He Chong dominates Men’s 3m Springboard semi-final: Day three – 18th FINA Diving World Cup
Olympic champion, He Chong of China went on a rampage and dominated the Men’s 3m Springboard semi-final on third day of the 18th Federation Internationale de Natation Amateur (FINA) Visa Diving World Cup 2012 at the Aquatics Centre, Olympic Park in London on Wednesday, February 22.
The 24-year-old Chong, who qualified into the semi-final with second best points, elevated his efforts to overwhelm his team-member, Qin Kai, whose performance deteriorated in the second round and he failed to sustain his position.
Chong, who won gold medal of the 3m Springboard discipline at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, has remained undefeated in his main event so far. He defended his title of the 3m event at the 2009 Rome World Championships and later on, achieved the same at the 2011 Shanghai World Championships. Furthermore, the Chinese diver is now just one-step away from defending his title once again.
With his relentless efforts, he accomplished a wonderful total of 523.60 points to devastate his challengers and qualified into final round as the top contender for gold medal. Chong was trailed by his strongest competitor, Kai, who remained 24.15 points behind him and reached the final round as the second best finisher with a score of 499.45 points.
The second best finisher remained 1.55 points ahead of his subsequent competitor, Illya Zakharov of Russia, who earned third best spot in the playoff by achieving a total of 497.90 points.
The Russian was trailed by USA’s Chris Colwill, who was nearly 26 points behind him and grabbed fourth qualifying spot of the event with a score of 471.65 points. Ukraine’s Illya Kvasha was just 3.60 points away from his former finisher and transpired as the fifth best finisher of the event by claiming 468.05 points.
Kvasha was chased by Jack Laugher of Great Britain, who remained 0.45 points apart and made his way into the final round with an effort of 467.60 points.
The crowd went wild with the phenomenal efforts of all participants whereas these finalists will compete with each other in the playoff to prove their mettle for the top spot on the podium.
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