China make it five golds from five events at diving world championships
Teenager Xie Siyi claims men’s 1m springboard title to give his country fifth straight win
China could repeat their 2011 sweep of the diving gold medals at the world aquatic championships after Monday’s double victory left then with five wins from five in Kazan.
Teenager Xie Siyi claimed the men’s 1m springboard title to give his country their fifth straight win in the event having only switched from platform diving at the beginning of the year following an ankle injury.
Then Olympic champion Chen Ruolin claimed her fifth successive world women’s 10m synchro gold medal alongside parter Liu Huixia.
Earlier 19-year-old Xie succeeded compatriot Li Shixin, the world champion in 2011 and 2013, in the 1m springboard, which has been dominated by China with eight wins from the last nine championships.
The teenager won gold with a total of 485.50pts, beating off a strong challenge from Ukraine’s Illya Kvasha, the 2013 silver medallist in the event, who collected 339.05pts over the six rounds while Mike Hixon of the USA won bronze with 428.30pts.