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Teenage girl beats Olympic medalists at Chinese National Diving Championships

Xinhua, May 14, 2017 Adjust font size:

The 13-year-old diver Zhang Jiaqi enjoyed her moments at the Chinese National Diving Championships as she beat two Rio Olympic medalists Ren Qian and Si Yajie to win the women's 10m platform with a total score of 413.30 here on Sunday.

"I had already won the title last year. I don't know whether it means I'm a good diver, but I still want to win more," said Zhang with childish smile on her face.

"I don't think I'm as good as those elite divers, such as Ren Qian. They know how to compete under all kinds of circumstances. I have to keep improving, especially mentally."

However, the girl seemed to be dominant as she kept her lead from beginning to the end. Olympic runner-up Si Yajie ranked the second by 15.85 points, while Ren Qian, the Rio Olmpic champion excuted her first dive with flaws and only placed the fourth.

Earlier in the afternoon, Qiu Bo and Yang Jian claimed the victory in the men's 10m synchronized platform with a total of 475.71, beating Olympic gold medalist Chen Aisen and his partner Huang Bowen by 14.1.

"We didn't expect the victory, what we wanted before the championships was to get the ticket to the National Games. The result was beyond our expectation," said Qiu.

Qiu and Yang took the lead after their third dive and maintained the advantage to the end.

"In fact, we didn't have too much confidence before we came here. But it turned out that we are in good form, and I feel more confident about the National Games," said Yang.

The National Diving Championships serves as the qualification for the National Games, which is to be held in Tianjin from August. Only the top 18 divers in individual events and top 12 pairs in synchronized events will get the tickets to Tianjian. Endit