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China bags men's 3m syn springboard
Xinhua
Updated: 2008-08-13 15:34
BEIJING -- Defending world champion Qin Kai and Wang Feng made it fourth Olympic diving title for China when they twirled to a comprehensive victory in the men's 3m springboard synchronized final here on Wednesday.
Wang Feng and Qin Kai compete in the men's synchronised 3m springboard final at the Beijing Olympics, August 13, 2008. The pair claimed the title in this event. [Sohu.com] |
With the their clean victory, dominant China has swept all of the four gold in synchro diving events at the Beijing Games.
The Chinese duo, winner of the event of 2008 Beijing World Cup and the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, led all the way in the final and amassed 469.08 points, nearly 50 points over their closest rivals Russian Dmitry Sautin and Yuriy Kunakov.
Legendary Sautin and his teenager partner finished runner-up at 421.98, beating Ukrainian pair Illya Kvasha and Oleksiy Prygorov at 415.05.
Qin and Wang, 21 and 29 respectively, seized the lead with their first back dive for which they achieved three maximum 10 scores. They continued to expand score gap and secured the gold after their fourth dive, a most difficult forward two-and-a-half somersault in pike position, well ahead of closest rivals with over 20 points.
Sautin and Kunakov trailed closely the Chinese in the first four dives, but slumped to fourth after their fifth performance, a difficult inward three-and-a-half somersault in tuck position.
However, they managed to claw some of it back in the final decisive battle and finally stepped on the podium with silver.
The victory of Qin and Wang had reseized China's supremacy in the 3m springboard which the country failed to see in Athens four years ago.
The Chinese Dream Team had bitter memory in the same event at the Athens Olympics, when Chinese Peng Bo and Wang Kenan blundered in their final dive and were awarded zero point.