10 weekend SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 2012 CHINA DAILY UNDER PRESSURE Diver Qiu Bo and his British rival, Is being at home Tom Daley, face heavy expectations of BATTLE ON an advantage, victory from their homelands, 109C or just a burden Chen Xiangfeng reports in London. in disguise? The 109C, a forward 4 1/2 somersault tuck, has Chinese diver Qiu Bo wears men’s 3m springboard. It can’t become a pet dive for elite divers after FINA a jade necklace and a bracelet afford to lose another one. elevated its degree of difficulty from 3.5 to 3.7 in By ZHANG HAIZHOU with gold coins as good luck Coming home with six gold 2009. Among the 12 finalists at the 2011 in London charms. medals is like losing.” Shanghai World Championships, 10 divers [email protected] included it on their lists. There will be no His British counterpart Tom China’s former diving queen exception in London, as all the finalists are Daley doesn’t rely on supersti- Gao Min said the Chinese have expected to perform this dive. Despite the As British diving star Tom tion. some psychological disadvan- growing number of performers, only a few can Daley prepared to face China’s Th e Briton is the darling of tages compared to foreign ath- score a 100-plus score on the dive, including Qiu Bo on Saturday, four-time the Aquatics Centre crowd, and letes, especially in high-diffi - China’s Qiu Bo, Britain’s Thomas Daley and Olympic gold winner Guo the two rivals will meet in the culty dives. American David Boudia. Jingjing — the world’s most men’s 10m synchronized fi nal “All the foreigners regard successful diver — pointed out on Saturday themselves as that competing at home brings night (Sunday “Pressure isn’t a bad challengers, greater pressure. morning Bei- thing. I quite like and they have “It’s very hard to jing time). the courage to predict (who will Since China pressure going into a undertake dif- win), especially unexpectedly competition. In a com- ficult dives,” at the Olympic lost the men’s petition, divers either Gao said. Games,” Guo said. 3m spring- “It does “(Daley’s) performance board fi nal — handle pressure or they not matter if could be really good, but which it usu- don’t. I’ve had pressure they fail. But underperformance is also ally dominates going into competition if they make possible because of the stress. — to Russian it, they have a Qiu Bo has scored Thomas Daley Th ere are defi nitely home-turf underdog for a long time now, and good chance has advantages, but also the disad- 100-plus on the dive been running hot Zakharov it’s something I’ve been of beating the more than anybody on the dive, scoring vantage of additional pressure.” Ilya, Brit- Chinese. in the world. He over 100 points China’s retired diving queen able to get used to. scored a perfect 111 ish fans have THOMAS DALEY, “So, it’s three times this said she faced “the same big more reason British diver sometimes a points during the season in World pressures and advantages” on medal pressure World Cup series in Cup series stops in to expect their contradiction Beijing last year. when she competed in the 2008 diving sensa- for Chinese. Beijing and Tijuana Olympics in Beijing, where she “Th e biggest challenge and the European tion will grab If you choose won two gold medals. is for me to beat my- QIU BO Championships. another gold. to make rela- Birthday: Jan 31, 1993 Qiu is widely considered the The ambi- self. Th e aim is to win tively low- Height: 162cm THOMAS DALEY favorite to win the men’s 10m tious Chinese everything. I never think diffi culty Weight: 59kg Birthday: May 21, 1994 platform on Saturday. diving team dives and stay Events: 10m, 10m synchro Height: 175cm Th e 19-year-old from China’s had originally about winning the gold consistent, Highlights: Weight: 70kg Sichuan province won two gold sought to medal (in London). I you might World Championships Events: 10m, 10m in the platforms in the World sweep all eight be beaten. If Gold 2011 10m synchro, 3m Aquatics Championships in gold medals focus on good prepara- you choose Gold 2011 10m synchro Highlights: Shanghai last year. at the London tion. If I perform well, high-diffi cul- Silver 2009 10m World Championships But Qiu fi nished second in Games. the results speak for ty dives, you FINA Diving World Cup Gold 2009 10m the 2009 World Champions in Daley, 18, take the risk Bronze 2010 10m European Rome, losing the title to Daley, who knocked themselves.” of making big Youth Olympic Games Championships who was then 15 years old. Qiu into sec- QIU BO, Chinese diver on mistakes.” Gold 2010 3m Gold 2008 10m Th e 18-year-old from Plym- Gold 2010 10m ond place medal pressure Australian Gold 2012 10m outh is seen as the most com- at the 2009 Matthew Mit- petitive contender to upset World Championships, was cham was a great example at Chinese divers’ goal of winning cheering on Twitter right aft er the Beijing Games. His last gold in London. China’s 3m springboard fl op. dive, which scored 112.10 At the 2008 Beijing Olym- He realized the 3m spring- points — the highest single- QIU AND DALEY SHARE AN ALMOST IDENTIAL ROUTINE. pics, he fi nished seventh in the board failure off ered him new dive total — earned him a gold HERE ARE THEIR OTHER FIVE DIVES: individual platform and eighth hope and placed additional medal that had been expected 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 in the synchronized with his pressure on the Chinese team. to go to Chinese favorite Zhou Arm back Back 3 Reverse 3 Inward 3 Back 2 partner, Blake Aldridge. Triple Somer Somersault Somer Somersault Som. 2 1/2 Tw “Crazy night at the pool. Luxin. Chinese divers won seven Chinese domination is over Daley is also not satisfied 626B207B 307C 407C 5255B gold medals in Beijing in 2008 in the men’s 3m springboard with silver at home. Arm stand and only lost the men’s 10m. event! Well done,” he tweeted. “Normally in diving, silver is Must be held “Pressure isn’t a bad thing,” Qiu, 19, who beat Daley at gold because the Chinese dom- for 5 seconds Daley had said before the Lon- last year’s World Champion- inate everything, but you never don Games. ship, tries to keep a low profi le know what can happen in the “I quite like it. Divers either and avoids speculations about Olympic Games,” he said. handle it or they don’t. Pressure their clash, which he believes should bring out the best in are distractions. ‘Extra adrenaline rush’ you because you have that extra He said he will only focus on Both face high expectations adrenalin rush.” himself. from their homelands. Daley had told the (London) “Th e biggest challenge is for British reports said: “London Guardian: “Normally in diving, me to beat myself. Th e aim is to will be about an 18-year-old silver is gold because the Chi- win everything,” he said. British platform specialist who nese dominate everything. But “I never think about winning will bring a nation to a stand- then you never know what’s the gold medal (in London). I still on Aug 11.” going to happen in the Olym- focus on good preparation. If I Daley, who reached the Bei- pic Games. perform well, the results speak jing fi nal as a 14-year-old and “Take Athens 2004. The for themselves.” won the world title in 2009, was Greek team didn’t even qualify, China claimed seven out of even criticized by his own fed- but got in because they were eight gold at the Beijing Games, eration earlier this year for his Source: China Daily TIAN CHI / CHINA DAILY the host country … Anything all 10 gold at last year’s World casual work ethic and glut of can happen in the Olympic Championships and all eight endorsements. competition, divers either han- tough year for him. His father these Games.” “I’m not worried about Qiu’s Games.” at this year’s diving World Cup “Th at’s all in the past now,” dle pressure or they don’t. I’ve died in 2011. Qiu faces greater pressure technique because he has mas- Greek duo Thomas Bimis in February. Daley said. had pressure going into com- “Going into this competi- from his homeland. It’s up to tered it,” Zhou said. and Nikolaos Siranidis won Many Chinese would con- “I’ve been training as hard as petition for a long time now, tion, the only thing I can focus him to maintain China’s top “I’m just worried about gold in the men’s 3m synchro- sider it unacceptable for Qiu to I possibly can. I’ve been work- and it’s something I’ve been on is my performance,” he said. position in the event and to whether he can stand the pres- nized dive, beating much more lose because China would then ing as hard as I can.” able to get used to. “I know all my family are live up to his moniker, “Mr Full sure. Th e Olympics are diff er- competitive divers from China only take six gold in London. The diving idol explained “For me, when you are under going to be there, watching. Mark”.