Olympic diving champion Zakharov off podium at Kazan Universiade

London Olympic diving champion Ilya Zakharov competes in the men's 3m springboard at the 2013 Kazan Universiade in Kazan, Russia, July 7, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

KAZAN, Russia - London Olympic diving champion Ilya Zakharov failed to ignite the passion of Russian fans as he only ranked sixth in the men's 3m springboard at the 2013 Kazan Universiade here on Sunday.

However, Evgeny Kuznetsov, who gained the Olympic silver medal in the men's 3m springboard synchro with Zakharov, ensured the host the first gold medal at these Games, beating China's Lin Jin by a small margin of 7.25 points.

Zakharov, Olympic gold medalist in this event, got through to the final with the best result, and staged a steady performance in the first four rounds of the final, but a mistake in his fifth dive cost him the title.

Lin registered a high score of 83.60 points in the fifth round and entered the final round in the driver's seat.

But Kuznetsov then withstood the pressure and outclassed Lin with a higher degree of difficulty in the last dive. He collected 496.15 points from five rounds. Lin was second in 488.90, and another Chinese diver Qin Tian came third in 482.20.

After the Universiade, Zakharov will head for the FINA World Championships in Barcelona.