By Tom Degun

Tom_Daley_World_Championships_Shanghai_July_24_2011July 24 - Britain's Tom Daley was unable to defend the World Championship 10 metre individual diving platform title he won in Rome two years ago as he was upstaged by a stunning performance from home favourite Qiu Bo of China today in Shanghai.


Bo, who won gold at the Singapore Youth Olympic Games last year, singled himself out the favourite for the title at London 2012 next year after as he dominated the competition with an overall points score of 585.45.

American diver David Boudia won silver with 544.25 and Sascha Klein of Germany won bronze with 534.50 points.

Daley finished in fifth with 505.10 points and, despite a terrific last dive, the 17-year-old from Plymouth was unable to move into the medal placings in his best event.

"I did two good dives and I am very satisfied," Daley said.

"There is a big gap between me and Qiu Bo (pictured).

Qiu_Bo_World_Championships_Shanghai_July_24_2011
"The Chinese are fantastic.

"But you can see that everything can happen, and you can see the Chinese made mistakes in today's competition."

But although Daley missed out on the medals, by reaching the final he secured a 10m platform diving spot for Britain at the London 2012 Olympics.

"I am really excited for the Olympics, because it will be held in our country," Daley added.

"My dream is to win a gold medal there."

Daley's dive partner Pete Waterfield took 11th place in the event with 416.55 points but the headlines to the home nation as Bo's victory meant that China took a clean sweep of the World Championships diving events.

The home nation collected all ten titles at the event while the 10m individual diving platform event one of only two individual events in which China did not seal both gold and silver.

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