Aquatics

In-form Tonia Couch wins another World Series medal

tonia

TONIA COUCH won her second successive individual World Series medal with an impressive performance in Kazan on Sunday.

The city diver, who had claimed third at the last leg of the competition in Dubai, scored 360.30 points in Russia.

She finished behind Canada’s Meaghan Benfeito, who scored 383.10 to win, and China’s Ruolin Chen, who finished second with 381.75.

It was Couch’s second bronze medal in three days, having claimed synchro third place on Friday with city team-mate Sarah Barrow.

Barrow narrowly failed to make the individual final. She finished fourth in semi-final B with 317.70 points, one place behind Couch, who scored 331.70.

The big surprise was that China’s Huixia Liu, who had won gold in Beijing and silver in Dubai, finished last in semi-final A with just 310.75 points.

Winning two medals in Kazan will be a major boost to Couch as the Aquatics Palace will be the venue for this summer’s crucial World Championships, where Olympic spots are up for grabs.

Plymouth-born Tom Daley, who had won silver in Dubai, had to settle for fifth in the men’s individual platform final, despite scoring 523.20 and producing a near-perfect fifth dive.

In a high-quality final, China’s Qiu Bo won with 573.05 points, ahead of Mexico’s German Sanchez with 554.15 and Jian Yang, of China, in third on 551.95 points.

Away from Kazan, there was good news for Plymouth’s Kayleigh Sinclair, who won an individual gold at the Dresden International Youth Meet.

Sinclair missed a whole year due to a broken leg but she impressed on in Germany to claim the girls’ group A three-metre title with 446.30.

Germany’s Saskia Oettinghaus (442.70) and Christina Wassen (427.80) came second and third.

Sinclair’s gold was Plymouth’s second of the event, with Shanice Lobb winning the girls’ A platform title a couple of days earlier.

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