Sawt Falasteen - Australia's Rousseau denies China diving clean sweep

China had won 12 out of 12 of the diving events in Fukuoka going into the men's 10m platform but Rousseau threw a spanner in the works by winning with a score of 520.85.

He sealed the deal with a stunning final dive that took him clear of Chinese pair Lian Junjie, who finished second on 512.35, and Yang Hao, who was third on 504.00.

Rousseau won the 10m platform gold at last year's Commonwealth Games and he said he "knew" he was going to add a first-ever world title.

"All my training up until this point has led me to this moment of overwhelming triumph," said the 22-year-old.

"To completely fulfil the potential that was granted to me by that final dive was absolutely incredible."

Rousseau's final dive earned him 98.05 points and he said there was "no big secret" to his success.

"Everything is the result of the high degree of effort and consistency that I put up in relation to my training," he said.

"Besides that, I tried to stay true to myself and the values that I hold dear."

China had dominated the diving events all week and looked on course to repeat the clean sweep they achieved at last year's world championships in Budapest.

Zhu Zifeng and Lin Shan set the stage by winning the mixed 3m synchronised springboard earlier in the day, maintaining their country's perfect record heading into the final event.

Lian said he felt "slightly pressured" by the quality of his opponents after finishing second to Rousseau.

"I want to say congratulations to the Australian diver Cassiel Rousseau, because his performance was excellent today," said Lian.

"I couldn't perform as well today."

Defending champions Zhu and Lin scored 326.10 in the mixed 3m synchronised springboard to finish ahead of Australia's Maddison Keeney and Dominic Bedggood on 307.38.

Italy's Chiara Pellacani and Matteo Santoro were third on 294.12.

F.AbuShamala--SF-PST