China's Quan and Chen storm to women's sychronized 10m platform victory

FUKUOKA, Japan -- China's teen stars Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi retained their title of women's synchronized 10m platform at the World Aquatics Championships here on Sunday.

Quan and Chen, who have won almost everything from the platform events in the last three years, dominated from start to finish, scoring 369.84 points to beat second-placed Andrea Spendolini Sirieix and Lois Toulson of Britain by 58.08 points.

The bronze medal went to American pair Delaney Schnell and Jessica Parratto, who finished on 294.42.

16-year-old Quan, who won the Olympic individual gold by delivering three perfect-10 dives, said she was satisfied with the day's performance, but didn't realize she and Chen had been so "dominant".

"I don't know," she said. "I was just focusing on my own dive."

Chen added that she had made some synchro mistakes but vowed to come back stronger in the individual event.

17-year-old Chen, who came to the Tokyo Olympics as the world champion, lost to Quan but got the better of her teammate in last year's World Championships in Budapest.

"I definitely want to win gold," Chen said. "But I also hope that both of us will be able to go to [the 2024 Olympic Games in] Paris. We will have to be more focused on our daily training."

China, who swept all 13 gold medals in Budapest last year, has won all five diving golds only three days into the competition.