Summary China's He Chong won the men's 3m springboard world title for the third time in succession.
BARCELONA (AFP) - China s defending champion He Chong won the men s 3m springboard world title for the third time in succession on Friday to claim his second gold in three days.
He, 26, won with a score of 544.95 points from Russia s Evgeny Kuznetsov s 508.00 and Mexico s Yahell Castillo, who tallied 498.30.
Having won men s 3m synchronised gold on Tuesday with partner Qin Kai, who finished fifth on Friday, this was He s fifth gold medal at a world championships.
It brought China s tally to seven golds from eight diving events in Barcelona with two more events to come.
"It was a hard final, but I am happy with my performance," said He.
"The other athletes also prepared themselves very well and I sincerely congratulate all the medallists."
He said he didn t feel under pressure in the event after Chinese divers failed to win the men s 3m Olympic title in London last year.
"We don t need to prove anything. Everyone knows the strength of our team and its capacity," said He, who finished with bronze in London and Qin took silver.
"If one fails, we keep on training, and we move forward. Nobody can be on the top all the time.
"We just need to grow-up, eliminate our mistakes and positively face the future.
"I perform some of the most difficult dives in the world, so I constantly need to evaluate my performances."
But he admitted it was strange standing on the podium without 27-year-old Qin.
"An outdoor competition always brings more challenges -- there is the sun, the wind," said He.
"Sometimes, the rankings may change, and I feel some pity for Qin, but during competition I only focus on my dives."
Olympic champion Ilya Zakharov failed to qualify for the final after the 22-year-old Russian struggled in Thursday s preliminary round, then missed out on one of the 12 places in the final.
Zakharov caused a shock at the 2012 Olympics by winning the 3m crown ahead of Qin and He, who between them had won the three preceding world titles.
