Almost all the top divers including Chinese diving queen Guo
Jingjing, Canadian "golden boy" Alexandre Despatie and Russian
legend Dmitry Sautin are set to compete in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province at the third leg of World Series,
they are unlikely to play high due to tiredness.
The inaugural FINA Diving World Series is reserved for the cream
of the crop in the sport: the top eight from the World
Championships in the individual events and the top six in the
synchronized events.
The same elite squad had to rush from England to Mexico in the
past two weeks, then finish their last stop of the circuit at
Nanjing, China from September 15 to 16.
"I really feel tired," said springboard specialist Qin Kai on
Friday. The duo world champion rested for nearly four months until
July due to a hand fracture and felt difficult to keep in shape in
the three-leg top event.
The well-known Russian veteran Sautin even felt worse as he
suffered a back injury during the training of Thursday. The
33-year-old only warmed up for half an hour, then left the pool
listlessly.
"I felt OK at the first two legs," explained Sautin, "But I got
my back ached here. It's an old injury."
Despatie also battled an arm injury at last week's World Series
in Mexico City, as the Canadian top diver pulled a muscle in his
left arm during training.
The divers are going to compete in eight Olympic events during
the two competition days.
(Xinhua News Agency September 15, 2007