China wins four titles in Diving World Series

CHANGZHOU, Jiangsu Province, March 27 (Xinhua) -- China blitzed to win all
the four titles on offer on the first day of the FINA Diving World Series here
Friday, while Russian veteran Dmitry Sautin stole the limelight by claiming a
bronze medal in the men's three-meter springboard.

China's Huo Liang and Lin Yue compete during the men's 10m platform synchronised final at the second leg of four-stop FINA Diving World Series in Changzhou, a city of east China's Jiangsu Province, on March 27, 2009. Huo and Lin claimed the title with a score of 484.92 points. (Xinhua/Yang Lei)

Aged at 35, Sautin was the long-time role model for many young divers all
over the world. He said he felt tired after the first leg of the World Series in
Doha, Qatar last week and he was glad to win a bronze medal in Changzhou.

World and Olympic champion Qin Kai and Zhang Xinhua made a 1-2 Chinese finish
in the men's three-meter springboard, and Patrick Hausding of Germany finished
fourth.

Sautin, who has won eight Olympic medals in his career, said: "I'm really
surprised I can perform like this today. The World Series was my first
competition after Beijing Olympic Games in seven months. Last week I didn't
enter the final in Doha and now I come back."

China's Wang Han and He Zi compete during the women's 3m synchro springboard final at the second leg of four-stop FINA Diving World Series in Changzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, on March 27, 2009. Wang Han and He Zi claimed the title of the event with a score of 331.20 points. (Xinhua/Yang Lei)

Chen Ruolin, winner of the women's 10m platform at the Beijing Games,
dominated the tower by finishing 444.05 ahead of Chinese teammate Kang Li in
421.70.

Mexico's Paola Espinosa and Canada's Roseline Filion placed third and fourth
respectively.

Chinese young pair He Zi/Wang Han met no challenges in the women's 3m
springboard synchronized by taking the gold in 331.20. Briony Cole/Sharleen
Stratton of Australia edged Nora Subschinski/Katja Dicckow of Germany by 1.62
points to win the silver in 314.82.

Russian veteran Dmitry Sautin competes during the men's 3m springboard final at the second leg of four-stop FINA Diving World Series in Changzhou, a city of east China's Jiangsu Province, on March 27, 2009. Sautin took the bronze medal with a score of 486.25 points. (Xinhua/Yang Lei)

Olympic champions Lin Yue/Huo Liang continued their unbeaten run on the men's
platform synchro since they started to compete in the world events in 2006.
Lin/Huo led the field in 484.92 while new duo Mccrory Nicholas/Thomas Finchum of
the United States came second in 460.50.

"We just started to train synchro for a few weeks. I'm satisfied with the
results and more confident that we can do much better in the future," Finchum
said.

China's Chen Ruolin competes during the women's 10m platform final at the second leg of four- stop FINA Diving World Series in Changzhou, a city of east China's Jiangsu Province, on March 27, 2009. Chen claimed the title with a score of 444.05 points. (Xinhua/Yang Lei)

Four other events - men's 10m platform, men's 3m springboard synchro, women's
3m spring and women's 10m platform synchro - will be contested on Saturday.