TOKYO, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- China maintained its dominance in diving at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games by winning both 1m springboard gold medals here on Monday.
Lin Shan and Long Yiping finished 1-2 in the women's 1m springboard. Li scored 263.05 points for gold, while Long finished second with 254.25. South Korea's Kim Su-ji took bronze with 245.05.
Although Lin remained consistent throughout the five rounds, she said she was not fully satisfied with her performance.
"Although the result is quite good, I am not very satisfied with the process," Lin said. "I didn't show my strengths. Each dive was stable, but not elegant or refined enough."
Lin said her strengths usually lie in her lines and entries, but neither had been perfectly executed on Monday.
"I have to set high standards for myself. If I don't demand enough of myself, I can't reach the world's top level," she said.
Lin, who won silver at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, said reaching the top of the podium after several years of hard work gave her further motivation. "After all these years, I've come this far, and my results have improved. I need to be more determined and keep moving forward," she said.
For Long, who was making her Asian Games debut, a mistake on her fourth dive cost her valuable points. Her 107C earned only 33.00 points, leaving her eighth in that round.
"It was more regret than disappointment, because I lost too many points on that dive," Long said. "But this is something I can adjust in training. That dive has already passed, so I was more focused on doing the upcoming one well."
Long bounced back with a strong final dive, scoring 57.20 points for her 5333D.
"I was very excited to take part in the Asian Games. The venue and environment here are excellent. As for my performance, I still have some shortcomings that give me more areas to improve in training," she said.
Long said she hopes to compete at more international events and work toward the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
In the men's 1m springboard, Wang Zongyuan added another gold for China with 442.75 points, well ahead of South Korea's Kim Yeong-nam, who scored 373.30. China's Liu Chengzan took bronze with 361.45.
Wang led from the opening dive and topped the standings in four of the six rounds. His highest score came on his fourth dive, a 405B, which earned 81.60 points.
Despite successfully defending his title, Wang said there was still room for improvement.
"I'm very happy to stand on the top of the podium and successfully defend my title from the Hangzhou Asian Games," Wang said. "But there were still many shortcomings throughout the competition, and I'll work on them in training."
Wang said he had not fully settled into his competition rhythm in the opening rounds.
"Maybe it was the first two dives. I didn't immediately enter the competition mode or reach the right level of excitement. I was distracted a little," he said. "Fortunately, I gradually found my competition rhythm in the later rounds."
Liu, making his Asian Games debut, made a costly mistake on his third dive, a 205C, scoring just 36.00 points and dropping to fourth after the round. He recovered with 73.60 points on his fourth dive and eventually secured bronze.
"I'm definitely not satisfied. To be honest, today's performance was quite far from the level I showed in training," Liu said.
After the mistake, Liu said he tried not to dwell on it. "Once I made the mistake, I told myself not to think about that dive anymore and to focus on the dives ahead. There were still opportunities, so I just wanted to slowly make up the points," he said.
Looking ahead to Tuesday's 3m springboard competition, Wang said he would focus on himself.
"My goal hasn't changed. I hope to do my best tomorrow," he said. "The biggest challenge is still myself." ■
