Chris Mears and Jack Laugher have finished in fifth place in the men's 3m synchro at the World Cup in Shanghai.
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The pair, who have been competing together since April, were on course for a podium finish throughout the final but dropped to fifth following a poor final dive. Their score of 411.81 did leave them as the top-ranked team among the Commonwealth nations, however.
Gold went to China, with Lin Yue and Cao Yuan scoring 461.31 ahead of Germany's Stephen Feck and Patrick Hausding on 431.40. Russia's Evgenii Kuznestsov and Ilia Zakharov picked up bronze with a final tally of 431.34.
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China also claimed gold in the women's 10m platform synchro, where Olympic champion Chen Ruolin and partner Liu Huixia reached a total of 357.66. Malaysia's Leong Mun Yee and Cheong Jun Hoong hit 336.66 for silver, closely followed by Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion of Canada on 335.25.
Britain's hopefuls, Tonia Couch and Sarah Barrow, recorded their highest ever score - 328.56 - but had to settle for fifth place.
Laugher and Mears will compete again tomorrow in the 3m individual event, while Couch and Barrow will contest the women's 10m.
Neil Wilkes
