Xi’an native diver Yang Hao satisfied the local fans by taking the men’s 10m platform 574. 40 and later joined the winning quartet in the mixed team event.

China topped the medal tally by sweeping the nine golds on offer while also adding two silvers for good measure. Great Britain placed second with five silvers and two bronzes, and Germany finished third on the medal table with one silver and four bronzes. Ukraine was fourth with one silver and one bronze, and Japan finished fifth with two bronzes during the three-day World Cup event in Xi’an.

 

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Women’s 10m Platform

The youngest Chinese athlete at the Tokyo Games, Quan Hongchan, 14, scored 24 perfect marks out of 35 possible and took the crown at Tokyo Olympic Games while Chen Yuxi then claimed two consecutive victories in World Championships in Budapest and Diving World Cup in Berlin in 2022.

The rivalry turned on heating mode from the morning preliminary and afternoon final together with screaming and applause from the full-house audience all the way. Quan collected 438.90 points to top the preliminary, beating Chen 427.05 into second.

In the final, Quan soared to a high-flying start by earning three perfect marks with 87 for the early lead, 1.5 points ahead of Chen in their same dive Forward 3 1/2 Somersaults.

Chen stood on top from her second dive – Inward 3 1/2 Somersaults Tuck – 92.80. Quan was 8.1 points behind. The Armstand dives did not change the ranking as Chen grabbed 92.40 and Quan 92.80.

Coming to 207C, a Back 3 1/2 Somersaults Tuck, the vital dive that cost Quan two winning chances at the Budapest world championships and Berlin World Cup last year, foiled her one more time when she made a big splash at the entry for a 69.30, the same score Chen did just before her dive.

Chen was 7.70 points higher entering the last round and posted 91.20 in a Back 2 1/2 Somersaults 1 1/2 Twists and a total of 431.20 for the gold medal. Quan had to concede to a silver medal in 423.50 and Andrea Spendolini Sirieix of Great Britain rewrote her new personal best of 360.30 for the bronze. Sarah Jodoin di Maria of Italy and Ingrid Oliveira of Brazil came fourth and fifth, respectively.

“I was too excited to control myself in front of the full-house audience in the final. I seldom made such a big mistake in the 207C as I started higher and couldn’t find the right angle at entry. But in general, I performed pretty good, especially in rest other four dives,” said the 17-year-old.

“I was too excited to control myself in front of the full-house audience in the final. I seldom made such a big mistake…but in general, I performed pretty well.”

–Chen Yuxi

“I was also satisfied that I kept an unbeaten streak against Quan, my strongest rival and synchro partner in recent two years,” Chen added.

Born in the rural village of Maihe in southeastern China, Quan revealed she had a headache before the final.

“I didn’t feel good which caused my below-par performance compared to my form in the morning. Maybe because of a mixture of nerves and excitement,” said Quan who sealed 5 full marks out of 7 scores and a total of 99 points for her 207C in the morning session.

Sendolini Sirieix, a champion at both the European Championships and Commonwealth Games last year, said she was happy to set a new PB.

“It’s one of my new personal bests which is very, very good. And it’s nice. I just wanna keep on improving, keep on doing better because I know that I can do better than that. I had some mistakes in the first three rounds but I wanted to show the best that I can do in the last two dives. I’m really comfortable with those dives. They’re quite easy for me and so I know how to do them technically,” said the 18-year-old British diver.

“I just wanna keep on improving, keep on doing better because I know that I can do better than that.”

The three medalists hugged, joked and laughed around just like long-time friends.

Men’s 10m Platform

Yang Hao, 25, a former Youth Olympic Games champion, topped the preliminary 531.45 and final with 574.40, receiving five effective full marks for an event-high 111 points in the Forward 4 1/2 Somersaults Tuck. He also bagged 108 points in the Backward 3 1/2 Somersaults.

“It was the form I lost for a couple of years. The all-perfect marks just boosted my confidence and encouragement, but in fact, I should do better in my last dive and try for higher total results. I started to expect to compete in the next World Cup in Montreal right now,” Yang smiled.

“It was the form I lost for a couple of years. The all-perfect marks just boosted my confidence and encouragement.”

-Yang Hao

Seventeen-year-old Oleksii Sereda of Ukraine was the runner-up in 518.30 and 16-year-old Rikuto Tamai of Japan, runner-up in Budapest worlds, suffered from two poor dives and placed third in 433.80, just edging Timo Barthel of Germany out of the podium by 0.9 of a point.

“I just set a new personal best in the international competitions and I did all my dives well. My 109 was really good. I would like to show the same results or better in Montreal and earn a ticket for Paris Olympic Games,” Sereda said.

“I would like to show the same results or better in Montreal and earn a ticket for Paris Olympic Games.”

-Oleksii Sereda

Competing with Tamai also brought Sereda satisfaction. “He pushed me to work harder because I am not alone that I have such a person who won the silver medal at the worlds and is good as me at my age.”

Tamai revealed he had been lack of systematic training since Budapest worlds due to heavy work on his high school study and injury on his waist at the same time.

Mixed Team Event

Germany took a strong start after Lena Hentschel and Christina Wassen produced their individual 3m springboard dives in the first two rounds before team China came from behind in the rest four dives in 469.35.

Yang Hao showed up three times in the mixed 3m springboard synchro with Chen Yiwen, individual 10m and mixed platform synchro with Chen Yuxi. Germany earned silver with a 425.35-point score and Great Britain took bronze with 420.15 points.

“We had a strong team on the springboard and platform. It was a really good outcome and a great performance for all of us,” Moritz said. “It’s a perfect competition in general. You just see where we are standing now and how we can perform.

“It’s also like in a big great atmosphere, a lot of fans and very motivating,” Moritz added. “We can just test our dives. It’s still early in the season and there will be a huge improvement since there are still a few months left to the Fukuoka world championships,” Moritz said.

It’s a perfect competition in general.

-Timo Moritz

Sixty-three elite divers from 13 nations competed in the first stop of the Diving World Cup in Xi’an. The tour moves next to Montreal, Canada, from May 5-7 and then onto the Super Final in Berlin, Germany, from August 4-6.