Preview: China ready for diving golds
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-08-14 07:29

Chinese diving's anchorman Tian Liang is about to lead the "dream team" charging toward glory when the diving competition of the Athens Olympic Games kicks off Saturday.

Platform Sydney Olympic champion Tian, together with his AthensWorld Cup winning partner Yang Jinghui, is to compete in the synchronized platform final on the opening day of the diving event.

"We are doing good now. I think as long as Tian and Yang deliver, we can win," said Tian's coach Zhang Ting.

The pair will be faced with Australian duo Robert Newbery and Mathew Helm, who clinched the synchronized platform title in last year's Barcelona swimming world championships where Tian and former platform partner Hu Jia had to settle for the third.

World championships runners-up Roman Volodkov and Anton Zakharov of Ukraine are also on the final's start list in Athens.

"The Australians boast of more difficult dives but we have better quality," said Zhang.

Canadian teenager Alexandre Despatie will be more threatening to the Chinese domination in the individual event than in the synchronized.

The 19-year-old individual platform world titlist will make an appearance in the synchronized event with Philippe Comtois, who made a miracle comeback from a serious leg injury.

Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia are another China's gold hopeful Saturday when they vie for the synchronized 3m springboard gold.

Guo, double silver medalist in Sydney four years ago, is determined to make a golden redemption in the birthplace of the Olympiad.

"This time I want to be the first," said the 24-year-old.

Guo lost the women's 3m board title at the Sydney Olympic Gamesto teammate Fu Mingxia, who once retired after she clinched two golds in the platform in 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where Guo came fifth in her Olympic debut.

She and Fu earlier surrendered synchronized title to Russian pair Vera Ilina and Ioulia Pakhalina, who still poises as the strongest opponents in this version of Olympics to Guo and Wu.

"I will compete for gold in synchronized for sure and in individual, my goal is to win a medal," said Ilina.

Platform world champion Emilie Heymans and Blythe Hartley of Canada will try to share the limelight too.

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