FUKUOKA, Japan, July 18 (Xinhua) — China’s Olympic champion Quan Hongchan beat Chen Yuxi twice on Tuesday within the ladies’s 10m platform diving qualifying rounds to come back nearer to her first world particular person title.
Chen, 17, and Quan, 16, are teammates and synchro companions within the star-studded Chinese staff. They received the synchronized platform gold medal in two consecutive World Championships, however they’re additionally one another’s greatest menace within the main worldwide competitions.
Quan received the preliminary spherical on the morning with a rating of 435.60 factors, 42.60 forward of Chen. She went on to win the semifinal with 451.40 factors, beating Chen once more by 21.35 factors.
The last on Wednesday night time is of nice significance for each teen stars. Quan could be topped for the primary time as the ladies’s 10m platform world champion whereas Chen might full a hattrick of particular person titles.
Most importantly, a victory might give additional comfort to Chen and extra confidence in her preparation for the Paris Olympics.
Chen got here to the Tokyo Olympic Games because the world champion however Quan, who was solely 14, rose to the event, getting the higher of her teammate with a brand new world report for Olympic gold.
In final yr’s World Championships in Budapest, Chen avenged her defeat, edging Quan by 0.3 factors to win the gold for the second time.
“I don’t feel nervous,” Quan stated after the day’s semifinal. “I just focus on my own dives and will not care about other people. I do not think about the results either.”
It appears that luck is on Quan’s facet once more this time. Chen famous that she had caught a chilly.
“You cannot recover from a cold in 24 hours,” Chen stated.