China set to shore up dominance in Asiad diving
Agence France-Presse, Beijing
With legendary Fu Mingxia and triple Olympic gold medalist Xiong Ni in retirement, China will look to its new generation of divers as it strives for a clean sweep of the eight medals on offer at the Asian Games.
The Asian powerhouse will take 14 divers to the Games in Busan, South Korea with Tian Liang and Li Na heading a world class team at the Sajik Swimming Pool.
They are likely to be fighting among themselves for the medals with the only possible challenges to their eight-gold medal ambition coming from Japan, South Korea and Kazakhstan.
While the absence of Fu and Xiong will be felt, China's dominance is so complete in Asia that the full monty is virtually guaranteed with a mature new generation of youngsters quickly establishing their credentials.
Their supremacy, without Fu and Xiong, was there for all to see at the world championship in Fukuoka last year when China won eight of the 10 gold medals on offer.
Former child prodigy Tian Liang, who left home aged 11 to train with the national team, is on top of the pile in the 10- meter platform and will head the men's team in defense of his Asian Games title.
The Olympic and world champion's technical style features strong explosive force, vigorous movements, and agility in execution and he will be hard to beat.
He acknowledges his main rivals are his countrymen.
"My fellow divers are younger than I, but are eager to beat me in the Asian Games," he said recently.
"I will feel lucky and grateful should I succeed in defending my Asian Games title."
Hu Jian, who took silver behind Tian in Sydney, will also be in Korea.
Another Olympic champion Li Na, who snared two golds in platform events in Sydney, is in form and appears to have few challengers as she strives to better the silver she won at the last Games in Bangkok four years ago.
In the three-meter springboard Wang Feng, the Shandong diver who won the one-meter event in Fukuoka, is another gold medal prospect.
With Fu off the scene, Guo Jingjing, another Olympic medalist, has taken her place and the world champion will be favorite as she defends her Asian Games title in the women's 3-meter springboard.
Queen Fu was long the backbone of the Chinese team, winning a record-equaling fourth title at the Sydney Olympics when she defended her springboard crown.
Since hanging up her costume last year, she has married Hong Kong's wealthy financial secretary Antony Leung and applied to study business administration at Hong Kong's Chinese University.
Xiong collected two gold in the springboard and synchronized springboard in Sydney to become just the second diver ever to win medals at four Olympics.