He Chao inherits men's 3m springboard title at Kazan worlds from brother

China's He Chao overcame the triple pressure from the local hero Olympic champion Ilia Zakharov, home crowds and the impact from his famous elder brother He Chong, winning his first world title in the men's 3m springboard at the FINA Swimming Championships here on Friday.

As the younger brother of the reigning champion and Beijing Olympic champion He Chong, He Chao built up the lead after his fourth dive and held off the strong challenge from Zakharov who produced a day-high 106.40 points for his last dive 109C (forward 4-1/2 somersaults ) just before his turn.

The chief judge had to ask the full-house audience to keep quiet twice before He Chao earned 102.60 for the same 109C to seal with the victory in a total of 555.05 points.

Zakharov had to concede to a silver medal with 547.60, 7.45 points less than He. Jack David Laugher of Britain took the bronze in 528.90 while another Chinese diver Cao Yuan finished fourth 523.95.

"It was a great and hard battle. It was the best reward to me since I just held off all the pressure and difficulties. My last dive was after Zakharov and I was under great pressure not only because of Zakharov's high points, but also from the local audience. It was a kind of overwhelming atmospheric. Before I stood on the springboard, I had a glimpse to my team manager and suddenly I felt calm and cool," He said.

"I focused on my own dive, nothing else was in my mind when I was on the springboard. I knew that I have to rely on myself no matter how good the other divers performed," said the 23-year-old who finished 7th in the 1m springboard.

The men's 3m springboard was ruled by the Chinese divers for eight years since 2007 when Qin claimed victory and He Chong won the titles for three consecutive times in 2009, 2011 and 2013.

"Since my brother He Chong did not make the team for the worlds, I guess he must be happier than I am when I finally stand on the top of the podium at my first World Championships," He said.

Synchronized swimming powerhouse Russia dominated the team free event 98.4667 points, beating China 96.1333 and Japan 93.9000. Russia wrapped up 7 gold medals out of 8 on offer.

Both men's and women's 25km open water swimming events, free combination of synchronized swimming and women's 3m springboard final will be held on August 1. Endi