KAZAN (Russia) • Qiu Bo equalled the great Greg Louganis' feat of three straight world titles in the same event on Sunday, as China finished with 10 gold medals to underline their domination of the diving competition at the world championships.

With 13 titles on offer this year due to an extended programme, China failed to repeat their sweep of gold medals in 10 events at the 2011 championships in Shanghai.

But China's record of 14 total medals in the Shanghai edition was broken when Qiu won the 10m platform gold - China's 15th medal of the competition - with a score of 587.00 points.

He finished ahead of the United States' David Boudia (560.20), as the Olympic champion won silver for a third straight world championships. Britain's Tom Daley (537.95) claimed bronze.

Qiu overtook Boudia in the third round, before saving his best dive for the last - 107.30 points with a 3.7 degree of difficulty - to equal Louganis' three straight wins for the US from 1978 to 1986.

"This victory means a lot to me," he said.

"I made almost no mistakes but I'll try to improve. I hope that I'll perform better at the Olympics."

The diving programme was notable for Kim Kuk Hyang winning North Korea's first-ever world aquatic championships title.

The 16-year-old took gold in the women's individual 10m platform final with China's Ren Qian, 14, winning silver.

Qin Kai became the first male diver to win five golds in a world championship event after claiming the 3m synchronised springboard with partner Cao Yuan.

REUTERS