Yang Hao and Lian Junjie hold off Tom Daley and Noah Williams to win men's 10m synchronised diving world title
The People's Republic of China pair secured their third-consecutive world title, as Great Britain's Tom Daley won his second medal in the Qatari capital, alongside Noah Williams.
Yang Hao and Lian Junjie held off Tom Daley and Noah Williams to win a thrilling men's 10m synchronised platform diving final at the Doha 2024 World Aquatics Championships on Thursday (8 February).
The People's Republic of China pair were heavy favourites going into the competition in the Qatari capital, having won the previous two world titles in Budapest (2022) and Fukuoka (2023).
True to form, they were sitting atop the leaderboard after two rounds with scores of 55.20, 54.60.
Daley, who took a break from the sport after winning Olympic gold alongside Matty Lee at Tokyo 2020, helped Team GB secure victory in the team event earlier in the week, and looked energised once again alongside Williams on the platform board.
The Brits scored 51.00 and 51.60 to go second, before delivering a magnificent third-round 84.48 to close the gap on Yang and Lian to just 2.40 points.
Mexico's Kevin Berlin Reyes and Randal Willars Valdez also stayed in touch in third position, demonstrating excellent synchronisation in their early jumps.
Not to be outdone, the Chinese duo reasserted their dominance in round four, landing a magnificent reverse 3.5 somersault in tuck worth 94.86.
An uncharacteristic error from Yang in round four opened the door for the British team, but Williams' slight over-rotation let their rivals off the hook.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Oleksii Sereda and 16-year-old Kirill Boliukh executed a brilliant penultimate jump worth 89.91 to push the Mexicans into fourth.
In the final round, Yang and Lian took their diving to a whole new level, delivering a complex 4.5 somersaults in tuck position that was awarded 104.34, and a huge roar from the Hamad Aquatic Center crowd as they took the provisional lead with a final overall score of 470.76.
In the end it would be good enough for victory, Daley and Williams replying with an impressive 83.25 jump, and 422.37 overall, to secure silver.
Bronze went to Sereda and Boliukh, who finished with 406.47.
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Tom Daley on his return to competition
After the competition, Olympics.com spoke to Daley to find out what has changed in his approach to diving since he won gold at Tokyo 2020 and took a break from the sport, and how it's been competing with a new partner.
"I've learnt a lot from Noah. He's so chill and relaxed and nothing phases him! It's nice to go into any environment knowing that Noah will get the job done," Daley said.
"We only started (diving together) in October, and we've only spent a total of four weeks training together in person because I live in Los Angeles now.
"It's still very new and that's nice as we will be able to keep growing this partnership between now and the other competitions up to Paris 2024."
On his decision to return to diving after a break, he said:
"I went to this Olympic museum in Colorado Springs in the US and I took my son with me. At the end there was this inspiring video about what it takes to be an Olympian, and my son said 'Papa, I want to see you dive at the Olympics'.
"I've been away for three weeks now and I can't wait to fly home early tomorrow to squish them!"
On his change in approach to diving now, compared to Tokyo 2020, he said:
“It’s very different in that I don’t have as many dives that I have to train, and I also go into competitions now thinking, ‘You know what, know matter what happens in this, I get to go home to my little babies and it doesn’t matter.’
“Yes, it’s nice to win medals and competitions, but at the same time, I have a different perspective now. Success to me is raising my little kids well now. Diving is important to me and I take it extremely seriously, but my kids come first."