SINGAPORE - Fans who turned out at the OCBC Aquatic Centre on Saturday (Nov 23) for the Fina Diving Grand Prix Singapore Presented by 100Plus would have caught some of China's future Olympic stars in action.
Diving powerhouse China swept all four gold medals on offer in the second day of the competition, and Chinese coach Hao Zhiguo said that the performance of the young divers, who are aged between 14 and 27, bodes well for the nation's ambitions at major Games.
"I am delighted with their showing, because some of them can still be considered kids," said the 42-year-old coach.
"That being considered, to win at this level is very impressive."
Huang Xiaohui and Ying Wei won the women's 3m synchronised springboard with 315.90 points, finishing some way ahead of Ukraine duo Elena Federova and Diana Shelestyuk (274.20).
Duan Yu and Wang Zewei took the gold in the men's synchronised 10m platform with a score of 414.48, ahead of Britain's Benjamin Cutmore and Lucas Thompson (405.36) and Roman Izmailov and Sergey Nazin (393.60) of Russia.
It was a China one-two finish in the men's 3m springboard as Tai Xiaohu ( 465.25) and Miao Zhanming (450.20) won the gold and silver respectively, while Puerto Rican athlete Rafael Quintero (433.00) was third.
Wrapping up the win for China was Tang Yixuan, who scored 375.35 in the women's 10m platform final to pip teammate Lin Shan ( 357.60). The bronze went to Japan's Matsuri Arai (339.50).
Half of the six athletes who won gold on Saturday are still teenagers. Tang and Duan are 14, while Wang is 16.
Hailing the young divers, Hao proudly whipped out his mobile phone to show a picture of the Chinese diving team that participated in the 2014 Fina Diving Grand Prix in Singapore, and pointed to four athletes who went on to medal at the Rio Olympics two years later.
The squad then included Olympic gold medal winners Chen Aisen (men's 10m platform and synchronised 10m platform), Liu Huixia (women's synchronised 10m platform) and Ren Qian (women's 10m platform), as well as silver medallist Si Yajie (women's 10m platform).
Hao believes that some of the current squad could emulate the achievements of their predecessors. "The team we have here in Singapore are the back-up to our main divers, and many are considered China's rising stars.
"I would say they have a high possibility of carrying on China's dominance in diving in the years to come, but they must continue to keep training and competing at competitions like this, to reach the level they aim to be."
Hao also singled out Tai, who he personally coaches, for praise after the 21-year-old won his first springboard title, having switched focus from the 10m platform - where he won gold at the 2015 World Championships - to springboard only last year.
The Fina Diving Grand Prix Singapore Presented by 100Plusc concludes on Sunday with the finals of four events - the women's synchronised 10m platform and 3m springboard, and the men's synchronised 3m springboard and 10m platform. The finals begin at 2pm and tickets can be purchased from Apactix.
