Diving kings China bid for medals sweep
John Weaver
Diving powerhouse China is aiming for a clean-sweep at the Guangzhou
Asian Games after bagging all 10 gold medals during the 2006 Asiad and
dominating the podium at the Beijing Olympics.
Amid their gold rush in Doha four years ago, the host nation also
took six silver, giving them 16 medals overall, to leave their rivals
trailing in their wake.
Japan, a distant second, won two silver and two bronze with Malaysia
and North Korea taking four medals apiece.
Home soil
Proving their global stranglehold on the sport, China went on to take
seven out of eight gold on home soil at the 2008 Olympics, missing out
only on the men's 10-metre platform, where they took silver. Chinese
divers also bagged seven gold at last year's world championships in Rome
and another seven at the world cup on home soil in Changzhou earlier
this year, where again they fell one place short in the men's 10m
platform.
The host nation will compete in Guangzhou without one of their top
stars, Guo Jingjing, the world's most successful female diver, but they
boast an array of talent.
The team includes He Chong, who won gold in the 3-metre springboard
competition at the 2008 Olympics and has two world titles and two gold
from the Asian Games in Doha four years ago.
Champion
Wu Minxia is a double Olympic champion in the women's 3m synchronised
springboard. But one high-profile absentee will be China's most famous
female athlete, Guo, who has six Olympic medals - four of them gold.
"We have selected a 20-member provisional squad for the diving events
of the Guangzhou Asian Games and Guo Jingjing is not included," Zhou
Jihong, head of the Chinese diving team, was quoted as saying by the
state Xinhua news agency in August.
The 29-year-old has not competed since the East Asian Games last
December, the report said, fuelling speculation that she will retire
could be true.
Lucrative
Guo has previously been criticised by her nation's sports authorities
for her lucrative sponsorship agreements and public appearances. Aside
from China, Malaysia's Pandelela Rinong Pamg will head to Guangzhou with
high hopes after winning the 10m platform at last month's Commonwealth
Games in New Delhi, where she also took silver with Leong Mun Yee in the
10m synchronised platform.
"As it will be my first time in the Asian Games, I want to win medals
to add to my collection. The colour does not matter but I need to win,"
Pamg, who won bronze with Leong in the synchronised 10m event at last
year's world championships, told Malaysia's Star newspaper:
There will be a total of 10 diving gold on offer in Guangzhou - 1m
springboard, 3m springboard, 3m synchronised springboard, 10m platform
and 10m synchronised platform events for both men and women. HONG KONG,
Friday, AFP |
