Qin shell-shocked as he blows chance of a sweep
Source: Agencies |
August 9, 2012, Thursday
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Print Edition
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A CAUTIOUS Qin Kai was left thunder-struck after Russia's Ilya Zakharov rolled the dice to snatch gold from the Chinese favorite on his very last dive in the men's 3m springboard diving on Tuesday.
Qin, who opted for safety on his last dive, watched aghast as 21-year-old Zakharov nailed a forward four-and-half somersault dive in a tuck position, one of the tougher dives in competition with a degree of difficulty of 3.8.
The Russian had prefaced that with a forward 2-1/2 somersault with three twists in the pike position with a degree of difficulty of 3.9 that earned him 99.45 points for his penultimate dive. "Who would have thought he would dive so well?" Qin, who took bronze in the event at Beijing, asked softly.
Zakharov's high-risk, high-reward strategy denied China its sixth straight gold at the Aquatics Centre and blew the team's ambitions of sweeping all eight diving titles out of the water.
The 26-year-old Qin was left slumping up against a wall behind the diving platform with a towel over his head. The five-time world champion smiled weakly at the crowd as he fingered his silver medal, while his teammate He Chong, who won gold in the event at Beijing, grimly stood in the bronze medal podium spot.
"Of course, last time I came third, this time I had the chance and I just feel like I didn't help China get the gold," Qin said. "I just feel heart-broken."
Signs that not everything was ship-shape with Qin emerged in qualifying on Monday when he produced a terrible dive, after stepping off the board wrong, over-rotating and entering the water diagonally. There was no such repeat in the semifinal when Qin, who already took a gold in the 3m synchronized springboard, qualified third for the final.
The Chinese, however, failed to impress the judges sufficiently with low-risk dives on his first and last shots and failed to set the pool alight on those in-between in the final. His team mate He led qualifying into the final but was also left to scramble to make up for a slow start after executing a pair of weak dives to begin.
"Actually, my level of difficulty was higher than my last Games," Qin said, defending his choice of dives. "The more difficult it is, the more risky, so ... Anyway, I just didn't expect he would dive so well."
Qin, who opted for safety on his last dive, watched aghast as 21-year-old Zakharov nailed a forward four-and-half somersault dive in a tuck position, one of the tougher dives in competition with a degree of difficulty of 3.8.
The Russian had prefaced that with a forward 2-1/2 somersault with three twists in the pike position with a degree of difficulty of 3.9 that earned him 99.45 points for his penultimate dive. "Who would have thought he would dive so well?" Qin, who took bronze in the event at Beijing, asked softly.
Zakharov's high-risk, high-reward strategy denied China its sixth straight gold at the Aquatics Centre and blew the team's ambitions of sweeping all eight diving titles out of the water.
The 26-year-old Qin was left slumping up against a wall behind the diving platform with a towel over his head. The five-time world champion smiled weakly at the crowd as he fingered his silver medal, while his teammate He Chong, who won gold in the event at Beijing, grimly stood in the bronze medal podium spot.
"Of course, last time I came third, this time I had the chance and I just feel like I didn't help China get the gold," Qin said. "I just feel heart-broken."
Signs that not everything was ship-shape with Qin emerged in qualifying on Monday when he produced a terrible dive, after stepping off the board wrong, over-rotating and entering the water diagonally. There was no such repeat in the semifinal when Qin, who already took a gold in the 3m synchronized springboard, qualified third for the final.
The Chinese, however, failed to impress the judges sufficiently with low-risk dives on his first and last shots and failed to set the pool alight on those in-between in the final. His team mate He led qualifying into the final but was also left to scramble to make up for a slow start after executing a pair of weak dives to begin.
"Actually, my level of difficulty was higher than my last Games," Qin said, defending his choice of dives. "The more difficult it is, the more risky, so ... Anyway, I just didn't expect he would dive so well."
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