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Yang Jian wins men's 10m platform at diving World Series in Beijing

Xinhua, March 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

With a record-high 123 points for his last dive 109B, World Cup champion Yang Jian made the full-house audience at the Water Cube into crazy as he won the men's 10m platform title at the FINA/NVC Diving World Series while China swept all 10 events on offer here in Beijing on Sunday.

Yang, who came out in last year's World Cup by taking the men's 10m platform champion title, stunned a group of big names, including Olympic champion David Boudia of the United States, world champions Sascha Klein of Germany and Qiu Bo of China for a winning 587.40 points in total.

Boudia came to second in 534.70 and Klein was third in 522.40, edging China's Qiu by 0.20 point. Race-setter Qiu, suffering from a third dive mistake for only 42 points in his 626B, had to concede to the fourth place. Thomas Daley of Britain did not qualify for the final.

"109B is my winning dive which has an average 110 points in my recent big event performance. I am very excited because I showed my best today. In fact, Qiu, Boudia, Klein and Daley are very competitive rivals on the platform but they just did not perform their best," Yand said.

Liu Huixia, 2014 FINA Best Women Diver winner, proved her stability by winning the women's 10m platform in 423.10. Four-time Olympic champion Chen Ruolin took the silver in 398.90 and Meaghan Benfeito of Canada was in third of 393.45.

"I showed my best today, better than what I performed during training. I am very lucky. But I am clear that I still need to work on many detailed elements," Liu said.

The 22-year-old Chen said: "I did not compete the individual event since London Olympic Games. I felt rusty and lack of confidence this time. But the silver medal really helps me to regain my confidence on platform."

In the mixed 10m synchro platform final, China's new pair Lian Jie/Tai Xiaohu claimed the title in 350.04, Meaghan Benfeito/Vincent Riendeau of Canada and Paola Espinosa/Jahir Ocampo of Mexico had the silvers and bronzes.

"We started to team up for three weeks. The competition showed our weakness in synchronization. Tai had to change his techniques to suit my style. I also need to improve my skills," said Lian.

For Mexico Diving Princess, Espinosa has a new plan in the mixed synchro event.

"This time, Ocampo and I just started to try the mixed synchro platform on after we arrived in Beijing. We performed good today. And now, I have a new plan - I may pair up with my boyfriend Rommel Pacheco who was a platform diver and now on springboard."

"We can have more time to train together and improve our synchronization. It will be great if we can compete together in Kazan World Championships," Espinosa said.

Through the three-day competition, China wrapped up all 10 gold medals on offer. FINA World Series will next come to Dubai of the United Arab Emirates during March 19-21. Endi