Spectacular Quan's perfect platform to Paris

BERLIN — China's Olympic champion Quan Hongchan claimed the women's 10m platform title, while her compatriot Wang Zongyuan won the men's 3m springboard gold at the World Aquatics Diving World Cup in Berlin on Sunday.

Sixteen-year-old world and Olympic champion Quan obliterated the competition in the women's 10m final, earning perfect 10s from all but one judge on her hardest dive, a back 3 and a half, to score 99 points in the penultimate round.

Remarkably, her four-dive total would have been enough to secure gold had she sat out round five. But instead she earned another 10 and some 9.5s and 9s on her last dive to tally 432.80 for the day. Nineteen-year-old Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix of Britain finished 93.70 points behind Quan to take silver. Caeli McKay of Canada claimed bronze.

"I've become more and more confident in my 207C dive. I'm not worried about the quality of the dive anymore," said Quan. "But it's a bit different this time in Berlin. My teammate Chen Yuxi is not here, so I was feeling a little nervous."

In the men's 3m final, three-time world champion Wang maintained the dominance he displayed at the previous stop in Montreal, claiming the title again with 505.90 points, followed by Osmar Olvera Ibarra of Mexico and Germany's Lars Rudiger.

"From Doha to Montreal to Berlin, I'm feeling a bit tired now but I never thought about having a rest. I'm still hoping to compete in the super final in Xi'an, both in the individual and synchro events," said the 22-year-old Wang.

"Obviously, this time wasn't quite as good as the previous stop. If you look at the scores, I earned more in Montreal than Berlin. I tried my best to finish my dives in a stable way today. It needs a strong mentality," he added.

Wang admitted that, with the World Cup series taking place after the world championships, staying in top physical condition is a big challenge while also trying to peak in time for the Paris Olympics.

Chen Yiwen and Lian Junjie triumphed in the women's 3m springboard and men's 10m platform events, respectively, on Saturday, as China won four individual titles in Berlin.

China only entered five divers in the individual competitions and skipped the synchronized springboard and platform events.

The World Cup Super Final will be staged in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, from April 19-21, when the host will enter a strong lineup for the individual and synchronized events.

Xinhua