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China to snatch first 2 diving golds at World Championships

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-03-19 10:41

Powerhouse China is ready to sweep the first two diving gold medals here on Monday at the 12th FINA World Championships.

In the opening day of the diving competition, divers from 18 teams will fight for the men's three-meter springboard synchronized and 14 pairs are going to contend in the women's 10-meter platform synchronized event.

Chinese duo Wang Feng and Qin Kai are undoubtedly the hot favorites in the men's event. So are their teammates Jia Tong and Chen Ruolin in the women's part.

Veteran Wang Feng enjoyed victory with partner He Chong at the 2005 Montreal World Championships, the 2006 World Cup in China and the Doha Asian Games last December.

But this time He Chong, who is famed for commanding a set of dives with high degrees, will focused on diving solely and Qin Kai will take over his place as Wang's new partner.

Qin Kai nailed the gold of singles at both World Cup and Asian Games with prominent stability. The 20-year-old also earned an opportunity to participate in the singles event in Melbourne.

The Canadian duo of Alexandre Despatie and Arturo Miranda are likely to chase the Chinese pair closely.

Despatie won two gold medals in the one-meter and three-meter springboard events on home soil at 2005 Montreal World Championships. The "golden boy" of Canadian diving is regarded as one of the biggest threat to the Chinese dream team.

Besides, Troy Dumais/Mitchell Richeson from the United States and Russian masterhands Gleb Galperin/Aleksandr Dobroskok are also strong competitors in the event.

In the women's platform synchronized event, Jia Tong was the defending champion in the women's 10-meter platform synchronized diving. But the 16-year-old had been apart from her gold wining partner Yuan Peilin for a long time.

After pairing up with the 14-year-old Chen Ruolin, Jia collected the gold at both the World Cup and Doha Asian Games last season.

At the same time, Roseline Filion/Meaghan Benfeito of Canada and the host sensations Melissa Wu/Briony Cole are likely to make strong performances.

The other gold up for grab on Monday is the solo technical gold in the synchronized swimming session. Since French solo queen Virginie Dedieu decided not to join this competition, Russian Natalia Ischenko will meet less challenge to grab her first solo world title.

The separate medal awards for the technical and free routines in the solo, duet and team events have been introduced by FINA for the first time at Melbourne 2007.

Double solo world champion Dedieu, ranked first in the solo free routine preliminary on Sunday, decided to give up the technical event by saying that she didn't want to be too tired.