Daley wins mind game to edge out Mitcham in final dive

Tom Daley produced a perfect dive and then looked on as Olympic champion Matthew Mitcham failed to hold his nerve allowing the 16-year-old to add the Commonwealth 10m platform title to his world crown in the final event at the Dr SP Mukherjee Aquatics Complex in Delhi.
By The Newsroom
Published 14th Oct 2010, 00:28 BST
Updated 14th Oct 2010, 00:28 BST

The pair traded the lead throughout and demonstrated the world-class nature of the competition as they were awarded a total of 13 maximum scores of 10 between them with the English diver getting a clean sweep with his dive in the third round.

Daley entered the final round with a lead of just 1.75points.

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However, while he showed few nerves with a near-flawless dive, his Australian rival fluffed his entry to hand the title to Daley and pick up his fourth silver of the week.

Daley finished with 538.35pts, 27.20pts ahead of Mitcham although that did not reflect the close nature of the contest.

It was the teenager's second title in two days after he partnered Max Brick to the 10m synchro title.

Daley qualified second for the final meaning Mitcham had to dive last and while the Australian had claimed the Olympic title with his final effort in Beijing, he could not repeat his feat here. The Plymouth diver described the moments of Mitcham's last effort where he needed an average of 8.9 to win.

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Daley said: "It was very strange. Because he was following me it was a similar situation to Rome (2009 World Championships) where I was before everyone and I had to nail my dives to put pressure on everyone else.

"And when you are stood there looking at other people diving you know there is nothing you can do – you just stand there and hope for the best and it turned out well today.

"It did seem to take a long time but in Rome it took an extra long time because one of the judges didn't enter their score properly and that made it last even longer.

"This time it was quite quick and not as agonising but it's still just as special."

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Yorkshire diving duo Rebecca Gallantree and Alicia Blagg were also in action in the 3m springboard final, but the duo were unable to follow Daley onto the podium in the Indian capital.

For 26-year-old Leeds diver Gallantree, who ended the Beijing Olympics in 25th place, there was a heartbreaking fifth-place finish, while 13-year-old Wakefield diver Alicia Blagg was 10th.

Related topics:Tom DaleyRome