China denied diving sweep at world championships
Monday, 20th July 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
China also ceded the women's 1-meter springboard title, which was claimed by Julia Pakhalina of Russia, with Wu Minxia taking the silver. Qin Kai won the men's 1-meter springboard competition, with Zhang Xinhua coming in second. Australia's Matthew Mitcham, the platform diver who spoiled China's diving sweep aspirations at last summer's Olympics, came in third. Qin also won the 3-meter synchro springboard competition the following day, with partner Wang Feng.
One of China's biggest sports stars and the most-decorated Olympic female diver of all time, Guo Jingjing, opens competition today in the 3-meter individual event, and is expected to be a contender in the finals tomorrow. The diving competition ends Saturday, July 25, with the men's 10-meter synchro event. A complete list of starts and results can be seen on the FINA Web site.
Water polo and synchronized swimming
Water polo play kicks off Monday as well. The Chinese women opened against Hungary, losing 10-7 after coming out to a strong start that had them in a 4-4 tie in the second quarter. China came out of nowhere last summer to place fifth in Olympic competition, with surprising wins over Russia and Italy, and one-point losses to powerhouses Australia and the United States. The men are not as strong--expect them to get walked over by Montenegro (population 678,000, to China's 1.3 billion) Tuesday.
In synchronized swimming, China took bronze in the team technical event Sunday. There are six more competitions to go, with one gold medal awarded every day from Monday through Saturday.
Image: FINA.org
Tags: Chen Ruolin, diving, FINA World Championships, Guo Jingjing, Qin Kai, Wang Feng, water polo, Wu Minxia, Zhang Xinhua