Diving news - Disappointing Tom Daley surrenders World Championship title
BySportsbeat
Updated 20/07/2019 at 17:30 GMT
Diver Tom Daley's world title defence ended in disappointment after missing out on a medal in the men's 10m platform in Gwangju.
Tom Daley
Image credit: Getty Images
Daley headed to South Korea as the world's best in the discipline but surrendered his crown without threatening the podium, finishing seventh after failing to hit complete consistency.
British teammate Noah Williams finished tenth in his maiden World Championships as the pair both secured quota spots in the event for Team GB at next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo.
But the haul of just one medal – bronze alongside Matty Lee in the 10m synchro – proved a disappointment for a man who brings high expectations to the platform, he and Grace Reid missing out in the mixed 3m synchro earlier on the final day.
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British diver Tom Daley has surrendered his World Championship crown
Image credit: Getty Images
"It's not the way I wanted to end the World Championships but on a positive, I came here to qualify two Olympic spots and I managed that, and I came away with a medal in the synchro," said Daley.
Of course it would have been nice to go out there and win or win a medal, but it leaves me some room for next year, gives me some things to work on and some extra motivation.
A stunning dive worth 93.50 points had given Daley an early lead but it wasn't long before he slipped back, a modest effort leaving him in fourth place with four dives to come.
A score of 84.50 in the fourth dive proved a positive but as his closest challengers extended their advantage, the chance of a medal slipped quickly from his grasp.
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Daley finished a shock seventh in the 10m platform final in South Korea
Image credit: Getty Images
And a poor entry in the fifth effort confirmed the inevitable, ending his chance of a second medal of the Championships despite a wonderful finale that saw him register 97.20 on the scoreboard.
Yang Jian and Yang Hao took gold and silver respectively as China finished with 13 from a possible 14 gold medals available in the diving leg of the World Championships.
The only exception was the mixed 3m synchro where Australia's Matthew Carter and Maddison Keeney struck gold in the event which saw Daley and Reid settle for fourth.
The British pair were third after four rounds and looking on course for a medal, the 73.47 score for their final-round dive unbeaten throughout the competition.
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Gold medalists Maddison Keeney and Matthew Carter
Image credit: Getty Images
But Carter and Keeney held their nerve to take top spot from their final effort, leaving Reid and Daley off the podium by just 3.15 points.
Daley added: "This event is always so close because everyone is doing a similar degree of difficulty dives.
"I messed up my fourth round dive a little bit, so if I'd have done anything near normal we'd have been up in the medals and maybe contending for gold."
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