FINA diving World series 2018: first gold for team Russia on day 2
Team Russia celebrates two medals on Day 2: Evgeny Kuznetsov won bronze in the 3m springboard, and Yulia Timoshinina / Nikita Shleikher won gold in the mixed synchronised 10m platform. Two more gold medals were conquered by Chinese divers, adding to their solid medal count.
The evening session of Day 2 began with the women’s 10m platform final. The Asian quartet of the finalists from North Korea, China and Malaysia was deluted by Russia’s Yulia Timoshinina and Australia’s Melissa Wu. North Korea’s Kim Mi Rae took the lead in the first two rounds of dives, but then she was replaced by China’s Ren Qian. As a result, both athletes competed for the title. The Chinese finished first (389.1) and the North Korean was second (362.35). In fact, all the rest fought for the third position, but Wu turned out to be the lucky one. The fourth round put the Australian diver into the third spot so that she managed to earn 351.8 points and finally score better than Timoshinina.
The men’s 3m springboard decisive battles, the other discipline on the competition programme, were shorn of any intrigue. The Chinese and Russians competed for the title, while the British and Canadian fought for the fifth place. After the first two rounds Ilia Zakharov of Team Russia occupied the first spot, but his third dive threw him back into the fifth position. The Olympic champion did everything to improve his score, however, he eventually finished fourth.
His teammate Evgeny Kuznetsov was ahead. On the eve both had won silver in the synchro event. Ultimately, Zakharov lost to Kuznetsov by 3.2 points and earned the bronze medal (494.25). The two athletes from China competed for the title till the very end, and fortune smiled on Xie Siyi, who showed a brilliant result of 536.6 points for five dives. Cao Yuan became a silver medallist, losing less than five points.
Day 2 concluded with the mixed synchro 10m platform competition, in which the host team clinched the top medal. Yulia Timoshinina / Nikita Shleikher were placed either first or second during five dives, thus celebrating the final result of 331.35 points. The runners-up, North Korea’s Kim Mi Hwa / Hyon Myong, followed the Russians by one point and a half. Canadians Vincent Riendeau / Meaghan Benfeito finished third with 306.72 points, earning a second medal for their national team here in Kazan.