FINA diving World series 2018: unstoppable China on day 3
The closing day of the FINA Diving World Series started with two semifinals of the women’s 3m springboard and men’s 10m platform.
The female divers were first to compete for berths in the final. China’s Wang Han confidently won the first semifinal, leading during all the five rounds, and nobody could challenge her. As a result, Han scored 354.8 points and triumphantly cruised into the final. The Chinese won 18 points over the second-place finisher, Pamela Ware of Team Canada. Australia’s Esther Qin, whose final dive made the difference in her favour, bagged the bronze medal (320 points). The Australian athlete performed it as well as the leader and went through into the final stage, leaving her teammate Anabelle Smith behind. The semifinal was unsuccessful for Russia’s Kristina Ilinykh so that she finished last.
The outcome of the second semifinal was predictable. Shi Tingmao of China was the leader till the very finish (362.35 points). One more Canadian diver Jennifer Abel repeated the feat of her teammate, Pamela Ware, and earned silver of the second semifinal with the score of 338.4 points. The last berth into the final stage of this discipline was won by Malaysia’s Sabri Binti, who scored 320.1 points and was qualified for the final.
The men’s 10m semifinals went as well for Team Russia as they could. Two Russian divers will compete for the gold medal in the final. Alexander Bondar confidently got the upper hand in his semifinal with no Chinese opponents to participate in it. The Russian was awarded 524.25 points for five dives. The silver medallist of this semifinal, France’s Benjamin Auffret (480.75), lost to Bondar by over 40 points. Vincent Reindeau of Canada took the third place with 432.8 points.
In the next semifinal Russian Nikita Shleikher competed against Chinese Jian Yang and Ukrainian Maxim Dolgov. In the end Shleikher remained second with 462.45 points, the Chinese won with a 90-point gap, and the Ukrainian athlete was third (460.6 points). This trio deserved to make it to the final which together with the women’s 3m final competitions will wrap up the Kazan leg of the World Series.