Team China grabs two golds on the opening day of 2018 FINA Diving World Cup in Wuhan

The opening ceremony of the 2018 FINA Diving World Cup (Photo by Hu Yang)

NongFu Spring FINA Diving World Cup 2018 opened at the natatorium of Wuhan Sports Center at 4 pm on June 4. It is the 21st edition of the Diving World Cup. 196 athlets from 26 countries including China, Japan, Britain and the United States will compete in the event starting from June 4 till June 10.

Mixed 10m synchronized platform final (Photo by Hu Yang)

The FINA Diving World Cup is an international biennial diving competition that was first contested in 1979. Known as the top-level world diving contest, this high-profile event invites internationally-recognized divers, mostly medalists from previous Olympics, World Championships and World Cups. This is the first time that FINA Diving World Cup is held in Wuhan.

The opening ceremony of the World Cup was attended by a list of prestigious guests including FINA president Julio Maglione, FINA executive director Cornel Marculescu, deputy director of State Sports General Administration Cai Zhenhua, president of China Swimming Association and deputy director of Sport Aquatics Center of State General Administration Zhou Jihong, vice governor of Hubei Province Chen Anli, director of Hubei Provincial Sports Bureau Hu Gongmin, deputy secretary of municipal party committee of Wuhan and first deputy mayor of Wuhan Chen Ruifeng, director of management committee of Wuhan economic and technological development zone and mayor of Hannan District Government Penghao.

Cai Zhenhua, deputy director of State Sports General Administration announced the opening of the 21st edition of FINA Diving World Cup 2018. Penghao, mayor of Hannan District Government chaired the opening ceremony. Chen Ruifeng, deputy secretary of municipal party committee of Wuhan and first deputy mayor of Wuhan delivered a keynote speech welcoming all the guests and divers.

Spectators cheered up dream team of Chinese divers. (Photo by Hu Yang)

Chen Ruifeng said that the FINA Diving World Cup is a good match with Wuhan which is often called“the city of river”as it is a metropolis along the Yangtze river. Diving is one of the most fascinated sports games in the world. Athlets jumping, twisting bodies and plunging into the water demonstrate distinctive charm. He believed that the FINA Diving World Cup will unleash gushing vitality in Wuhan.

Lian Junjie, an athlete from national diving team received an interview from CRIOnline. (Photo by Hu Yang)

The FINA Diving World Cup 2018 consists of 11 events including men and women 3m Springboard, 10m platform and mixed individual all-around. Dream Team of China led by gold medalists in Rio Olympic Games Chen Aisen, Shi Yanmao, Cao Yuan and Ren Qian will compete for all events. The World Cup also attracts many high-profile international divers such as gold medalist of men’s double 3m springboard at the Rio Olympic Games Jack Laugher and Malaysian champion of women’s single 10m platform at 2017 World Swimming Championships Zhang Junhong.

On the opening day of the World Cup Si Yajie and her partner Lian Junjie won the mixed 10m synchro platform title with a total score of 353.31 points. Canadian divers and Russian divers took the silver and bronze medals respectively. In the all-round mixed doubles finals, China's Qiu Bo and Chen Yiwen took the champion. The dream team of Chinese divers pocketed two golds on the first day.