By Dawn Tay

AT 4.30PM yesterday, the very first Asian Youth Games champion was revealed at Toa Payoh Swimming Complex.

And the gold was never in doubt for China's Wu Dongliang, who put up a supreme display to win the boys' 3m springboard final with a score of 626.60 points.

Such was the 16-year-old's dominance that even if he had skipped his final dive, the gold would still be his.

Coming in a distant second was Kuwait's Rashed Alharbi, who had 474.95 points to pip South Korea's Sung In Cho (474.05) to the silver.

Following in the footsteps of Olympic-winning divers like Xiong Ni and Guo Jingjing, Wu did not betray any emotion during the competition, a perfect picture of poise and control on the boards.

The Hubei native appeared blissfully untouched by the pressure of winning the inaugural Games' first gold medal, but he was more visibly relaxed during the press conference after the competition.

"I didn't know that this event would result in the first medal of the Games," he said.

"I was confident of the win if I performed to my own standards."

He deftly side-stepped the question of whether the win was too easy because of the lessthan- stellar field.

"I just focus on my results, not on the competition," he said.

Indeed, he said that he did not even look at his competitors' scores, and learnt about his victory only after his final dive.

A second glance at the scoreboard was the only indication that he knew the gold was in the bag.

The girls 5m/10m platform final was a more closely fought affair, even though China once again bagged the gold.

Despite "a less-than-ideal" performance that featured a poor third dive, hot favourite Liu Jiao's score of 492.05 was enough to win her the gold.

The 15-year-old nonetheless made up for her error with a spectacular final dive: a back 2.5-somersault, 1.5-twist dive in pike position that earned her a whopping 85.00 points, the highest score in both finals.

The silver medal went to North Korea's Sin Ji Hyang, with a score of 459.15, while South Korea's Yun Seung Eun came in third (392.90).

dawnt@sph.com.sg

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