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China denied diving sweep at world championships

Monday, 20th July 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

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China's hopes of sweeping the diving events at the FINA World Championships in Rome were crushed on the second day of competition by Paola Espinosa of Mexico, who beat out 2008 Olympic gold medalist Chen Ruolin for the gold in the women's 10-meter individual springboard event. Chen and Wang Xin went on to win the women's 10-meter synchro event Sunday.

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

China divers finish World Series on top

Tuesday, 28th April 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

Due to the swine flu outbreak, divers performed in an empty house at the Mexico City stop on the FINA Diving World Series. Chinese divers won every event in Mexico City, except for the men's 3-meter springboard synchro event, in which it did not medal at all. This was the last event in the four-event World Series, with the others taking place in Doha, Qatar; Changzhou, China; and Sheffield, England. China won all but two of the series' 32 gold medals. Next up is the Diving Grand Prix, for which 3-meter gold medalist Guo Jingjing has said she will return to the pool. Events are in Montreal (April 30-May 3), Ft. Lauderdale (May 7-10) and Madrid (May 29-31). The FINA World Championships run over one week, beginning August 18, in Rome.

Tags: diving, FINA Grand Prix, FINA World Championships, FINA World Series, Guo Jingjing