World, Comm dive champs win on Gold Coast

The experienced Melissa Wu has teamed up with Taneka Kovchenko to win the women's platform synchro gold medal at the FINA Diving Grand Prix on the Gold Coast.

Melissa Wu during a dive

Melissa Wu (pic) and Taneka Kovchenko have won platform synchro gold at the Gold Coast Diving GP. (AAP)

A world champion and a Commonwealth Games gold medallist have been among the winners on the first day of finals at the FINA Diving Grand Prix on the Gold Coast.

Australia, China, Malaysia and Britain shared the gold medals on Saturday in cold and windy conditions.

The experienced Melissa Wu teamed up with Adelaide's Taneka Kovchenko to beat a small field in the women's platform synchro.

Malaysia's Commonwealth Games gold medallist Pandelela Rinong showed her class, winning the women's platform final.

Rinong, a two-time Olympic medallist and an early favourite for next year's Commonwealth Games, finished on 319.40 points to see off Canada's Celina Toth, also likely to compete on the Gold Coast, on 310.20.

Australian teenager AnnaRose Keating was third on 285.65, with teammate and Rio Olympian Brittany O'Brien fourth.

2017 world champion Siyi Xie held off teammate and Olympic gold medallist Yuan Cao to win the men's springboard final, with German Patrick Hausding, a bronze medallist behind Cao in Rio, finishing third in a world-class final.

Wu and Kovchenko finished on 300.24 points to win gold in the women's platform synchro.

While there were only three teams in the event, the Australians had to overcome Malaysia's Pandelela Rinong and Leong Mun Yee, likely medal challengers at next year's Commonwealth Games.

The Malaysians finished on 287.10, with the Australian combination of O'Brien and Keating third.

Just two teams competed in the mixed platform synchro, with Britain's Gemma McArthur and Lucas Thomson on 269.46 beating Malaysia's Jellson Jabillin and Cheong Jun Hoong on 262.71.

The grand prix event wraps up on Sunday, with finals in the men's individual and platform synchro, the women's individual and synchro springboard, and mixed springboard events.


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Source: AAP



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