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Divers Compete in Four Finals at WUG
By Jamie Fabos // August 17, 2007
BANGKOK – Six U.S. divers competed in four event finals at the World University Games in Bangkok today.
The women’s 10m synchro team of Cassandra Cardinell (Londonville, N.Y. / Indiana) and Heather Bounds (Round Rock, Tx. / Miami) posted Team USA’s highest finish of the day, taking fourth with a score of 306.30. Bounds and Cardinell made a strong case for bronze, nailing their final dive, a back 2 ½ somersault, 1 ½ twists pike for 74.46 points, placing them in third. Leaders throughout the competition, Mexican duo Paola Milagros Espinosa and Tatiana Ortiz were last to dive, however, and earned the highest score of the afternoon, an 80.58, to finish atop the field (326.04). Silver went to Korea’s Kum Hui Choe and In Sun Hong (314.76), while Japanese duo Misako Yamashita and Mai Nakagawa took bronze (308.70).
The men’s 3m synchro team of Sean Moore (Englewood, Colo. / Ohio State) and Drew Brown (Denver, Colo. / Minnesota) finished sixth in today’s final with a score of 342.87. The Chinese duo of Xinhua Zhang and Bo Peng took the gold medal, earning 431.10 points. Silver went to Russia’s Alexander Gorshkov and Artem Lvov (396.75) while Anton Zakharov and Dmytro Lysenko of the Ukraine took bronze with a score of 366.00.
In the women’s 10m platform final, Americans Cardinell and Jessica Livingston (The Woodlands, Tx. / Texas) finished ninth and 10th, respectively. Cardinell found herself in 10th position after four rounds, but executed a near-perfect back 2 ½ somersault, 1 ½ twists (5253B), scoring 73.10 points to move up a spot with 291.25 total points. Livingston was in 12th position entering her final dive, but also scored highly on a 5253B, adding 68.00 points to ascend to 10th place (271.90). The gold medal went to Chinese Olympian Lao Lishi (388.00) while silver was awarded to Mexico’s Espinosa (363.70). Japan’s Nakagawa took bronze with 329.40 points.
Zach Schultz (Chicago, Ill / Purdue) finished 12th in the men’s 3m springboard final. Schultz entered as the 11th seed today and scored 353.50 points in the championship session. The gold medal went to defending Olympic champion in this event Bo Peng of China (486.25). Fellow Chinese Olympian Yutong Luo won silver (474.10). Roumel Pacheco of Mexico won bronze (434.05).
The final day of competition tomorrow will include four more finals, with the women’s 3m springboard kicking things off at 10 a.m. local time. Also contested will be the men’s 10m platform, the women’s 3m synchro and the men’s 10m synchro.
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