DWS 2016, Windsor: Who can stop China?

China continues its perfect winning record, after getting four more gold medals in the initial day of the third leg of the 2016 FINA/NVC Diving World Series in Windsor (CAN). Following the first 20 combined events in Beijing (CHN) and Dubai (UAE), all won by Chinese divers, the Asian powerhouse confirmed its overwhelming supremacy in the competition and earned gold in the first four synchro events in Canada’s southernmost city.

The successful day concluded with the comfortable triumph of Yue Lin and Aisen Chen in the men’s 10m platform synchro, in a total of 482.01. The Chinese pair was always in perfect control of the final, having also won the 109C duel of the competition. In fact, five out of the six pairs include the forward 4 ½ somersaults (tuck) in their programme, one of the most challenging combinations in diving, worth a DD of 3.7. The Chinese duet had the best execution of this dive, getting 94.35. Chen takes his 11th gold medal in this event, second-most all-time alongside teammate Cao Yuan. Only Lin, who claimed his 19th today, has more.

“Our individual dives are good, but more practice together will be required to improve the quality of our synchronised performance”, admitted Chen.

The only other team approaching this score was precisely Tom Daley/Daniel Goodfellow (GBR), with a 93.24 for this attempt. The British pair got the silver medal in 441.84, being followed by Russia (Victor Minibaev and Nikita Shleikher) in 432.51.

In the women’s 10m platform, only one country had managed (twice) before Windsor to defeat China in this event: Canada, firstly in 2008 and more recently in 2015, precisely in this venue. The heroes of that day had been Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion, also present today in the final. But things were not so shiny for the Canadian pair, who had to content for silver this time. Ruolin Chen and Huixia Liu, from China, were in a victory mood and solidly executed their dives, getting the gold in a total of 348.60. This is Liu’s 17th gold medal in this event, while her teammate takes her 29th! Ruolin Chen is already a true platform legend, having collected 14 medals at Olympic and World Championships’ level, both in 10m individual and synchro.

“This was our best competition so far this year, so we are happy about the final result. It’s been a very good season for us, but we need to stay focus and continue our Olympic preparation”, confessed the Chinese star.

Benfeito/Filion (fourth in leg 1 in Beijing and second in meet 2 in Dubai) finished second in 313.71, having some problems with their fourth combination, a back 3 ½ somersaults (tuck). The bronze went to Britain’s Tonia Couch/Lois Toulson (310.68), who took advantage from a major mistake from the Malaysian pair Mun Yee Leong/Pandelela Rinong Pamg (until then third) in the fourth dive, an inward 3 ½ somersaults (tuck). It’s the third 2016 medal for the British duet, after being second in China and third in the UAE.

Synchro 3m springboard
In the first finals of the day, the 3m springboard synchro for men and women, China also ruled operations, with two comfortable wins in both events. In the women’s field, Zi He and Han Wang were in the lead from the very first dive and never conceded any occasion to their main opponents to challenge their supremacy. All the five dives from the Chinese pair were excellently noted (He and Wang never had marks under 8.0!), which led to a combined result of 339.90 points. It was their third consecutive win at this year’s World Series, after Beijing (CHN) and Dubai (UAE). Moreover, it’s the 41st gold medal for the Asian powerhouse in this event, its most successful one in the World Series. “We feel like we had a very good performance today. However we need to keep working in order to improve in different areas in the future", said Wang.

If the gold medal was a “formality”, the fight for the silver medal was more interesting. Canada’s duet Pamela Ware/Jennifer Abel (fourth in the UAE and fifth in the “Water Cube”) was in a good position to make it, as they finished in second after each of the first four rounds. Their direct opposition came from Italians Tania Cagnotto and Francesca Dallape (silver in Dubai and third in Beijing), also consistently in third place before the last attempt. For the last round, the Canadians chose a forward 2 ½ somersaults 1 twist (in the pike position), while the Italians opted for an inward 2 ½ somersaults (pike), both worth a 3.0 DD. The Europeans were more successful, getting 71.10, while the North Americans amassed 67.50 – this difference was fundamental, with Cagnotto/Dallape finishing in 313.44 for the silver and Abel/Ware in a close 312.87 for the bronze.

Among men, the scenario was identical for the gold medal. Kai Qin/Yuan Cao (also winners in the first two legs), from China, led all the way through the six-dive final (their weakest combination being the fourth attempt, a reverse 3 ½ somersaults in the tuck position), concluding with a total of 450.69. Also very regular, the Ukrainian pair Illya Kvasha and Oleksandr Gorshkovozov easily secured the silver medal in 426.42 (repeating their result from Dubai), after facing problems in the same dive as the Chinese pair. For the bronze, things seemed to indicate that Rommel Pacheco and Jahir Ocampo, representing FINA, would be on the last march of the podium, but an excellent recovery from the Canadian pair Philippe Gagne/François Imbeau-Dulac changed the outcome of the final. Pacheco and Ocampo badly missed their last combination, a forward 4 ½ somersaults in the tuck position and dropped to fourth, while the local divers were good in a forward 2 ½ somersaults 2 twists in the pike position, getting the bronze in 414.36. It was their best result so far, after being twice seventh in the initial two legs of the circuit.