"I’m very pleased and somewhat surprised with my performance today," said Abel, from Laval, a two-time Olympian. "I was very consistent, especially in the semifinal."
"I’ve been working on a lot of technical aspects in my diving this season and it hasn’t been easy to feel confident on the board and be then be judged for these dives."
Ware, from Beloeil, Que., was fourth in the preliminaries and ranked second in her semifinal heat to stand third overall. The top-three from each of the two semis advances to Saturday’s final. Ware, a bronze medallist last week at the FINA World Series in London, seemed relieved to make the cut for the final.
"I’m not really happy with my diving today," said Ware, the world championship bronze medallist last year in the event.
"Every dive was a little off. On my fourth dive my ankle twisted a bit and could feel that on my last two dives. There are only two dives I can be happy with."
On men’s 10m platform, Maxim Bouchard of St.Constant, Que., advanced to the final ranking third in his semifinal which were also the three best scores of the day. Bouchard has battled a shoulder injury this year.
"This was the most platform diving I’ve done in one day in quite some time," said Bouchard, the reigning Canadian platform champion. "I’m still a bit cautious with my shoulder but it was a really good day for me. I knew it was going to be a tough battle to make the final and I capitalised on my opportunities."
Philippe Gagne of Montreal was eighth in prelims and fourth in his semi missing a berth in the final by only 1.45 points.
(From a press release by Diving/Plongeon Canada)