Chinese world champion and strong favourite He Zi let a nine point lead slip when she missed her third dive to hand the 3-metre springboard title to compatriot Wang Han.

He, the Olympic silver medallist in the event, looked on course to get her 2014 season off to the perfect start before she slipped on her third dive to score a disappointing 49.50, while Wang remained consistent throughout to beat her teammate on the world stage for the first time with a final score of 368.55.

"I didn't expect to have such a bad start in my third dive," He said.

"I tried to adjust my body after I felt my feet slipped out of the springboard.

"It is a lesson for me that I need to focus on the competition all the time.

"Maybe it's because this is my first event this year, I feel uncomfortable with the competition."

Canadian Pamela Ware rounded off the podium in third, scoring 339.75.

He Chong recovered from a disappointing third dive to claim victory in the men's 3m springboard ©Getty Images



A missed third dive in the men's springboard competition proved a lot less costly for China's He Chong as he secured the gold over compatriot Lin Yue.

He walked out from a 73.50 slump only to bounce back strongly in the last two dives, taking the gold with 528.80.

Yue added to yesterday's 10m synchro platform gold with a strong debut on the springboard.

He finished second ahead of Ukraine's Illya Kvasha, who just edged out Russian Evgeny Kuznetsov by a mere 0.80 points.

"I had ups and downs during today's semi-finals and final," He admitted.

"I felt rusty in the competition and since I am getting older, it's hard to recover from injury."

Competition continues tomorrow in Beijing's Water Cube with the men's and women's individual 10m platform events.

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