On the afternoon of April 14, the 2023 FINA Diving World Cup Xi'an ended the first day of competition. As expected, the Chinese diving team won all four two-man events. Among the members of the "Dream Team" on that day, 7 of the 8 competitors were Olympic champions or world champions, and only Long Daoyi, who participated in the men's double 3-meter springboard, was a "newcomer". It can also be seen that in the men's paddle event of this year's Fukuoka World Championships and even next year's Paris Olympics, who will partner Olympic double champion Wang Zongyuan to compete together is almost the only suspense in the "dream team" participation list.
Following Chen Yuxi and Quan Hongchan winning the women's double 10-meter platform championship in this competition in the morning. In the three competitions at noon and afternoon, Lian Junjie/Yang Hao, Chang Yani/Chen Yiwen, Wang Zongyuan/Long Daoyi won the men's double 10-meter platform, women's double 3-meter springboard and men's double 3-meter springboard respectively.
Among the 8 "Dream Team" participants who appeared on the day, 7 were world champions and even Olympic champions, and only Long Daoyi, a 20-year-old young man from Hebei team, was not very familiar with everyone and was a newcomer to the national team. Long Michiichi participated in the World Junior Diving Championships five years ago and won two gold medals in the men's 1m springboard and 3m springboard. Although he is an athlete with great strength and potential, the national team competes fiercely in every sport. In the Tokyo Olympics cycle, whether it is Xie Sicheng, who specializes in springboards, or Cao Yuan, a veteran who has both plates and platforms, and Wang Zongyuan, who later fully proved himself and partnered with Xie Sicheng to win the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics double springboard, the comprehensive ability is outstanding, Long Daoyi is a young man, and he cannot be selected for the national team.
When Xie Sicheng left the national team after becoming famous, and Cao Yuan had been injured and wandered between the plates, the successor chosen by the Chinese team for the two was Wang Zongyuan's Hubei teammate Zheng Jiuyuan. The latter has strength, but psychological stability is relatively poor. At the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, Zheng Jiuyuan participated in the men's 1-meter springboard competition, but made consecutive mistakes and only finished eighth. As a member of the "Dream Team", this ranking was somewhat embarrassing, and he became the only member of the Chinese team to Budapest who failed to win a medal. Chinese diving team leader Zhou Jihong and coaching staff continue to give him opportunities. At the just-concluded National Diving Championships and Fukuoka World Championships Trials (which was also part of the domestic trials for the Paris Olympics), the rest of the national team partners successfully won the two-man event, with only Wang Zongyuan/Zheng Jiuyuan finishing 14th. The reason was that Zheng Jiuyuan made a serious mistake in the game, causing the two to score zero on one of the moves. Repeated problems, Zheng Jiuyuan's performance made people a little disappointed and bottomless.
In the high-standard and strict Chinese diving team, the main players make mistakes in domestic competitions, and there may be room for their status and identity in the national team. But in the international arena full of strong players, athlete stability is the first prerequisite. In this World Cup sub-competition, for the sake of safety, the coaching staff of the Chinese team finally chose to give Long Dao, who finished third in the men's singles 3-meter springboard in the national championship, a chance, and partnered Wang Zongyuan to compete for the gold medal in the men's double 3-meter springboard. At least in the match played on the 14th, Ryudoichi, who represented the national team in the World Cup for the first time, performed satisfactorily and did not make any mistakes.
In the men's 3m springboard singles event of this competition, the Chinese team only played Wang Zongyuan, which is a very rare situation, and the other three single-person events of the Chinese team are all two-person participants. Of course, with Wang Zongyuan's ability, even if one person participates and wins the championship, it is not a problem. The point is not this, but in this year's Fukuoka World Championships, next year's Doha World Championships, and even the most important Paris Olympics, who can become the second person in the men's springboard of the Chinese team, and qualify for these competitions, it can be seen that there is really no conclusion at present, Cao Yuan will return to the springboard? Dragon Road One on top? Give Zheng Jiuyuan another chance? This is one of the biggest suspense of the "Dream Team" lineup.
Text/Beiqing Sports Liu Ailin