Malaysian divers challenged the dominance of China at the International Swimming Federation (FINA) Diving Grand Prix as they secured three titles in front of their home fans in Kuala Lumpur at the three-day event.
The host country’s gold medal success came in the synchronised events with the pairing of Chew Yi Wei and Cheong Jun Hong claiming the mixed 10 metres title, ending competition with a total score of 326.82 points.
China’s Wang Ying and Wang Anqi were forced to settle for silver, having received a score of 298.92 from the judges, while Australia’s Brittay O’Brien and Nicholas Jeffree were some way adrift in third on 264.42.
Wei secured his second victory of the weekend, pairing up with Ahmad Amsyar to claim gold in the men’s 10m event with their score of 371.31 proving enough to see off the challenge of China’s Li Yanan and Zhong Yuming, who took silver on 367.50, while Poland’s Andrzej Rzeszutek and Kacper Lesiak completed the podium positions with 354.81 poits.
A hat-trick of Malaysian golds was secured when Hong joined Nur Shabitah Sabre to earn her second title of the weekend, the duo topping the standings at the close of the women’s 10m synchronised competition on 319.74 to deny China’s Wang Han and Wang Ying, as they ended some way back on 283.38.
Ukraine’s Tatsenki Vlada and Ganna Krasnoshlyk claimed the bronze medals, finishing with a score of 273.33.
Hong and Sabre were forced, however to settle for silver in the 3m competition as their total of 288.75 was not enough to overcome China’s Xu Zhihuan and Wu Chunting, who ended on a tally of 304.50, while Ukraine’s Anastasiia Nedobiga and Kesar Viktoriya third on 280.95.
The event was one of six Chinese successes in Malaysia’s capital as Chunting joined Li Yanan to claim the mixed 3m gold with a total of 303.00 points, while Wang Anqi and Gao Ang combined to good effect to win the men’s 10m gold, scoring 394.86, with their nearest rivals, India’s Adityo Restu Putra and Andriyan Andriyan, ending well back on 308.22 to take silver.
The Chinese team’s real dominance came in the individual competitions where they ended with a total of three golds in the four events.
Peng Jian Feng, who triumphed at the 3m springboard event in Singapore, maintained his excellent form, repeating the feat in Malaysia as he scored 476.60 to deny home favourite Amsyar gold.
Team-mate Anqi beat his compatriot Gao Ang, with the pair securing 471.85 and 451.70 to complete a Chinese one-two in the men’s 10m platform.
Wang Ying claimed gold in the women’s event, scoring 382.70 points to gain revenge over Lois Toulson, the Briton who had overcome the Chinese challenge last week’s World Cup.
Ukraine’s Anastasiia Nedobiga prevented Chinese clean-sweep of the individual events in the penultimate World Cup of the season, winning the 3m springboard title on 321.25, with Xu Zhihuan of ending as the runner-up on 307.60.
By Michael Pavitt; this article was republished with permission from the original publisher Inside the Games www.insidethegames.biz