Olympic synchro champion Great Britain’s Jack Laugher proved he could manage difficulty and consistence perfectly as he won the men's 3m springboard title on the second day of the FINA/NVC Diving World Series in Beijing, China, today (Saturday March 4).
Laugher, who brought Britain first ever Olympic diving medal in Rio, started high with a clean 5154B to earn 95.20 points and never looked back for a winning total of 554.00. Laugher had the highest DD of the whole routines with 21.6, and soared the highest scores of the day in 5156B for 99.45 and 109C 96.90. China's Xie Siyi came second in 539.15 and Cao Yuan third (510.05).
"I am very happy about today's performance. It is 10 points lag of my personal best. I am very happy to dive here, with my favourite divers, Cao Yuan and Xie. In term of the scores, it is my second best performance. My personal best was performed 10 points higher in Dubai last year.”
photo credit: Water Cube
“I am enjoying this competition with the best divers of the world. My second and fifth dive were a little bit shaking. I still need to work on that. It is a good start for the new season and it gives me confidence toward the Budapest World Championships.”
“I will work on the next World Series and prepare for the Worlds. I will improve my DD and I am looking for some changes. But I need more training and preparation for doing that. My favourite dive is 5156, " said 22-year-old Laugher.
Cao Yuan, men's 3m springboard champion in Rio, said he lost some rhythm of his dives.
"I am not nervous but I cannot control the pace of some of my dives. Maybe because it is my first competition of the year and I will do better with more competition. I really want to congratulate Jack. He performed really well and consistently. He could have won the Olympic Games with today's performance," Cao said.
Shi Tingmao, FINA Best Female Diver of the year for the second consecutive year and Olympic double champion, proved she is the best in the women's 3m springboard with 391.05. Chang Yani, women's 10m synchro platform champion together with Ren Qian on day one at the World Series, finished second 330.35.
Maddison Keeney of Australia came third 327.85 and Jennifer Abel of Canada fourth 316.95.
"I am very happy for 15-year-old Chang who just learned the springboard dives three months ago. She did very well in the competition and can improve in both springboard and platform," Shi said.
In the mixed 3m springboard synchro, Wang Han/Li Zheng of China won the title (323.10), beating Maddison Keeney/Domonic Bedggood of Australia (305.34) and Jennifer Abel/Fancois Imbeau-Dulac of Canada (304.74). Grace Reid/Thomas Daley of Great Britain finished fourth 300.33.
"We were very close to the medal, that meant we might do better in the next meets. I focus on the platform myself, but I also enjoy to take part in the mixed springboard synchro. Hopefully, I can qualify for this event for the World Championships in Budapest through our national selection," Daley said.
The competition resumes tomorrow Sunday March 5 in the Beijing Water Cube for the last day of this meet.