DOHA, Qatar — China cleaned up all three gold medals on offer at the World Aquatic Championships in Doha, with Quan Hongchan’s victory in the women’s 10-metre platform adding to the two they won in Artistic Swimming.
Twins Wang Liuyi and Qianyi reclaimed the women’s technical duet world title while Yang Shuncheng took gold in the men’s solo technical.
Quan collected a final score of 436.25 points after her five jumps to take the gold, ahead of her compatriot Chen Yuxi with 427.80pts.
The two divers, aged 16 and 18 respectively, took the top two places on the podium last year, albeit the other way around, AFP reported.
Britain’s Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix completed the podium with a score of 377.10 points, nearly 60 points off second place.
Wang Liuyi and Qianyi, 27, first took the technical duet crown in Budapest in 2022 but just missed the podium in the discipline last year in Fukuoka, Japan.
They scored 266.0484 points, well clear of Britons Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe who took silver with 259.5601.
Spaniards Alisa Ozhogina and Iris Tio Casas repeated last year’s bronze with 258.0333.
Japan’s Moe Higa and Mashiro Yasunaga, who were crowned champions in 2023, withdrew just before qualifying started, one of the two swimmers being unwell.
Yang, 16, scored 246.4766pts in the men’s solo, just edging Italian Giorgio Minisini.
Colombian Gustavo Sanchez, who finished fourth in Fukuoka last year, made it on to the podium this time around.
China dominated Day 4 of the world championships in Doha, with the diving triumph augmented by a pair of victories in artistic swimming.
After dominating the big tower over the last three years, Quan and Chen are overwhelming favorites to battle for gold in Paris.
Quan edged Chen for the top spot at the Tokyo Games in 2021, while their positions were reversed at the 2022 worlds in Budapest and the 2023 championships in Fukuoka.
Now, it’s Quan back on top. China, which sent a scaled-back team to Doha with the Olympics just five months away, has still won three of the first six events. The other golds have been divvied up among Britain, Australia and Mexico.
China finished on top in both artistic swimming events, as well, AP reported.
Spain’s Alisa Ozhogina Ozhogin and Iris Tio Casa grabbed bronze at 258.0333, repeating their finish from 2023.
The Wangs were back on top in duet technical after a disappointing fourth-place showing at Fukuoka. They had previously won the event at the 2022 worlds in Budapest.
The siblings have combined for eight gold medals over their world championship careers, including two in Doha. They were part of the winning group in the team acrobatic event.
Italy’s Linda Cerruti and Lucrezia Ruggiero, who captured the silver in Fukuoka, initially finished ninth but were bumped up to sixth with a revised score after a successful protest. The reigning world champions from Japan did not compete.
The 16-year-old Yang earned gold with the final swim of the men’s event, totaling 246.4766 points. He edged Italy’s Giorgio Minisini (245.3166), with the bronze going to Colombia’s Gustavo Sanchez (231.0000).
Artistic swimming is split into 11 medal-winning opportunities at the world championships. There are only two events on the Olympic program, duet and team.
Men have competed in artistic swimming at the world championships since 2015, when the sport was still known as synchronized swimming. They are eligible for the Olympics for the first time in Paris.
