Host China dominated the team free routine and free combination at the 10th FINA Synchronised Swimming World Trophy in Shaoxing on Sunday, claiming the overall title one more time by sweeping four golds out of five on grabs.
In the team free routine, China showed speed and power by performing the fighting Soldiers, composed by the Chinese musician. China finished in top position with 91.8334 points while Italy executed their revised routine showed in Kazan World Championships, and claimed silver with 91.1667. With the Nobunaga Concerto, Japan took the bronze medal with 86.5000.
"It was the routine that our national team performed in Kazan, but we made some changes and added new elements. I am happy that our girls showed their best as most of them competed their first ever international event," said China coach Wang Fang.
©Ju Huanzong
Unlike China, composed by the local swimmers from Jiangsu province, Italy sent their national team hoping to gain more experience to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
"We performed the routine that we did in Kazan, but it is a revised version since we made some changes, especially we had more difficulties now. I am very satisfied with our performance as well as the points. We got higher points than we did in Kazan. The points tell me the judges like our improvement and changes. Our goal is to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games," said Italy coach Roberta Farinelli.
In the music of “The Nutcracker” composed by Tchaikovsky Peter Ilyitch, China scored 89.6666. China’s routine included toys, dance and banquets. Russia snatched the silver with 86.8334, edging Japan (third) by 0.5001 point.
After the two-day World Trophy, China snatched four golds out of five and collected a total of 363.3333 points, beating Russia (349.5000) and Ukraine (347.8335).
Swimming stars from Australia, China, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States were competing in the World Trophy.