Chinese diving association to start pro league
Thursday, 19th February 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
As the Premier League, NFL, MLB, and International Cricket Association all try to carve up the scraps left behind by the NBA in China, one has to wonder how sports that are more distinctly Chinese will capitalize on all the new energy around professional competition. Here's one answer: The Chinese Diving Association is working on creating a professional league, Chinese diving coach Zhou Jihong said Wednesday.The league would be open to divers from all over the world—and given the sport's popularity here and China's dominance of it (the host won seven out of eight diving gold medals at the 2008 Olympics) it would seem that a league here stands a chance of attracting top talent. The announcement came shortly after the FINA Diving World Grand Prix in Shenzhen. China swept the gold medals at last weekend's event.
With Guo Jingjing (郭晶晶) and He Chong (何冲) absent, China began to show off some of its younger up-and-coming diving talent and groom the next generation of stars for major international competition. Here's a closer look at the results:
Women's 10-meter platform individual and synchro
Get to know this face: 16-year-old Chen Ruolin
Chen Ruolin (陈若琳), who took the gold medal in the women's 10-meter platform at the Beijing Olympics, won her event at the Grand Prix. Chen had to come from behind to win, just as she did in the Olympics. She narrowly beat out Kang Li, with whom she later took first in the women's 10-meter synchronized event.
Women's 3-meter platform individual and synchro
He Zi and partner Wang Han also won the women's three-meter springboard synchro event. This is Guo's event, and before the competition began coach Zhou Jihong confirmed that the four-time gold medal winner has returned to training.
Men's 10-meter platform individual and synchro
China swept the top two positions in both the individual and synchro events. Lin Yue and Huo Liang (火亮) won the pairs competition, and Zhou Luxin (周吕鑫) won the individual, with Lin Yue taking silver.
Men's 3-meter springboard individual and synchro
Zhang Xinhua beat out two-time world champion and Beijing Olympics bronze medalist Qin Kai for the men's three-meter springboard title. The most recent Olympic gold and silver medalists, He Chong (China), and Alexander Despatie (Canada), did not compete. Zhang is 21 years old and won the springboard competition at the World University Games in 2007. Together, Qin and Zhang won the three-meter synchro event.
Chen Ruolin image: 9k8y.com
Tags: Chen Ruolin, diving, Guo Jingjing, He Zi, Huo Liang, Lin Yue, Wang Han, Zhang Xinhua, Zhou Luxin