China delights fans in the “Water Cube” in Beijing

Lausanne (SUI), March 24, 2012 – In front of its fans at the “Water Cube” in Beijing, the team of China dominated without surprise the second meet of the FINA/Midea World Series 2012, taking place in the Chinese capital from March 23-24, getting all the eight gold medals at stake.

On Day 1, the four finals were won by the same athletes that had triumphed in Dubai (UAE, the first meet of the series on March 16-17): Olympic and world gold medallist Chong He in the men’s 3m springboard and his compatriots Yuan Cao/Yanquan Zhang in the 10m platform synchro. Among women, Olympic champion Ruolin Chen easily dominated the operations in the 10m platform, while world champion Minxia Wu successfully paired with Zi He in the 3m springboard synchro.

Kai Qin (CHN), third in Dubai in the men’s 3m springboard, upgraded his medal in Beijing, while Julian Sanchez (MEX) finished with the bronze in the “Water Cube”. In the men’s synchronised event, the minor medals went to Great Britain (silver, with Tom Daley and Peter Waterfield – fourth in the Emirates) and to Germany (bronze for Patrick Hausding and Sascha Klein – fifth in the first leg of the series). In the women’s field, China also did the 1-2 in the individual 10m platform, with Yadan Hu getting the silver behind Chen. As in Dubai, Malaysian Pandelela Rinong Pamg got the bronze. Paola Espinosa (MEX), second in the Emirates, finished fifth in Beijing. In the synchro event, Kelci Bryant/Abigail Johnston (USA) and Jennifer Abel/Emilie Heymans (CAN) finished tied for the silver (306.30), but an additional dive to untie gave the silver to USA (71.10) and the bronze to Canada (68.40).

On Day 2, the only minor surprise was the victory of Zi He (CHN) over her compatriot Minxia Wu in the women’s 3m springboard (Wu had won in Dubai and is the world champion of this event). In the other three finals, the gold medallists of Dubai were the same: Bo Qiu (CHN) in the men’s 10m platform, Kai Qin/Yutong Luo (CHN) in the men’s 3m springboard synchro, and Ruolin Chen/Hao Wang (CHN) in the women’s 10m platform synchro.

In the individual events, Tania Cagnotto (ITA) got also the bronze in Beijing in the 3m springboard, while Thomas Daley (GBR) was again silver medallist in the 10m platform. On the synchro events, the minor medals went to Mexico, Canada, Ukraine and Germany. 

The World Series’ next stop is Moscow (RUS) from April 13-14 and last meet is Tijuana (MEX) from April 20-21.

(fina.org).