Teenager's golden day for China

Fourteen-year-old Si Yajie of China won the women's world 10m platform gold on Thursday, edging compatriot Chen Ruolin, the previous world and Olympic champion, and Ukraine's Iulia Prokopchuk, who finished third.

"I am very excited with this gold," beamed Si.

"Overall, my performance was quite good, especially the first four dives, where I was consistent.

"The secret of my success? To train hard and not be lazy."

Si triumphed with 392.15 points, while defending titleholder Chen, the four-time Olympic champion who won worlds gold on Monday in the 10m synchro, notched 388.70.

"I am pretty satisfied with my final, except for the fourth dive, which I had only performed once. It went a bit wrong," said Chen.

"The competition is as it is - someone wins and someone has to lose. The key is how you manage your failure.

"If you keep looking back, you won't do it better.

"If you look ahead, your failure will just be a bad memory.

"Having strong opponents on the Chinese team is an additional motivation for me to perform well."

Prokopchuk, the European champion, scooped the bronze medal with 358.40 points - more than 30 behind the Chinese pair.

"I cannot believe that I am seated here, with my first medal at a world championships hanging around my neck," said Prokopchuk.

"Can we beat the Chinese? Nothing is impossible, but we don't reveal our secrets.

"The idea is to be at the top in 2016 in Rio and try to perhaps do better than the Chinese."

It was the sixth diving title won by China out of the seven contested so far in Barcelona.

Only Germany's win by Sascha Klein and Patrick Hausding in the men's 10m synchro last Sunday has prevented a clean sweep by China.

Victoria Lamp of the US took the lead in the opening round on Thursday with an excellent armstand dive, but Chen and Si were only just behind.

The Chinese pair recorded identical scores in the second and third rounds as they moved clear of the rest of the field.

Chen, who will only turn 21 in December, faltered in the fourth round, enabling Si to move 8.25 points clear.

Although Chen outscored Si in the final round, it was not enough to make up the the 3.45 points to claim gold.