China's Hu wins 10-meter platform; Cuba earns first world medal

MONTREAL — The Chinese finished in their usual top spot at the diving pool.

The surprise? Cuba was second, earning its first medal of any kind at the World Swimming Championships.

Olympic champion Hu Jia won the 10-meter platform title Saturday, giving China its fourth diving gold medal and equaling its gold haul at the world meet two years ago.

''I'm very happy because it is the first time I win a world championship,'' Hu said.

He rallied to win on his last dive, a backward 2 1/2 somersault with 1 1/2 twists, and finished with 698.01 points.

''I wasn't paying too much attention, so I made a small mistake,'' Hu said.

Cuba's Jose Antonio Guerra earned silver with 691.14. The Communist nation has never won any diving medals at the Olympics, either.

''This is very important for my country,'' he said. ''Montreal brings me a lot of luck because I won here in 2000 and 2001 (at World Cup meets).''

Gleb Galperin of Russia rose from sixth to third on his last dive, taking the bronze with 656.19.

''I was taken off guard completely by winning,'' Galperin said. ''I was not following the scores.''

Hu's teammate, Yang Jinghui, was seventh. He was in contention for the bronze until he botched his fourth dive.

''I was quite nervous,'' Yang said. ''I'm not very happy.''

Bryan Nickson, a 15-year-old from Malaysia, was ninth among 12 finalists in his first world championships. He was a fan favorite at the Athens Olympics, where he was 19th on the platform.

''I thought I could do better,'' he said. ''Having the crowd behind me made me a bit nervous, but it was also motivating.''

Americans Thomas Finchum and David Boudia failed to make the final.

The Chinese have won medals in all eight diving events so far, with two remaining.

China and Russia were tied atop the overall medal standings with four golds each. The United States was second with three golds. Russia, the United States and Germany have six medals total.

After leading through the first four rounds, Hu dropped from first to second on his next-to-last dive, a reverse tuck 3 1/2 somersault. He over-rotated and created a huge splash, getting marks ranging from 3.5 to 5.5.

But he impressed the judges with his final dive, earning all 9.0s to win by nearly seven points.

Guerra was never worse than third in the final, diving consistently while others struggled. He said winning a medal wouldn't change his life.

''I live quite well in Cuba. There is no luxury, but what really matters is that I have my colleagues, my friends and a very healthy life,'' he said.

Guerra trains in Havana, which has the country's only diving pool. But he wasn't able to practice for three months recently because the pool lacked a proper 10-meter platform.

Alexandre Despatie of Canada, a two-time gold medalist at the meet, didn't defend his title because of a back injury that prevented him from training on platform.

David Meca of Spain won the gold medal in the men's 25-kilometer open water swimming race. He finished in 5 hours, 21.4 seconds.

Brendan Capell of Australia earned the silver in 5:00.23.6. Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria took the bronze in 5:00.28.4.

Russia won the gold medal in team synchronized swimming with 99.334 points, including six 10.0s. The Russians already had won the combination and duet events.

''We performed very well, even though we're young and it's the first year we're together,'' Anna Shorina said. ''After winning gold at the Olympics it was difficult to get ready for worlds, emotionally, not physically.''

Japan captured the silver with 97.834. Spain earned the bronze with 97.750, including two 10.0s for artistic impression.

''It was shock,'' Paola Tirados said. ''It's the first time Spain has received 10s. We knew it would be a tough battle with the Japanese because we were tied after preliminaries.''

The United States was fourth with 95.666.

In women's water polo, Hungary, the United States, Germany, Russia, Italy, Canada, Greece and Australia advanced to Monday's quarterfinals.

Facing elimination, the Americans defeated Cuba 14-3 Saturday, getting three goals each from Brenda Villa and Moriah Van Norman.

''You have to feel confident if you are going into the quarterfinals,'' Villa said. ''We are just trying to build each game.''

Also, Venezuela edged China 8-7, Brazil routed Uzbekistan 11-1, Italy defeated Spain 9-6, Greece beat the Netherlands 7-4 and Germany edged New Zealand 2-1.

Teams playing for 13th through 16th places Monday will be China (0-3-0) against Uzbekistan (0-3-0) and Venezuela (0-2-1) against Brazil (0-2-1).

Cuba, New Zealand, Spain and the Netherlands will play two rounds of games to decide ninth through 12th places.