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China's young divers prime to take on challenges

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-11-26 10:07

China's young divers have well proved their competency to take on more challenges at home and abroad, sweeping all gold medals in the Champions Diving Tour.

A new generation of teenage divers, represented by He Chong and Chen Ruolin, have grabbed all four gold medals in the men's springboard and women's platform events, the last rehearsal before the national team's Asian Games crusade which has drawn most divers of the Chinese squad.

In the women's 10m synchronized platform, Kang Li and Wang Hao, both 14, defeated their teenage rivals World Cup champions Jia Tong and Chen Ruolin by a small margin of 6.12 points.

Chen and Jia soon made up on Saturday by bagging a gold and a silver respectively in the women's 10m platform.

Guo Jingjing, the Chinese diving diva and Olympic winner, only showed up for a performance game. Just before the Nanjing show, she lost, again, to Wu Minxia, a teenager who lives in her shadow, in her trump card three-meter springboard in the FINA Diving Grand Prix Finals in Mexico.

Guo praised the emerging teens but denied she had shown signs of recession, saying "it's nothing but natural to have ups and downs for an athlete."

Guo said she will be quite "carefree" to compete in the Asian Games, as she is only scheduled for the women's three-meter synchronized springboard, and her resignation from the national team after the Olympic Games is no secret.

"After the Olympics, I will turn 27, that's almost the age to retire," she said.

However, Zhou Jihong, head coach of the national team, voiced her confidence in Guo and concern about who is going to replace Guo after her retirement.

"Guo is still very competitive. She is the oldest in the Chinese team, but not at all old in the international scenario.

But we do need some new blood for the women's springboard events," Zhou said.

She added that over half of the Chinese divers for the Asian Games will be youngsters aged 14 to 16 who are fresh to compete in comprehensive games.

"New blood" is not an issue for the men's team.

The 19-year-old He Chong, defeating his teammate Luo Yutong, secured a title of the three-meter springboard that he has achieved since the July World Cup in Changshu, east China's Jiangsu Province.

He pocketed another gold medal in the men's three-meter springboard synchro on Saturday, pairing with Wang Feng.

"We are confident to win a gold medal in the Asian Games, and our ultimate aim is the Beijing Olympics," Wang told a news briefing after the tournament.

In the 10-meter platform, Lin Yue, 16, who snatched a gold medal a week ago in the Grand Prix Finals in Mexico, and Zhou Luxin, the 18-year-old World Cup medalist, are also one of China's Olympic medal hopefuls in the event.