(MENAFN-Khaleej Times) the divers flew in from beijing after competing in the first round of the series last weekend
Canada’s roseline filion and meaghan benfeito are set for the dubai series. — supplied photo
The world’s best divers arrived in dubai on monday ahead of the second leg of the fina/nvc diving world series 2014 which is being held at the hamdan sports complex this thursday, friday and saturday.
The divers flew in from beijing after competing in the first round of the series last weekend. following the event in dubai the competition heads to london, moscow, and windsor, canada before the final leg in monterrey, mexico in june.
China again demonstrated the incredible depth of talent in their diving team in the first round last weekend, with new synchronized combinations topping the podium, and two current world champions being upstaged by their team mates. the changes did little to slow the chinese juggernaut though, and they kicked off the series by taking all but one of the gold medals on offer. however this represents a major breakthrough for international diving and is indicative of the closing of the gap between china and the rest of the world as this is the first time since 2010 that china did not win every gold medal on offer at the event when staged in beijing.
The women’s 10m platform field was opened up with olympic champion chen ruolin concentrating on the synchro event in this series. countrywoman liu huixia took advantage of roulin’s absence, taking the first gold of the series over pandelela rinong pamg of malaysia with tonia couch of great britain taking the bronze.
In a surprise result in the men’s 10m platform world champion qiu bo was bested by teammate cao yuan, who is better known for his synchro performances. great britain’s tom daley had a strong start, going into first place with his first dive, but had to settle for bronze. daley said on arrival in dubai: “beijing was good, i’m very excited and looking forward to the competition here. it’s good to be back in dubai”.
The 3m springboard also yielded a surprise with world champion he zi beaten by team mate wang han, the first time wang has prevailed in an international meet against he. canada’s pamela ware took bronze, while in the men’s 3m the reigning world champion he chong did not disappoint, taking gold ahead of lin yue with ukraine’s illya kvasha in third.
In the men’s 3m synchro the russian team of evgeny kuznetsov and ilya zakharov broke the chinese deadlock with gold ahead of cao yuan and lin yue. lin and cao are better known as a 10m synchro team, and had to settle for silver in their 3m synchro debut. they redeemed themselves in the 10m synchro though, taking gold ahead of world champions patrick hausding and sascha klein of germany, with great britain’s daniel goodfellow and matthew lee in bronze.
The women’s 3m synchro result was more predictable, with world champions wu minxia and shi tingmao of china in first followed by canada’s jennifer abel and pamela ware. canada also took silver in the women’s 10m synchro with meaghan benfeito and roseline filion finishing behind world champions chen ruolin and liu huixia. malaysian duo pandelela rinong pamg and mun yee leong took bronze.
“beijing went well, we are looking forward to competing here again,” said benfeito and filion at dubai international airport this morning.
With such talent across the entire field the competition for gold will be tough in every event this weekend in dubai, with the chinese under constant threat of a breakthrough performance from any one of the other competitors.
“we are very excited about welcoming the competitors and teams back to dubai for the fina/nvc diving world series 2014. we are delighted to see such a strong line-up which is guaranteed to delight the crowds,” said dr ahmad saad al sharif, general secretary of the dubai sports council.
“the quality of the competition is world class and we are hoping that sports fans in dubai will come out in force to enjoy the spectacle,” said ahmed al falasi, president of the uae swimming federation and chairman of the organising committee.
The fina/nvc diving world series event runs over three days, starting with the 10m platform synchro finals on thursday 20 march from 10-12noon, followed by the opening ceremony at 5pm and 3m springboard synchro finals from 6-8pm. friday’s 3m individual springboard semi-finals session runs from 10-12noon, with the finals from 5-7pm. the final day of competition on saturday sees the 10m platform semi-finals from 10-12noon, followed by the finals from 5-7pm. event organisers are also happy to announce the involvement of local children and aspiring diving stars in the event. during the opening ceremony on thursday, local diving club dudive will present a short display demonstrating their expertise.
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