By Paul Osborne

Chinese divers have dominated day two of the FINA Diving World Series in Dubai ©Getty ImagesMarch 21 - Another day, another dominant performance by Chinese competitors as they walked away with a double one-two finish on day two of the International Swimming Federation (FINA) Diving World Series at the Hamdan Sports Complex in Dubai.


Women's 3 metre springboard world champion He Zi got the ball rolling for China as she atoned for her defeat to compatriot Wang He in the first leg of the diving World Series in Beijing last week.

He took the lead from the offset and hardly looked like slipping up as he dived to a final point's total of 382.10 to win by 19.65 points from teammate Wang.

Wang almost let her silver slip by in her final dive as she earned the lowest score of the round to finish just 4.60 points ahead of Italy's Tania Cagnotto in third.

He Zi claims victory ahead of compatriot Wang He on day two of the FINA Diving World Series in Dubai ©Getty ImagesChina's He Zi claims victory ahead of compatriot Wang He on day two of the FINA Diving World Series in Dubai ©Getty Images



Cagnatto was the joint highest scorer with her final dive of the contest, scoring 73.5 to earn huge applause from the large Italian contingent watching from the stands.

"I've only just got back into competition so I'm really happy to be getting such good scores and winning medals already," said the Italian.

"I've been taking it pretty easy this season and really didn't expect to score so many points in this competition so I'm really satisfied."

He Zi was pleased with her victory but declared that "It doesn't matter which of us wins, it's just important that we learn from it.

"The most important thing is to practice hard and produce our best performance."

It was much the same in the men's competition as a two way battle between world champion He Chong and rising star Cao Yuan saw He secure the second Dubai-Beijing double of his career with a remarkable score of 535.80.

"I trained hard over winter so I am happy with my performance today," said He.

"Cao Yuan is an excellent diver and I am surprised he can do so well on both the platform and springboard, he is pushing me to work harder."

He Chong got the better of Cao Yaun after a tight battle with his young compatriot ©Getty ImagesChina's He Chong got the better of Cao Yaun after a tight battle with his young compatriot
©Getty Images



Cao was looking to claim his third medal of the event after taking gold and silver in the 10m platform synchro and 3m synchro yesterday; however, his top dive of 98.90 wasn't enough to topple his compatriot as he finished just 12.50 points behind in second.

"Today I did well and I feel good, I am making progress in the 3m, it is my first medal in the individual event," said Cao.

There was controversy in the battle for the final podium place as Great Britain's Jack Laugher was distracted by laughter just as he commenced his final dive.

The Briton reset himself but the break in concentration cost him dearly and he missed the entry and dropped from third to sixth.

"I lost concentration and I panicked," he said.

"I will definitely have to work with my coach on how to deal with a distraction, it's annoying but I will learn from it.

"I'm still happy I did four good dives and I got a personal best in prelims so that was good."

Ukraine's Illya Kvasha, who won this event last year, took advantage of the incident, posting a couple of superb dives in the latter stages to leap frog Laugher into third place.

"Today I didn't dive great but it wasn't too bad," he said.

"I need more practice.

"I don't concentrate on the Chinese, I just try my best."

Action from the 10m platform competitions gets underway tomorrow as the second leg of the Diving World Series comes to an end.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
March 2014: Different venue but same result as Chinese divers dominate in Dubai
March 2014: Final day in Beijing sees yet more medal success for home divers
March 2014: Golden day for China at FINA Diving World Series
March 2014: China takes three of four synchro titles on day one of Diving World Series opener in Beijing
March 2014: Beijing to welcome world's top divers as first leg of FINA World Series begins