Giorgio Minisini, a three-time duet world champion, lost out to teenage sensation Yang Shuncheng of the People’s Republic of China in the Men Solo Technical final on Monday.

But the 27-year-old was not to be denied this time around as he clinched gold with a fantastic free routine at the World Aquatics Championship – Doha 2024.

Defending champion Dennis Gonzalez Boneu of Spain earned silver, with Colombia’s Gustavo Sanchez bagging bronze.

Persistence Pays Off For Minisini

The gold medal in Doha marked a sensational return to the World Championships for Minisini who was forced to miss Fukuoka 2023 due to a season-ending knee injury.

Minisini endured a long road to recovery after undergoing surgery to fix his knee shortly after the 2023 European Games where he won five medals.

It was a tough period but Minisini has come back even stronger in Doha, claiming silver in the Men Solo Technical before producing a magnificent performance to win Men Solo Free gold at the Aspire Dome.

Minisini pulled off a dramatic display to Andrea Bocelli’s “Hallelujah” as he created beautiful shapes in the water with amazing artistry and incredible height out of the water.

He picked up a basemark for his final hybrid element but his total score was enough to take him to the top of the leaderboard, registering 210.1355, including 127.4355 for elements and 82.7000 for artistic impression to an increased difficulty of 33.800.

“In Fukuoka, I saw this event from my couch and I was dreaming about this moment since I had my knee injury,” said Minisini. “So this is the conclusion of one chapter and we can start all over again. This competition really showed me how much I need to work on both – athletic side and mental side, mental management of the competition.

“Also, it was difficult to not have my coach on the pool deck so I needed to adapt. Now, my favorite part starts – I can cheer for my team from the stands and have fun.”

Yang, the 16-year-old rising star, was the last to go after topping the standings in the preliminaries, and he declared the greatest degree of difficulty in the field with 38.850.

But basemarks in element one and five cost him dearly as he finished outside of the medal places following his “Warriors of the Night” routine.

Defending Champion Seals Silver

Looking to retain his crown, Gonzalez Boneu came out fighting in the final as he produced a brilliant interpretation of the song “I Feel Like I’m Drowning” by Two Feet.

After the disappointment of missing out on a medal in the Men Solo Technical, Gonzalez Boneu responded brilliantly to score 196.2750.

His total included 111.6250 for elements and 84.6500 for artistic impression to a difficulty of 31.150.

“We had some errors in the Solo Technical final, we weren’t so lucky there, so in the Solo Free tonight I was going to fight to death,” said Gonzalez Boneu.

“I had placed second in the qualification round but knew that some guys had made mistakes they might not repeat in the final. I had to give the best of me and avoid a basemark in order to make it to the podium.”

“It’s sweet redemption and I am totally pleased with this outcome in my two finals.”

Sanchez Bounces Back to Bag Bronze

The preliminaries did not go to plan for Sanchez with five of his seven elements receiving basemarks to put him in sixth position.

The Colombian, who earned Solo Technical bronze and won silver in the event in Fukuoka last year, refused to let that derail him as he bounced back superbly in the final.

Explosive power and wonderful rotations in his routine called “Schizophrenia” won over the judges as he notched 192.0812, including 113.5812 for elements and 78.500 for artistic impression.

“It took a lot of suffering for me to get here at the winners’ podium, because I had to perform a very tough routine, which needs a lot of energy and it was difficult to complete it well,” said Sanchez.

“We had a basemark but I am overjoyed with what we succeeded to do.”

Yang finished in fourth position with 176.3647, while Kenneth Gaudet of the United States of America completed the top five with 166.6250.