China claims fifth gold at FINA Diving World Cup

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-23 13:33

BEIJING -- China won their fifth gold medal at the "Good Luck Beijing" 16th FINA Diving World Cup here on Friday.

Worlds champions Lin Yue and Huo Liang, 16 and 18 respectively, dominated the men's 10-meter platform synchronized final to clinch the gold with 482.46 points.


China's Lin Yue and Huo Liang dive during the synchronised ten-metre platform final at the Good Luck Beijing FINA Diving World Cup held at the National Aquatics Centre in Beijing February 22, 2008. Lin/Yue won the title with 482.46 points. [Xinhua]

Germany Patrick Hausding and Sascha Klein took the silver at 466.74, while Thomas Daley and Blake Aldridge brought the Great Britain a bronze at 446.07.

Lin and Huo, unbeatable in the World Series last year, said, "We did well in synchronizing. But there were still some mistakes in our diving, so we still need to improve ourselves."

"I really felt nervous to compete at home and diving in the Olympic venue also gave me some stress," Lin added.

"We are quite happy to win the silver," said Klein. "We finished third in the preliminaries and second in the final, and we are satisfied with the results."

Blake Aldridge and Thomas Daley of Britain finished third at 446.07.

"Today is fantastic," said Daley. "To get the bronze medal is overwhelming. We were just ninth in the preliminaries, but we really did a good job in the final. I hope I can win a gold in Beijing Olympic Games."

Australian duo Robert Newbery and Mathew Helm, bronze medalists in the event in the Athens Olympic Games, only took the fifth.

Newbery and Helm once retired after the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne but came back in mid-2007. They have teamed up since the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

"Around Melbourne 2007, I knew that I could still dive," said Newbery. "I also thought that Beijing 2008 would be my last chance to go to the Olympic Games and I would regret it if I didn't come back and try."



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