Roundup: Comeback win, historic streak highlight China's diving gold rush at Singapore Worlds

SINGAPORE, July 29 (Xinhua) -- China added two more gold medals to its diving tally at the World Aquatics Championships here on Tuesday.

Chen Yiwen and Chen Jia, a newly formed pair, captured gold in the women's synchronized 3-meter springboard with 325.20 points. Scarlett Mew Jensen and Yasmin Harper of Britain earned silver with 298.35, while 14-year-old twins Lia and Mia Cueva Lobato of Mexico took the bronze.

"Today wasn't about standout dives, but everything went quite smoothly. We delivered what we had been doing in training," said Chen Yiwen, who claimed her fourth consecutive world title in the event.

The men's synchronized 10m platform final proved far more dramatic. Young Chinese pair Cheng Zilong and Zhu Zifeng suffered a major setback in the fourth round after a flawed execution of their 307C dive, dropping from first to third and trailing the leaders by over 20 points.

However, the duo showed remarkable composure in the final round, producing a high-quality closing dive that earned them a total of 429.63 points, edging out their nearest rivals by just 0.93 points to secure the gold.

Neutral athletes Ruslan Ternovoi and Nikita Shleikher claimed silver, while the American pair of Joshua Hedberg and Carson Tyler got bronze.

Cheng attributed their comeback to mutual trust. "In the last two rounds, we encouraged each other. I had full confidence in my partner. I knew he could deliver the way he does in training, and we both focused on doing our part," he said

In the swimming event, China's Tang Qianting claimed a bronze medal in the women's 100-meter breaststroke final. Tang led for most of the way but was overtaken in the final stretch. She finished third, and Germany's Anna Elendt pulled off the victory from an outside lane. America's Kate Douglass finished second.

"I didn't expect to be overtaken by the German swimmer because we've competed at many major events," said Tang. "But I want to congratulate her. It's a good thing to have such strong opponents."

In the women's 1,500m freestyle final, Katie Ledecky of the United States led from the start and never looked back. She touched first in 15:26.44 to win an unprecedented sixth world title in the event. Simona Quadarella of Italy and Australia's Lani Pallister took silver and bronze respectively. China's Li Bingjie and Yang Peiqi placed fourth and eighth.

Romania's Olympic champion David Popovici surged late in the men's 200m freestyle final to clinch gold in 1:43.53. He was followed by the United States' Luke Hobson and Tatsuya Murasa of Japan.

In the women's 100m backstroke final, Australia's Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown broke the championship record by clocking 57.16 seconds to win the gold. The United States' Regan Smith and Katharine Berkoff rounded out the podium. China's Peng Xuwei finished fifth.

South Africa's Pieter Coetze captured gold in the men's 100m backstroke in 51.85 seconds, ahead of Italy's Thomas Ceccon and Yohann Ndoye-Brouard of France.

In the semifinal action, Qin Haiyang, who had won the 100m breaststroke title a day earlier, posted the fastest time of 26.52 seconds in the men's 50m breaststroke to advance to the final.

In the men's 200m butterfly, China's Chen Juner broke the national record with a time of 1:54.02, qualifying third for the final.

In the women's 200m freestyle semifinal, Li Bingjie advanced in seventh after racing earlier in the 1,500m final. Liu Yaxin, who had also competed in open water events, finished ninth and missed out on a spot in the final.

"I felt quite tired the past few days but recovered recently, so the race wasn't affected," Liu said. "But it's still a pity I didn't make the final." ■