The ever impressive Chinese diving team kicked off their FINA/NVC Diving World Series Dubai 2015 campaign this morning in their usual manner, taking the first two gold medals on offer. However the session wasn’t without some surprises when the first event on the program almost served up an early upset.
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Chinese world champions Chen Ruolin and Liu Huixia were hot favourites for the women’s 10m synchro after taking gold in the first round of the FINA/NVC Diving World Series in Beijing last weekend.
Felicidades @diversanchez @Ivangarciapollo PLATA en #DVWS05 #Dubai2015 #plataforma10msincro #TeamSpeedo #DiveIn pic.twitter.com/mvvYAq81SP
— Speedo México (@SpeedoMexico) March 19, 2015
But the team of Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion of Canada had other ideas and took the lead in round one to be 5.10 points ahead by round three. A score of only 68.31 for their 207C, back 3 ½ somersault tuck in round four pushed them back into second, while two strong final dives from Chen and Liu saw China take gold by just 3.39 points.
Of their early scare Chen Ruolin said “This morning our warm up wasn’t very good. But we encouraged each other and came back. We are happy to win.”
Filion and Benfeito were disappointed to have come so close and just miss out, Filion saying: “It was so close, I made a mistake on the fourth dive, if I did a normal one like I usually do it would have been an easy gold for us, but it’s part of the learning process.
“The most important thing is that we move forward. We’re a lot closer now and we’ll get the one that really counts.
MEDAL ALERT/ALERTE MÉDAILLE: @Roselinefilion @MegBenfeito win/gagnent ARGENT|SILVER 10m Sync @DivingWSDubai #FABIV pic.twitter.com/lqvSd2eAcw
— DivingPlongeonCanada (@DivingPlongeon) March 19, 2015
I couldn’t look at the positive side straight afterwards but today’s event proves we are working in the right direction and doing the right stuff. It’s still early in the season, so we’ll have other opportunities I’m sure.”
Benfeito added “I looked at the scoreboard, I knew we were close. Knowing that we made a big mistake like that and that we were only 3 points away proves that we are getting closer and we are working hard. I think in the next competition it’s just going to get better.”
The Malaysian duo of Jun Hoong Cheong and Mun Yee Leong took bronze, finishing just 2.46 points ahead of Lara Tarvit and Melissa Wu of Australia, with Paola Espinosa and Alejandra Orozco (Mexico) in fifth.
Great Britain’s Tonia Couch and Sarah Barrow looked a threat early on when they performed the best dive of round 2, but could not maintain their form, finishing in sixth.
The second event of the morning was the men’s 10m synchro platform and the Chinese pair of Lin Yue and Cao Yuan dominated from the outset, outscoring all teams on all but one dive.
Their first dive, a 101B forward dive pike, scored the first tens of the competition from two of the synchronization judges. Their top scoring dive of the day was 95.04 for a 207B back 3½ somersault pike, which gave them an unassailable lead and saw them finish with 484.23, 57.96 points ahead of Mexico’s German Sanchez and Ivan Garcia on 426.27.
Garcia was pleased with the silver after taking bronze in round one.
“I felt better today than last week in China, my dives were better, I needed to train more. The important competition is the World Championships so the World Series is like training.”
Sanchez said “We were more comfortable this week, I was more nervous last week, after three months without competition. This week I feel more comfortable, more relaxed and more powerful.
“We aim to be the best in the world, we will keep working for that. It’s not impossible. We have a higher degree of difficulty so we are training to be better than China. We have big dreams, we want to be the best.
German world champions Sascha Klein and Patrick Hausding moved from fifth into third on their last dive, and finished with 415.20 to add a bronze to the silver they won in Beijing last week.
Hausding was not happy with his performance, saying: “Our first two required dives were not very good and we’re not happy with it. Our optionals were ok, but my second one was not so good. The 207B was very bad, we have to work on it but we’re still happy for third place.”
Canada’s Philippe Gagne and Vincent Riendeau improved on their sixth in Beijing to finish fourth, with Cuba’s Jose Guerra and Jeinkler Aguirre just 1.59 points behind in fifth. Columbia’s Victory Ortega and Juan Rios finished in sixth, with USA’s Jordan Windle and Toby Stanley in seventh.
“We are delighted to see these amazing divers competing again in Dubai” said Ahmed Al Falasi, President of the UAE Swimming Federation. “It is exciting to see world class diving again, and we look forward to enjoying the competition over the next 2 and a half days” he added.
The action continues tonight with the Opening Ceremony at 5pm,featuring a display by local diving club DuDive, before the women’s 3m springboard synchro final at 6.00pm. This will be followed by the men’s 3m springboard synchro final at 6.50pm.
Friday’s 3m individual springboard semi-finals for men and women run from 10am-12noon, with the finals from 5-8pm. The final day of competition on Saturday 21 March sees the 10m platform semi-finals from 10-12noon, followed by the finals from 5-8pm.
Tickets to catch all the action at the FINA/NVC Diving World Series are available at the door at the Hamdan Sports Complex on Emirates Road. Tickets are 40dhs per day. Entry is free for children under 12.
