Wang Feng and Qin Kai opened China's FINA Diving World Cup campaign in victorious fashion yesterday in Beijing after they convincingly won the men's synchronized springboard title.
It is the first and only major diving tournament in the National Aquatics Center, popularly known as the "Water Cube", before this summer's Olympics. As the host, China is looking to sweep all eight gold medals to boost the team's confidence at the Olympics.
Chinese divers Wang Feng (top) and Qin Kai compete at the men's synchronized springboard final during the 16th FINA Diving World Cup tournament held at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing Feb, 19, 2008. Wang and Qin won the title with 462.12 points. [Xinhua] |
"We were trying to emulate the Olympic atmosphere throughout the match," said Wang. "We gave ourselves more pressure and tried to feel tense. It's a very good result that we still won."
Wang and Qin took the lead after the first dive, giving their main opponents little chance of catching them. Those opponents, Russians Yuri Kunakov and Dmitry Sautin and Canadians Alexandre Despatie and Arturo Miranda, finished second and third, respectively.
"We did very well and there were only some minor mistakes," Wang said. "In the following preparation time, we will get focused on these small errors and try to get rid of them."
Wang and Qin are China's top choices to compete in this event in the Olympics and are expected to win back the gold medal China lost in Athens. For Chinese fans, the shocking memory of Greek divers Nikolaos Siranidis and Thomas Bimis seizing the men's synchronized springboard gold medal after a fatal, last-minute mistake by China is still vivid.
"This competition in the Olympic venue will make us mentally stronger," said Wang, who only finished fourth in the men's 3m springboard in Athens. "I will share my Olympic experiences with Qin and we will try to win back the gold for China."
After the pair won the world title in 2007, Qin got injured and was sidelined until September.
But they made an impressive return, winning three FINA Diving Grand Prix series in a row, all at the cost of the Canadian duo Despatie/Miranda.
Although Chinese dominated the pool yesterday, it was Russia's "diving czar" Sautin's amazing form at the age of 34 that stole the spotlight.
After the split with Alexander Dobroskok, Sautin decided to pair with the younger Kunakov. When Dmitry won his first silver medal in 1991 at the European Championships in Athens, Kunakov was 18 months old.
The team finished second at the European Championships in Budapest in 2006 after only two months of training and have showed rapid progress ever since.
"We made some mistakes in the final, so we have to chase China right from the start," said Sautin, who has competed in four Olympics. "We could be much better. In the Beijing Olympics, we have to make sure we do not make any mistakes and then we will have the chance to beat China."
It was also a sad day for surprising Athens Olympic champion Bimis.
The winner of the men's synchronized springboard four years ago failed to make the final with 21-year-old Alexandros Manos this time.
The pair only collected 369.45 points to finish 14th in the preliminary competition.
It was the only event Bimis participated in here. His partner Manos will also compete in the men's 3m springboard.
The 16th FINA Diving World Cup, which runs from February 19 to 25, is an Olympic qualifier and attracts 296 divers from 56 countries and regions.
