Tom Daley hungrier than ever ahead of Dubai

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  • Straining for glory: Daley is positive of his chances in Dubai after making alterations to his setup.

    British sensation Tom Daley returns to the Hamdan Sports Complex this weekend (March 20-22) for the Dubai leg of the FINA/NVC Diving World Series with a new coach, a new programme, and a renewed hunger for success.

    The 19-year-old former world champion has linked up with Zimbabwe-born Jane Figueiredo last January after having spent 10 years with his ex-coach Andy Banks in Plymouth.

    Having relocated to London to train with Figueiredo, Daley admits he got the fresh start he needed to keep pushing forward towards gold in Rio 2016.

    “It’s been great,” Daley said of his revamped set up. “Sometimes with diving, with anything, people just need like a change, they need something new.

    “Most people my age go to university, they move away from home and make things different. And I think that’s what I needed with my diving, to freshen things up.

    “I’ve been working with Jane on new strength programmes and working on different techniques.”

    The opening leg of the Diving World Series in Beijing last week was Daley’s first outing since last year’s World Championships in Barcelona, where a triceps injury hindered the young Brit from securing a spot on the podium in the 10m platform.

    His inaugural competition of 2014 saw him capture bronze at the famous Water Cube venue, where Daley had made his Olympic debut in Beijing back in 2008.

    He says he was happy with his form in the first leg but is looking to do better at the Hamdan pool this Saturday in the 10m platform event.

    “There’s still a lot of things I need to improve on. But hopefully this weekend if things go to plan, I’ll be able to compete well and see what happens,” added Daley.

    The British diver will face stiff competition from reigning world champion Qiu Bo of China and USA’s Olympic title holder David Boudia, who will be looking to shake off a disappointing sixth place in Beijing last week. Qiu Bo, who finished a surprising second behind Boudia at the London 2012 Olympics, redeemed himself by storming to gold in the Barcelona World Championships a year later.

    Bo added a new dive to his set this year, a 5156B which is a forward 2½ somersault with three twists in pike position and has a degree of difficulty of 3.9. The 21-year-old is hoping to perfect this dive over the course of the Diving World Series as he prepares for this July’s World Cup in Shanghai.

    “The main purpose I’m competing in the Diving World Series is to practice my new dives,” Qiu Bo told Sport360. “I tried the 5156B in Beijing for the first time and I’m not very satisfied with it at the moment. But anyway it’s a new one so I have time to improve.”

    Cao Yuan, who stunned Qiu Bo to snag gold in the 10m platform in Beijing last week, forcing his world champion compatriot to settle for silver, has pulled out of the event in Dubai, which means a rematch won’t be happening on Saturday. The 19-year-old rising star has opted for the 3m springboard individual and synchro, and the 10m platform synchro instead.

    Russian duo Evgeny Kuznetsov and Illya Zakharov have the strongest chance to prevent a Chinese sweep and are front-runners in the 3m synchro springboard event, which they won in the opening leg in Beijing, while four-time Olympic gold medallist Wu Minxia will feature in the 3m synchro alongside her partner Shi Tingmao. Wu and Shi formed a new partnership last year and it paid dividends immediately as they won gold together at the World Championships in Barcelona last year, which was a record sixth 3m synchro gold for Wu.

    The Diving World Series comprises of six stops and offers a total prize pot of $1,272,000. Divers accumulate points in each leg and the winners will be crowned after the final competition in Monterrey, Mexico in June.

    This is the third time Dubai is hosting one of the legs at the Hamdan Sports Complex and all the action kicks off at 10:00 on Thursday and will conclude with the men’s 10m platform final on Saturday at 17:50.

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