Olympic champions Jack Laugher/Chris Mears of Great Britain were one step away to clinch the men's 3m synchro springboard title, but they were overturned on the last dive by home favourites Cao Yuan/Xie Siyi on the second day of the FINA Diving World Cup 2018 in Wuhan on Tuesday June 5.
Budapest 2017 silver medallists Cao/Xie led the first three rounds before Laugher/Mears took the lead due to a poor 5154B, as Cao made a splash entry.
Laugher/Mears continued to lead and enjoyed a 10.14 points advantage ahead of the Chinese stars right until the last dive. However, Laugher jumped too far at the end of the springboard and lost the normal height of his start on the 109C, collecting 70.68 for a total of 440.64.
Cao/Xie ended up claiming the gold medal with 448.74 while Mexican pair Jahir Ocampo/Rommel Pacheco secured the bronze with 435.72.
"Our first five dives were very good and we were winning! We were defeating the Big China on home soil! But it was unfortunate that my last dive did not perform to my normal standard. We would probably have won, but unfortunately we did not today. I was just diving as normal before my last dive, but unfortunately I struggled with my last rotation. But overall, I am quite happy with our first five dives. I want to have a good rest tonight and find out what I can learn from today's performance, and I hope I will not make the same mistake again in the future," Laugher said.
Photo credit: Xiao Jiuyi (Xinhua)
Mears was happy with the silver medal.
"I did not think I could compete since I had a back problem recently just before the World Cup. I was really happy to come back to the competition with my good friend Jack. We did five really good dives," Mears said.
Cao/Xie said they were surprised with the British pair and experienced roller-coaster final.
"I was in a shock that Jack/Chris suffered a mistake at last because we thought it was impossible to come back and win the gold. In fact, I was too eager to compete and I was not in control of my body, my starts and entries which made us behind after five dives," Cao revealed.
Photo credit: Xiao Jiuyi (Xinhua)
Xie, current 3m springboard World champion said he was negative before the last dive.
"We were behind about 10 points and it was the worst synchro competition we have ever done since last year. We should learn a lesson for it and try to make better synchronisation," Xie said.
Ocampo/Pacheco were satisfied with their third place.
Photo credit: Xiao Jiuyi (Xinhua)
"We got the same bronze medals two years ago, and we did not compete in synchro last year. Now we are back again for the third place at this year's World Cup. We thought we had the chance to win the gold, maybe next time," Ocampo smiled.