Chinese world champion He Chong continued his supremacy in men's 3m springboard semifinals at Beijing Olympics on Tuesday morning.
He, current world No.1 in the event, breezed through the semifinals with the top qualifying score of 547.25, almost 30 points ahead of Alexandre Despatie of Canada who finished second.
The Chinese top favorite secured his top position after his third dive, a difficult reverse three-and-a-half somersaults in tuck position, for which he collected 92.75 points.
"I still feel a little sleepy now, and I performed to my normal level today," said He after the semifinals.
Despatie, runner-up of the Athens Games, got away from a downturn in preliminary, beating another Chinese favorite Qin Kai to stand second in the semifinals.
"As I said yesterday, I would forget about the preliminary, and I did," said the Canadian top favorite. "I made big mistakes yesterday, but I woke this morning and found it a brand new day today."
"I will forget about the semifinals, and focus on full preparations for the final tonight," he added.
Qin, who was crowned in synchro event last week, settled for the third place at 508.50 points.
It is worth mentioning that Yahel Castillo of Mexico, bronze medalist of the 2008 World Cup, amassed the highest 103.35 points of the semifinals in his last attempt, a reverse two-and-a-half somersaults and two-and-a-half twists in pike position.
The 21-year-old, current world No. 2, is the only diver who can perform this dive which has a 3.9 degree of difficulty.
Russian legendary Dmitry Sautin also entered the final which takes place on Tuesday evening.
(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2008)
