Divers from host nation China earned crowns in four out five events on stake by winning the women's and men's 10m Platform Synchro, Men's 3m Springboard Synchro and the Mixed Team competition. Team Australia’s Maddison Keeney and Anabelle Smith snatched one title from Women's 3m Springboard Synchro.

Women's 10m Platform Synchro

With the waiving banners of their names all over the spectator stands, Olympic champions Chen Yuxi and Quan Hongchan ignited the passion of the audience and enjoyed a class of their own, finishing 364.86 points for the first gold medals of the day.

"It is Friday morning, and we did not expect to have so many fans here to watch our competition. We are so thrilled and grateful for their support. We did not perform our best and we still to improve ourselves," Chen said.

Quan earned her reputation with the women's 10m platform champion at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games as well as with her habit of collecting dolls. She was in love with the mascot Tang Niu of the World Cup Super Final as soon as she was awarded one from the medal ceremony. Tang Niu, a little chubby girl image, is based on the Terra-cottar women of the Tang Dynasty, retaining the makeup features and combining the features of modern comics.

"I like the mascot Tang Niu very much. It is cute and full of Xi'an local culture element. My doll collection now has one more character," smiled Quan, whose bag is covered with almost 30 doll pendants.

In a close battle of the medals, Caeli Mckay/Kate Miller of Canada collected 296.10 for the silvers and Kseniia Bailo/Sofiia Lyskun of Ukraine came to third 294.42, respectively. Viviana del Angel Peniche/Alejandra Estudillo Torres of Mexico had to concede to a fourth place 292.74. 

Mckay was super happy with the silver medals. "The Super Final in China is obviously magnificent and super spectacular. We're super thankful to be able to dive here. We had a really good time and obviously happy that we came back with the medal. We have a bit more work to do before the Olympic Games, but this was definitely a very positive experience for the last competition before the Olympic Games in this important event,"

Men's 10m Platform Synchro

Lian Junjie and Yang Hao, a Xi'an native, brought China the second gold medal by taking the victory in men's 10m platform synchro in 472.92. Thomas Daley/Noah Williams of Britain made a strong comeback to take the runner-ups 440.37 and Timo Barthel/Jaden Shiloh Eikermann Gregorchuk of Germany finished third 393.09.

"It is the last big competition before the Paris Olympic Games and held in my hometown. I am very happy to compete in front of my family members and local friends. I am full of power and confidence with my best with my partner Lian. It is a good competition," Yang said.

Veteran Daley was happy with their stable performance by locking the second position from the start to the end. Their fourth dive 207B stormed 92.88 to record the second-highest score of the event. 

"There are some little things that we can improve on our last dive because it wasn't the best that we've done it, but everything is getting a lot more consistent. Now I'm looking forward to getting into the next competition, which will be the Paris Olympic Games. The audience is always great in China that everybody turns out and shows up. And it's really nice to be able to dive in front of a huge crowd."

Barthel celebrated their first medals at the World Cup. "We won our first medal in a big event like here in the World Cup! China is the country of diving, and it's a pleasure for us to dive here in front of such an amazing crowd,” the 28-year-old Barthel said.

Women's 3m Springboard Synchro

The event was wide open after Chinese pair Chang Yani/Chen Yiwen quit the competition due to Chang's injury. Coming from third place in their first two dives, then moving one step forward after the third dive, Maddison Keeney/Anabelle Smith of Australia took the lead only after the fourth dive and then sealed the victory 284.67, beating America's Sarah Bacon/Kassidy Cook by 0.60 point. Elena Bertocchi/Chiara Pellacani of Italy came to third 268.92.

Keeney said: “It is a narrow win, a tough game. We don't look at the scores during the event. We just try and focus on each dive ourselves. We went to the Terracotta Warriors yesterday and that was really special to know about the history of Xi'an. And today we got the mascot of Tang Niu which is awesome, probably the best one that we've got. It is in Tang style!”

Men's 3m Springboard Synchro

Local favourites Long Daoyi and Wang Zongyuan made the crowd into a crazy, frenzied state as they led all the way and roared to a day-high 100.32 for their last dive 109C, winning a total of 474.75. New pair Osmar Olvera Ibarra/Juan Manuel Celaya Hernandz of Mexico came to second 420.81 and Jack Laugher/Anthony Harding from Great Britain took the bronze medals 403.89.

Long revealed that Xi'an is a lucky place for him because it was the place he started his World Cup last year together with Wang.

 "I am very grateful to the audience that they witnessed my improvement during the one year. I started my first World Cup last year here in Xi'an and today once again. We overcame the nerves and difficult dives during the competition. This victory means a lot to me,” Long said.

Osmar Olvera Ibarra changed to new partner Juan Manuel Celaya Hernandaz less than one month earlier. Already, he says he’s built up the confidence to do more and better in the future. “I'm pretty happy with our performance. We have a great race. This is our first official event as a new pair. We'll keep on for future events,” Osmar said.

Jack Laugher noted the consistency of his and Harding’s performance in 2024. From Montreal, Berlin to Xi'an, the British duo has recorded World Cup medals. "Anthony and I are always very happy to come to China. We love diving here, and we really appreciate China for hosting this event. We had silver, gold and now bronze from the three stops in World Cup. We're very pleased with how we've done,” Laugher said.

Mixed Team

With a team consisting of two Olympic champions – Wang Zongyuan and Chen Yuxi – and two world champions – Yang Hao and Chen Yiwen – team China added their fourth gold of the day in the Mixed Team event, scoring 500.75. Team China was followed by Britain at 456.75 and Australia at 440.20.

Chen Yiwen said she was more nervous than her teammates because they all felt more relaxed after competing in the synchro events during the day. “Everyone takes the team event more seriously than the individual ones. I was afraid of dragging my teammates back from my dives. Hopefully, I tried my best to control myself and perform my normal form, but not the best form,” said the women’s 3m springboard expert.

Gold Medals and Crystal Prize

Coming Up

On Saturday, both the men’s and women’s 3m Springboard Individual events will take place at the Xi’an Aquatic Center.