Chinese claim synchro golds at FINA Diving World Series in Beijing

Host China has been dominating the FINA Diving World Series in Beijing in which 78 elite divers from 14 countries and regions have been taking part.

CHINESE divers reigned supreme on the first day of the three-day event as they took four synchro titles with Olympic champion Shi Tingmao winning the women's 3m springboard along with her new partner Wang Han.

The CHINESE duo won the top honors in Japan last week and continued to rule in front of their home fans in the women's 3m springboard with 339.30 on Thursday. Australia's Maddison Keeney and Anabelle Smith took the silver medal with 300.93 while the British duo of Grace Reid and Katherine Torrance bagged the bronze.

Cao Yuan and Xie Siyi, who won the title in the men's 3m springboard synchro last year in Beijing, were victorious on Thursday. The 2018 Asian Games winners have paired up since the winter of 2016 and carried forward their golden form after beating 2016 Rio Olympic champion Jack Laugher and his new partner Daniel Goodfellow.

The CHINESE duo won gold with 469.08 and finished well ahead of the silver-winning pair of Jahir Ocampo Marroquin and Rommel Pacheco Marrufo of Mexico. The Canadian duo of Philippe Gagne and Francois Imbeau-Dulac settled for bronze.

China's Cao Yuan and Chen Aisen in action. /VCG Photo

Earlier, another CHINESE pair, Cao Yuan and Chen Aisen, topped the men's 10m synchro platform as they scored 494.55, edging past Aleksandr Bondar and Viktor Minibaev of Russia and Domonic Bedggood and Declan Stacey of Australia.

China's Zhang Jiaqi, who won gold in last year's World Cup, claimed victory in the women's 10m synchro platform. The 15-year-old paired up with Lu Wei to script victory with 354.06 points.

(Top image via VCG: China's Shi Tingmao (L) and Wang Han celebrate after winning the women's synchronized3m springboard at the FINA Diving World Series in Beijing.)