Dipper Guurtje Praasterink has reached the final on the 10-meter tower at the World Swimming Championships in Budapest. The 19-year-old Dutchman set the eleventh score in the semi-final on Sunday.
The best twelve of the eighteen participants qualified for Monday’s final. Earlier in the day, Praasterink had also finished eleventh in the preliminary round.
Praasterink, who was training in Eindhoven under national coach Ramon de Meijer, reached 289.80 points after five jumps. ,,I was super nervous, such a match remains exciting. I was shaking”, said Praasterink, who made it even more exciting with a lesser fourth jump. ,,With the fifth I thought: I have to go for this. And it went well, very nice.”
The Chinese diving girls dominated. The 16-year-old Chen Yuxi recorded the highest score with 427.00 points, followed by her 15-year-old compatriot and Olympic champion Quan Hongchan with 413.70. The difference with number 3 Caeli McKay from Canada was big. She recorded 336.30.
More than a year ago Praasterink failed to reach the final at the European Championships in Budapest. The debutante finished fourteenth in the semi-final. ,,I knew that the semi-final was an achievable goal here, but I didn’t expect that the final would succeed. A very nice surprise. I also know that I can do even better, should be able to exceed 300 points.”
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