Russia’s Evgenii Kuznetsov and Ilia Zakharov denied China gold in the 3 metre synchro springboard for only the second time in history at the world swimming championships in Budapest on Saturday.
In 2003, China also lost out to a Russian duo, Aleksandr Dobroskok and Dmitriy Sautin.
“We don’t compare our success with Chinese or others, because they are old friends for us,” said Kuznetsov who took gold with Zakharov on 450.30 points.
The disappointed young Chinese pair Cao Yuan and Xie Siyi came second with 443.40 points.
“We have only been a team since last December, we need more time to practice,” Cao said.
The results: Diving: Mixed: 10m synchronised: 1. Ren Qian/ Lian Junjie (Chn) 352.98 points, 2. Lois Toulson/Matthew Lee, 3. Kim Mi Rae/Hyon Il Myong (PKR) 318.12.
Men: 3m synchronised: 1. Ilia Zakharov/Evgenii Kuznetsov (Rus) 450.30 pts, 2. Xie Siyi/Cao Yuan (Chn) 443.40, 3. Oleg Kolodiy/Illya Kvasha (Ukr) 429.99.
Women: 1m springboard: 1. Maddison Keeney (Aus) 314.95 pts, 2. Nadezhda Bazhina (Rus) 304.70, 3. Elena Bertocchi (Ita) 296.40.