Could anyone beat the Chinese? No.
That was the main question at the opening event of the FINA Diving World Series event in Sagamihara (JPN) over the weekend, but the world’s no. 1 diving nation went 10-for-10 and swept the event.
Chinese divers went 1-2 in both the men’s and women’s 3 m Springboard events, but were 1-4 and 1-3 in the men’s and women’s Platform finals.
Yuan Cao (CHN) won three medals, including wins in the 3 , and 10 m men’s Synchronized events, plus a silver on the 3 m Springboard. Tingmao Shi (CHN) won the women’s 3 m Springboard and the 3 m Synchro events with Han Wang.
The series moves to Beijing (CHN) next week, then has about six weeks off until a late April date in Montreal (CAN). Summaries:
FINA Diving World Series
Sagamihara (JPN) ~ 1-3 March 2019
(Full results here)
Men
3 m Springboard: 1. Siyi Xie (CHN), 548.80; 2. Yuan Cao (CHN), 529.40; 3. Jack Laugher (GBR), 469.25.
10 m Platform: 1. Jian Yang (CHN), 586.20; 2. Tom Daley (GBR), 579.85; 3. Aleksandr Bondar (RUS), 545.90.
3m Synchronized: 1. Yuan Cao/Siyi Xie (CHN), 446.82; 2. Jahir Ocampo Marroquin/Rommel Pacheco (MEX), 427.86; 3. Jack Laugher/Daniel Goodfellow (GBR), 420.51. Also: 7. Mark Anderson/Tyler Downs (USA), 363.72.
10 m Synchronized: 1. Yuan Cao/Aisen Chen (CHN), 465.24; 2. Viktor Minibaev/Aleksandr Bondar (RUS), 420.45; 3. Domonic Bedggood/Declan Stacey (AUS), 403.53. Also: 7. Tyler Downs/Jordan Rzepka (USA), 358.95.
Women
3 m Springboard: 1. Tingmao Shi (CHN), 382.05; 2. Han Wang (CHN), 378.90; 3. Jennifer Abel (CAN), 353.40.
10 m Platform: 1. Jiaqi Zhang (CHN), 393.30; 2. Meaghan Benfeito (CAN), 385.10; 3. Qian Ren (CHN), 371.40.
3 m Synchronized: 1. Tingmao Shi/Han Wang (CHN), 330.00; 2. Jennifer Abel/Melissa Citrin-Beaulieu (CAN), 302.97; 3. Annabelle Smith/Maddison Keeney (AUS), 301.83. Also: 8. Tarrin Gilliland/Maria Coburn (USA), 252.18.
10 m Synchronized: 1. Jiaqi Zhang/Wei Lu (CHN), 340.44; 2. A. Rim Kim/Mi-Rae Kim (PRK), 319.50; 3. Caeli McKay/Meaghan Benfeito (CAN), 311.70. Also: 8. Gilliland/Katrina Young (USA), 282.18.
Mixed
3 m Synchronized: 1. Yani Chang/Hao Yang (CHN), 330.63; 2. Francois Imbeau-Dulac/Jennifer Abel (CAN), 327.93; 3. Grace Reid/Tom Daley (GBR), 312.24.
10 m Synchronized: 1. Junjie Lian/Yajie Si (CHN), 360.33; 2. Nikita Shleikher/Iuliia Timoshinina (RUS), 334.59; 3. Minami Itahashi/Kazuki Murakami (JPN), 325.50.
