BEIJING, March 14 -- Led by four-time Olympic champions Wu Minxia and Chen Ruolin, China grabbed three out of four synchro titles on the beginning day of the 2014 FINA/NVC Diving World Series at the National Aquatic Center (Water Cube) here on Friday, while Russian pair Evgeny Kuznetsov/Illya Zakharov secured one gold in the men's 3m syncho springboard.

With a swollen left arm due to an accidental injury two days ago, platform star Chen Ruolin breezed to take the crown in the women's 10m synchro platform with her world championships partner Liu Huixia, amassing 347.52 points.

Meaghan Benfeito/Roseline Felion of Canada finished second in 307.56 and Leaong Mun Yee/Paam Pandelela Rinong of Malaysia third in 303.96. London Olympic silver medalists Paola Espinosa and Alejandra Orozco of Mexico placed fifth with 300.27.

"I tumbled down on the training shuttle bus the day before yesterday. My left arm is swollen now. But I was so excited during the competition that I even forgot the pain, " Chen said.

Beijing Olympic champion Lin Yue and London Olympic champion Cao Yuan topped the men's synchro platform with 466.32 points, ahead of German world champions Sascha Klein/Patrick Hausding and Daniel Goodfellow/Mattew Lee of Britain

"Every competition is a challenge. I always enjoy it and learn from it.We had different partners in the previous Olympic Games and started to work together since the National Games last August. I hope I can go further and compete more events with Lin in the future. He is more experienced," Cao said.

Hausding/Klein finished second with 422.70 and Goodfellow/Lee took the bronze medals with 387.66.

"It was not our best competition. We just started to train two days ago before the competition because Sascha (Klein) has injured his right shoulder and did not train for four weeks. We're satisfied that we had silvers. Besides, it's not easy to find the best form in the morning," said Hausding.

Cao/Lin later in the afternoon made their debut in the synchro springboard and finished second in 450.00 while the gold went to Russians Kuznetsov/Zakharov, who scored 455.28 points.

Oleksandr Gorshkovozav/Illya Kvasha of Ukraine and Stephan/Patrick Hausding finished third and fourth respectively.

"I was sleepy until yesterday because of the jet lag, but today I feel good. I'm glad that we win the gold though we dropped to 7th after the second round. We adjusted well and finally win the gold," said Zakharov, the London Olympic 3m springboard champion.

Wu Minxia continued her winning streak in the women's synchro springboard with her world champion partner Shi Tingmao. Jennifer Abel/Pamela Ware of Canada and Aranixa Chavez/Laure Sanchez of Mexico finished second and third respectively. Italian duo Tania Cagnotto/Anastaslia Nedobiga placed fourth.

"I have not competed since the Barcelona World Championships last year. I felt a little bit strange during the competition. I need more practice and more competitions to get used to it," said the 28-year-old Wu.

Beijing stop is the first leg of the 2014 FINA/NVC Diving World Series featuring about 70 divers from 12 countries and regions during 14-16. Both men's and women's springboard events will take place on March 15.