Jack Laugher has pipped synchro partner Chris Mears to the men's 3m title at the National Diving Championships in Plymouth.
20-year-old Laugher, who topped the prelims earlier today, posted a total of 462.65 in this afternoon's finals to take the gold medal at the showpiece British event. The score included 83.85 for an ambitious new dive introduced into his routine for the 2015 season, the forward 2-1/2 somersault 3-twist pike.
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Mears, meanwhile, struggled with his own new dive, the back 3-1/2 somersault tuck, which earned a disappointing contribution of 46.80. However a strong finish, with a session-topping 91.20 on the forward 4-1/2 somersault tuck, brought him close to overtaking Laugher, but his final score of 454.20 was only good enough for second spot on the podium.
A close race for third eventually went the way of Jamaican Yona Knight-Wisdom with a total of 390.00 to finish 1.75 points ahead of Ireland's Oliver Dingley and 2.85 points ahead of 19-year-old Jack Haslam, who picked up gold in the 1m event yesterday.
Final leaderboard:
1. Jack Laugher - 462.65
2. Chris Mears - 454.20
3. Yona Knight-Wisdom (guest) - 390.00
4. Oliver Dingley (guest) - 388.25
5. Jack Haslam - 387.15
6. James Denny - 374.40
7. James Heatly - 366.45
8. Ross Haslam - 356.15
9. Duran Omer - 296.00
10. Ben Sambrook - 272.00
Jack Laugher round-by-round:
Round 1: Forward 2-1/2 somersault 2 twist pike, (difficulty 3.4) - 86.70
Round 2: Reverse 3-1/2 somersault tuck, (difficulty 3.5) - 91.00
Round 3: Inward 3-1/2 somersault tuck, (difficulty 3.4) - 71.40
Round 4: Forward 2-1/2 somersault 3 twist pike, (difficulty 3.9) - 83.85
Round 5: Forward 4-1/2 somersault tuck, (difficulty 3.8) - 70.30
Round 6: Back 3-1/2 somersault tuck, (difficulty 3.6) - 59.40
Chris Mears round-by-round:
Round 1: Inward 3-1/2 somersault tuck, (difficulty 3.4) - 86.70
Round 2: Reverse 3-1/2 somersault tuck, (difficulty 3.5) - 78.75
Round 3: Reverse 2-1/2 somersault 1-1/2 twist pike, (difficulty 3.3) - 74.25
Round 4: Back 3-1/2 somersault tuck, (difficulty 3.6) - 46.80
Round 5: Forward 2-1/2 somersault 2 twist pike, (difficulty 3.4) - 76.50
Round 6: Forward 4-1/2 somersault tuck, (difficulty 3.8) - 91.20
Neil Wilkes
