Europeans Stop Chinese Sweep in Moscow Stop of FINA Diving World Series

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, MAJALAH AKUATIK INDONESIA - April 15. MOSCOW (RUS), the third stop of the FINA/Midea Diving World Series 2012, welcomed 53 divers from the world's strongest nations in the sport from April 13-14. At the end of the two-day top-level competition, Germany and host federation Russia prevented a China's sweep of gold by finishing on top in the men's synchro events. Ultimately, no other nation came close to matching China's tally of eight medals (six gold, one silver, one bronze). The European countries collected ten medals: Russia (four), Italy and Ukraine (two), Germany and Great Britain (one). USA (four), Canada and Malaysia (one) also climbed the podium in Moscow.

With China's diving star Qiu Bo absent from the men's 10m platform, teammate Lin Yue reached the highest podium with a score of 546.25, 25.30 points ahead of silver-medallist Thomas Daley (GBR) and David Boudia (USA), third with 518.40 points. Olympic and World champion Chong He remained unchallenged in the men's 3m springboard, winning the event for the third straight time, with a score of 497.65. Locals Evgeny Kuznetsov (silver) and Illya Zakharov (bronze) completed the podium. In the synchro event, the two paired for the win, beating the American and Ukrainian duos, second and third respectively. In the men's 10m platform synchro, Sascha Klein/Patrick Hausding (GER) eclipsed the Americans and locals, who settled for silver and bronze, respectively. China missed the podium, taking fourth.

Among women, the same scenario repeated with China's Zi He (pairing with Minxia Wu) and two-time Olympic champion Ruolin Chen (with Wang Hao) taking out both 3m springboard and 10m platform events. Tania Cagnotto showed talent on the lower board, capturing silver (with Francesca Dallape) and bronze while Iulia Prokopchuk (UKR) was happy with the silver in the 10m platform, ahead of Yadan Hu (CHN), third. 

MEDALLISTS IN MOSCOW
Men's 3m springboard: 1. Chong He (CHN) 497.65; 2. Evgeny Kuznetsov (RUS) 477.05; 3. Illya Zakharov (RUS) 454.80
Men's 10m platform: 1. Lin Yue (CHN) 546.25; 2. Thomas Daley (GBR) 520.95; 3. David Boudia (USA) 518.40
Men's 3m springboard synchro: 1. Illya Zakharov / Evgeny Kuznetsov (RUS) 452.40; 2. Kristian Ipsen/Troy Dumais (USA) 417.15; 3. Oleksandr Gorshkovozov/Oleksandr Kolodiy (UKR) 412.50
Men's 10m platform synchro: 1. Sascha Klein/Patrick Hausding (GER) 449.70; 2. Nicholas McCrory/David Boudia (USA) 448.42; Victor Minibaev/Illya Zakharov (RUS) 445.44

Women's 3m springboard: 1. Zi He (CHN) 353.30; 2. Minxia Wu (CHN) 352.55; 3. Tania Cagnotto (ITA) 327.60
Women's 10m platform: 1. Ruolin Chen (CHN) 391.00; 2. Iulia Prokopchuk (UKR) 358.65; 3. Yadan Hu (CHN) 353.20
Women's 3m springboard synchro: 1. Zi He/Minxia Wu (CHN) 320.40; 2. Tania Cagnotto/Francesca Dallape (ITA) 304.80 3. Kelci Bryant/Abby Johnston (USA) 303.30
Women's 10m platform synchro: 1. Ruolin Chen/Hao Wang (CHN) 343.08; 2. Meaghan Benfeito/Roseline Filion (CAN) 325.86; 3. Pandelela Rinong Pamg/Mun Yee Leong (MAS) 321.00  (swimmingworldmagazine)