World champ He Chong continues dominance in springboard semifinals
19/8/2008 17:54
Chinese world champion He Chong continued his supremacy in men's 3m
springboard semifinals at Beijing Olympics this morning.
He, current world
No.1 in the event, breezed through the semifinals with the top qualifying score
of 547.25, almost 30 points ahead of Alexandre Despatie of Canada who finished
second.
The Chinese top favorite secured his top position after his third
dive, a difficult reverse three-and-a-half somersaults in tuck position, for
which he collected 92.75 points.
"I still feel a little sleepy now, and I
performed to my normal level today," said He after the semifinals.
Despatie,
runner-up of the Athens Games, got away from a downturn in preliminary, beating
another Chinese favorite Qin Kai to stand second in the semifinals.
"As I
said yesterday, I would forget about the preliminary, and I did," said the
Canadian top favorite. "I made big mistakes yesterday, but I woke this morning
and found it a brand new day today."
"I will forget about the semifinals, and
focus on full preparations for the final tonight," he added.
Qin, who was
crowned in synchro event last week, settled for the third place at 508.50
points.
It is worth mentioning that Yahel Castillo of Mexico, bronze medalist
of the 2008 World Cup, amassed the highest 103.35 points of the semifinals in
his last attempt, a reverse two-and-a-half somersaults and two-and-a-half twists
in pike position.
The 21-year-old, current world No. 2, is the only diver who
can perform this dive which has a 3.9 degree of difficulty.
Russian legendary
Dmitry Sautin also entered the final which takes place this
evening.
Xinhua
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