Nouvelles-sport canadien
June 10, 2007
Canadian pair sixth on three-metre synchro at diving Grand Prix
MADRID � Meaghan Benfeito and Jennifer Abel of Montreal placed sixth on women�s three-metre synchro on Sunday to conclude the Chinese-dominated fifth stop on the FINA Grand Prix diving circuit.
Ting Li and Zi He of China won the gold medal with 308.70 points. China took seven out of the eight gold medals up for grabs this weekend. Christina Loukas and Amanda Miller of the U.S., were second at 290.70 and Francesca Dallape and Noemi Batke of Italy third at 277.10.
Benfeito and Abel, second at the Montreal Grand Prix stop last month, were sixth out of eight pairs at 262.80. They missed their first dive but the Canadians seemed to gain steam after every round.
��It was a reasonable performance,�� said Canadian coach Cesar Henderson of Montreal. ��Certainly they showed earlier this season they can compete at this level. They need to continue practicing hard.��
On men�s 10-metre tower, Liguang Yang led China to a 1-2 finish with the gold medal with 514.15 points while Jia Hu tabulated a 510.25 score. Kostyantyn Milyayev of Ukraine was third at 425.75.
Riley McCormick of Victoria and Nicolas Leblanc of Montreal were eliminated in the semifinals and placed 11th and 12 respectively overall. McCormick balked on his armstand dive in the third round which cost him any hope of advancing to the final sixth.
Leblanc�s hopes sunk in the third round when he muffed his reverse three and a half. Leblanc said he was happy to achieve a best-ever international result but was disappointed not to score higher in the semis.
Canada ended the competition with two bronze medals. Roseline Filion was third on women�s 10-metre tower and Benfeito and Filion third on women�s 10-metre synchro. Both events were on Friday.
��We had a young but fairly experienced team here and they did well against some tough competition,�� said Henderson. ��It�s our next generation and they are at a high level. It certainly augurs well for the future.��
The sixth stop on the Grand Prix starts this Friday in Rome. The Canadian team will feature Alexandre Despatie and �milie Heymans.
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