China's divers continue to dominate at World Aquatics Championships

Straits Times

6 days ago

Wang Zongyuan and Zheng Jiuyuan of China in action during the World Aquatics Championship Men's 3m Synchronised Diving final held at the OCBC Aquatic Centre on July 28.
SINGAPORE – China extended their diving dominance at the World Aquatic Championships (WCH) at the OCBC Aquatic Centre on July 28, taking their tally to five golds out of six events.
On July 28, Wang Zongyuan and Zheng Jiuyuan claimed gold in the men's 3m synchronised springboard with 467.31 points from six dives, ahead of Mexico's Osmar Olvera Ibarra and Juan Manuel Celaya Hernandez (449.28) and Britain's Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding (405.33)
Wang, who has now won this event for the fourth consecutive time at the WCH, was without regular dive partner Long Daoyi, with whom he also clinched gold at the Paris Olympics.
'It's a new pairing for these world championships,' Wang, 23, said in Mandarin.
'It's the first time he (Zheng) and I have competed in a synchronised event together and both of us were actually very nervous and felt a lot of pressure.
'I think everyone should still see our pairing with a balanced mindset… I've experienced four editions of these competitions (WCH). I think everyone (his partners) has his own characteristics and strengths.
'To outsiders, it does seem relatively easy for us. But actually, from the last training cycle until now, I've also had injuries, especially back problems as I get older. But since I've chosen to dive, I believe I have to keep going.'
His 21-year-old partner Zheng, who won his second gold in as many days after the men's 1m springboard title, added: 'Brother Wang always tells me not to pay attention to the scores, so I don't know about the opponents' scores.
'I only know that I had to perform my own dive well. And that if we completed the last dive well, we would be champions.'
Despite missing out on the gold, the Mexican duo, also silver medallists at Paris 2024, are pretty happy with their performance. Hernandez said: 'There are some details that I still need to work on personally and we beat our Paris score, so we're just trying to keep matching and breaking our personal bests at every competition.
'We believe in what we're working with coach Ma Jin, and we'll just put our head down and keep working. Whatever she says, we'll do.
'We're trying to do higher-difficulty dives, because we can and, I guess, we'll make the competition a little more interesting.'
Laugher, who had finished third at the Olympics and fifth in the last edition of the WCH with Harding, said: 'Our last world championships in Doha, we had a bit of a shocker.
'That was the Olympic year and we crowned it off with an Olympic bronze. Me and Anthony are an experienced pair now, we've got a lot going for us.
'Today was a really difficult challenge – the Chinese and the Mexicans were really on form… We've learnt a lot and, for us now, it's a bit of deserved time off and then we move forward into the next year.'
In the women's 10m synchronised platform, China's Chen Yuxi and Zhang Minjie took home the gold with 349.26 points after five rounds of diving, ahead of Mexican duo Alejandra Estudillo Torres and Gabriela Agundez Garcia (304.80) and North Korea's Jo Jin Mi and Kim Mi Hwa (293.34).
China's fans showing their support for Chinese divers Chen Yuxi and Zhang Minjie after the duo won the World Aquatics Championship women's 10m synchronised platform diving final.
ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
China were cheered on by a section of raucous supporters and the duo were given a standing ovation after their final dive.
Chen, 19, who had won the mixed team event on July 26 and fourth consecutive gold in the women's 10m synchronised platform, said: 'I feel that as long as I'm standing up there diving, I must be 100 per cent serious and committed, giving my best performance.
'After the Paris Olympics, I had to make some adjustments to my mindset. Coming to today's world championships, it feels somewhat different from the last cycle.
'From two years ago until now, I have seen significant changes and developments in my form. From Budapest (2022 edition), where I dealt with some injuries, I constantly motivated myself to complete that final competition.
'For me, it's all a process of continuous growth and improvement.'
There are seven more diving events at the WCH and China will be looking to add to their golds, having won nine out of 13 at the last edition in Doha.
Chinese divers Chen Yuxi (left) and Zhang Minjie gesture to the camera after winning the World Aquatics Championship Women's 10m Synchronised Platform Diving final.
ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
Diving action continues on July 29, with the women's 3m synchronised springboard and men's 10m synchronised platform finals.