Olympic and world champion He Chong denied his teammate Cao Yuan's triple gold at the 19th FINA Diving World Cup by winning the men's three-meter springboard here on Saturday.

Cao, double winner of the men's 10m platform synchro and 3m springboard synchro in Shanghai, was almost to enter the World Cup record book by adding the springboard title.

Cao led the first five rounds by a small margin 2 points ahead of He. He showed his trademark 5156B as the last dive with 101.40 and won the gold in 540.35 while Cao came to second in 526.70.

Jack Laugher of Britain took the bronze 488.20, edging Illya Kvash of Ukraine fourth in 486.15, Illia Zakharov of Russia 484.40 and Hausding Patrickof Germnay 484.25.

"I had a mistake in the third dive 307C (Reverse 3.5 somersault), it was because I had a shoulder injury and I was too careful to stretch my arms in this dive," He said.

"I faced strong challenges from the younger potentials, like my teammate Cao and Jack. But I enjoyed every competition, no matter big event or not. I am happy with the gold," He said.

Though one step shy to make the World Cup history, Cao said he learned a lot from the competition and he enjoyed to compete both springboard and platform.

"For me, it was a challenging schedule as I competed three events with seven competitions in four day and I received two gold and one silver. It is beyond my expectation. I never thought I could win three golds. I also learned a lot from other divers," the 19-year-old London Olympic synchro platform champion said.

"It is my first time to compete in the individual 3m springboard in a big event. I am a platform diver but I feel fun to dive on the springboard. I think I find the rhythm of the board just like playing keyboards on the piano," said Cao who practiced piano but now quit.

Jack Laugher earned a day-high 102.60 for his fifth dive 109C which helped him to collect his first World Cup bronze medal.

"It is an unexpected medal.I have made big progress since last year as I turned to be a professional diver. I trained full day and worked very hard. I will compete the Commonwealth Games two days after I come back home. It will be a hard battle. Hope I can have good performance," Laugher said.

World Cup will come to an end on July 20 after the women's 3m springboard and men's 10m platform. China swept all the golds of the 7 events on offer. Endit

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