Lian Junjie/Si Yajie bring China first gold at Gwangju swimming worlds

Lian Junjie (front) / Si Yajie of China compete during the mixed 10m synchronised final of diving event at the Gwangju 2019 FINA World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, July 13, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

GWANGJU, South Korea, July 13 (Xinhua) -- World Cup champion Lian Junjie/Si Yajie grabbed the first gold medal for team China in the mixed 10m platform synchronized at the FINA World Swimming Championships here on Saturday.

Lian/Si, champions of the World Cup last year, built up the lead from the beginning to the end and collected a total of 346.14 points for the championship, followed by Ekaterina Beliave/Viktor Minibaev of Russia with 311.28 points and Maria Jos Sanchez Moreno/Jose Belleze Isaias of Mexico with 287.64. British pair Noah Williams/Robyn Birch finished fourth with 285.18.

"It was our second time as mixed platform partners. It was also my second World Championships. I was happy that we won the first gold medal in diving for team China in Gwangju," 19-year-old Lian said.

Si, winner of women's 10m platform in 2013 Barcelona worlds, mixed platform sychro champion in 2015 Kazan worlds was disappointed about her performance.

"I did not perform my best today, but fortunately we were the champions. Since mixed synchro is not an Olympic event, I need to fight for the Olympic tickets in the single and synchro," added the 10m synchro champion in Budapest World Championships two years ago.

The Mexican divers were also happy for their first medal for Mexico. "It was my first World Championships and I was very nervous. Thanks for my male partner, we did pretty good job today and hopefully we can win more medals for our country," 14-year-old Sanchez Moreno said.

Belleze Isaias was the only Mexican diver who just competed the Napoli 2019 Summer Universiad with three medals, including one gold in the men's 10m platform. "I just arrived Gwanju two days ago and I was still trying to adjust myself. I happy to the first medal here at the World Championships," Belleze Isaias said.

Women's 1m springboard and men's 3m springboard synchro will take place later on Saturday.