Home divers continued to own the diving pool at the 16th FINA Diving World Cup at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing yesterday.
![He Chong of China competes in the men's 3m springboard final during the 16th FINA Diving World Cup tournament held at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, Feb. 21, 2008 . [Xinhua]](../../images/attachement/jpg/site1/20080222/000802ab4a630928636301.jpg)
He Chong of China competes in the men's 3m springboard final during the 16th FINA Diving World Cup tournament held at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, Feb. 21, 2008 . [Xinhua] |
He Chong won gold in the men's 3m springboard, while Wang Xin and Chen Ruolin claimed the title in the women's 10m synchronized platform.
Although He made some mistakes in the second and fifth rounds in the men's event, he managed to finish the other four rounds without any problems - and left the best for last.
With a difficulty degree of 3.8, the second highest of all the divers, He secured his top position with his final dive, ending with a total score of 530.30 points.
He's compatriot Qin Kai settled for silver with 515.30, edging Yahel Castillo from Mexico in third place by only 0.3 points.
For the 21-year-old He, the biggest achievement was not the gold medal but the experience.
"We all made some mistakes in the finals, so how to adjust myself and do the rest of the dives successfully after that is very important," said He, who currently ranks second in the world in this event.
"I'm very glad I made it and finished my last dive successfully. I hope this champion title could be my new beginning and I could do better and better afterward."
The reigning world champion of the event Qin Kai finished in second despite making several mistakes.
"As a young athlete, the most important thing is not winning the title, but gathering experience," said Qin, who teamed up with Wang Feng to win the gold medal in men's synchronized springboard on Tuesday.
"From this competition, I learned how to handle the pressure after making mistakes."
Castillo dazzled spectators with his final dive - the most difficult of yesterday's competition with a degree of 3.9 - springing him to third place with the highest single-dive score of the day at 105.30 points.
"I'm very glad to come to this Olympic venue," Castillo said. "I'm very glad to compete with some of the competitors I will meet at the Beijing Olympics."
Canadian favorite and world No 1 Alexandre Despatie finished in only fifth place due to a series of mistakes.
"I actually made a lot of mistakes," Despatie said. "My first, second, fourth and fifth dives all included a few mistakes. I accept my performance, but it could have been better."
In the women's 10m synchronized platform, Wang/Chen led the 12 finalists from the very beginning. Emilie Heymans and Marie-Eve Marleau from Canada finished in second, followed by Melissa Wu and Briony Cole from Australia.
The competition, which runs from February 19 to 25, is a test event for the "Water Cube" ahead of the Beijing Games and is also an Olympic qualifier.
So far, China has dominated the seven-day competition, sweeping all four gold medals in the first two days.
