Hausding Claims 1-Meter Gold; Batki, Pellacani Win 10m Synchro in Kyiv

Courtesy: LEN Media

Six years after his last individual title, Patrick Hausding made it again. The 30-year old German won the 1m final with a magical last dive to claim his 15th European gold, the second here in Kyiv. Italy also enjoyed a fine afternoon, Noemi Batki and Chiara Pellacani claimed gold in the 10m synchro, followed by a bronze by Lorenzo Marsaglia in the 1m.

Medalists, Day 3

Women’s 10m synchro: 1. Noemi Batki, Chiara Pellacani (ITA) 290.34, 2. Phoebe Banks, Emily Martin (GBR) 284.40, 3. Ekaterina Beliaeva, Iulia Timoshinina (RUS) 277.50

Men’s 1m: 1. Patrick Hausding (GER) 388.85, 2. Oleg Kolodiy (UKR) 381.50, 3. Lorenzo Marsaglia (ITA) 380.15

Italy opened its golden account in Kyiv by a fine win in the 10m synchro, courtesy of Noemi Batki and Chiara Pellacani. As sometimes happens in this event, fewer mistakes earn titles for those who don’t drop under a certain level. That was exactly the case with the Italians: while their dives were not of top quality (received 6.0-6.5s to their last two 3.2DD attempts respectively), but the synchronization was the best in the field, a series of 7.5-8.0s arrived in each round. Since the two divers had less practice together than usual as Pellacani focuses on her 3m Olympic qualification campaign, their efforts deserve even higher credits – and, ultimately, deserved a gold medal.

Great Britain’s rookies Phoebe Banks and Emily Martin caused a pleasant surprise as they finished runners-up, only 5.94 points shy of the Italians. They also used the chance ‘created’ by the Russians who led after two rounds but then struck the third dive, which seemed to be a cursed one for Ekaterina Beliaeva. Just like a day earlier, when she failed to hold her armstand in the individual final and with a zero-pointer she fell from top to bottom in that very round, this time she missed her dive dreadfully, received 1.0 and 2.0 and the synchro marks were also ruined. They bounced back then, came up with two dives earning the highest scores respectively but had to settle for the bronze.

The men’s 1m final ended up in a real thriller as the lead was changing constantly and no one could gain any bigger advantage. Before the last round home favorite Oleg Kolodiy topped the ranks but had a low DD dive to perform so the following four could aim for something bigger while they were separated by as little as 1.05 points.

Kolodiy came up with a fine last attempt but only with a DD of 2.6. Still, he kept the lead ahead of Jordan Houlden – the Brit had a modest one and finished 1.40 shy of the Ukrainian. Poland’s Kacper Lesiak also eyed the podium but couldn’t perform his most difficult dive as nice as the first three which had put him in the third place back then. The bronze landed in the neck of Lorenzo Marsaglia, winner of the prelims, whose middle two dives didn’t go as well as he planned (under-60s) but especially his final one was a brilliant 72-pointer, enough to edge out Houlden by 0.35 points for the third place.

By then the battle for the title had been over. Patrick Hausding used all his experience and knowledge to pull off the best attempt of the whole evening for 75.20 points with plenty of 8.0s among the marks. It was a kind of magic from the German great who clinched his last individual golds at the home, at the 2014 Europeans in Berlin when he won the 1m and the 3m as well. Six years later, aged 30, he had it again and added another gold to his unique treasury, the second one after the team event: now he possesses 31 medals including 15 golds – and counting…

Quotes

Noemi Batki, Italy, gold, 10m synchro

“When the Russians missed their dive in the third round, we were like, hey, what’s going on here? – but then we had to refocus and concentrate on our dives. I think we managed to do a good job despite we couldn’t train that much together this year. Chiara is more a springboard diver and she wants to qualify for the Olympics in 3m so she rather prepares for that, we could not even practice every dive here before this competition so it was a kind of all-in event from our side but it worked.”

Emily Martin, Great Britain, silver, 10m synchro

“We are quite happy with this medal. We kept our balance for the whole competition, our dives were on a constantly good level. We performed the last one for the first time in competition, it was a kind of gambling but paid off at the end.”

Ekaterina Beliaeva, Russia, bronze, 10m synchro

“We were hoping for a better result, indeed to claim the gold medal. But in the third round I couldn’t hold my legs, I was unable to complete the move, and this bad dive cost us the gold medal.”

Patrick Hausding, Germany, gold, 1m springboard

“The competition was not perfect. I had my reserves here and there, but the others didn’t make perfect jumps either while I could finish the competition with my best dive.

You have to keep your nerves. I always do the two and a half summersaults at the end, because this is my parade jump, that’s how I secured silver here two years ago and gold in Berlin 2014. This is a jump that causes a bit of a stir all the time. If that works really well, then you might receive some extra marks.

Even though this is not an Olympic event, I love to do it. I don’t jump from 10m any more so I have the time to practice it and the level of this competition is just the same you have in the 3m, these are real title battles at the European Championships so I’m keen to be part of it and I really value to have this gold added to my collection.”

Oleg Kolodiy, Ukraine, silver, 1m springboard

“I’m glad since this is my second medal at these European Championships. It was so exciting again to compete in front of our fans and it was a really thrilling final. I’m really happy now.”

Lorenzo Marsaglia, Italy, bronze, 1m springboard

“I’m really satisfied with this bronze medal. This is the first big result I’ve achieved at European Championships. I know that the top four were really close to each other, but I made it, I’m on the podium, so I’m really happy now.”