 313.14. "As long as you keep working hard, you will receive the rewards one day," said Guo, who amazingly won the event with two different partners at four World Championships in a row. The 25-year-old veteran had made the same achievement on Sunday when she held the reign in the three-meter springboard by winning her fourth consecutive world title. With this gold, Guo had equaled the record of nine World Championships medals held by Russian legend Dmitri Sautin. Guo's only silver came at the 1998 World Championships in Perth, Australia. Following the veterans' victory, World Championships rookies Lin Yue and Huo Liang notched up the ninth gold for China in the men's 10-meter platform synchronized final. The teenage duo was edged to second place by American pair Thomas Finchum and David Boudia in the preliminary, but proved their gold-winning capabilities by leading the final all along and stood on top podium with 489.48 points. "Today I dived my best. I have adjusted my mental concentration and I felt much calmer during competition," said Lin, who took a bronze in the 10-meter platform event on Sunday. The defending champions Gleb Galperin and Dmitriy Dobroskok had to settle for the second place with 467.16 points. The 17-year-old Finchum and Boudia snatched the bronze with 463.56 points, giving the United States their first and last diving medal in Melbourne. |
