QIN, KEENEY LOOK TO CRASH CHINESE PARTY

Chinese divers have continued to dominate the early rounds of the FINA Diving Grand Prix on the Gold Coast, but Australia’s female springboard divers have shown they are in strong medal contention this weekend.

Esther Qin and Maddison Keeney finished second and third in a high-scoring 3-metre semi-final behind the impressive Chinese diver, Han Wang.

Qin, the gold medalist at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, said she wasn’t distracted by the quality of the field.

“I didn’t think about the other divers, I just focused on myself,” Qin said.

“I’m very scared to dive in the outdoor pool, I’m really struggling with the wind.”

Maddison Keeney was initially not listed to dive in the individual event, but repaid the faith of the selectors with a polished performance.

“I’ve been training with the mindset of only doing synchro, so having to do individual at the last moment was pretty hard,” Keeney said.

“I’ve been really hard on myself, trying to get myself up to scratch. I was really happy with my semi-final.

“I really like competing in the outdoor pools, it has a different atmosphere. If the wind is not too strong I really enjoy it.”

Han Wang, who is chasing her first Grand Prix win in 2015, finished with 350.15 points, with Qin on 342.35 and Keeney on 331.05.

Another Chinese diver, Lin Qu, won the first semi-final with 301.85.

Australians Nicholas Jeffree and Kurtis Mathews qualified in fourth and fifth position for the men’s platform final, behind China’s Xiaohu Tai.

Matthew Mitcham and Melissa Wu will both dive for gold in the 3-metre and platform events respectively on Saturday.

And the first of the synchro events will also be held.