Chen had a beautiful opening dive, a forward 3 ½ somersault pike, which gave her 78.00 points with 8.5’s and 9.0’s across the board. She also finished strongly with a back 2 ½ somersault 1 ½ twists pike (DD 3.4) that secured her victory. Throughout the competition however, she faced close opposition from Wang, who actually took the lead in the final after executing an excellent third dive, also a back 2 ½ somersault 1 ½ twists pike. This was the highest-awarded dive of the round, at 86.70 points, and it could have given her the win. Her final dive (an armstand forward double somersault 1 twist free), although nice, wasn’t quite enough and she had to settle for silver by a small margin.


Risa Asada

Meanwhile, Asada was also diving respectably on her way to giving Japan its first medal in Aachen. Asada’s selection of dives were less difficult than those of the Chinese, so she couldn’t quite compare in that regard, but she certainly held her own in her determination to reach the podium. She asserted herself with her first effort, an inward 2 ½ somersault pike (DD 2.8), for which she received almost entirely scores of 8.0, and then proceeded to produce a steady round. Her third dive was slightly weaker, but she otherwise earned a well-deserved bronze medal.

In total, 23 girls competed in the preliminary of this event, of which 12 advanced to the final.

The next finals are the girl's 'B' 3m and the boy's 'A' platform on Sunday, September 21, 2008.