Teenager Blagg sees her dream ended in Shanghai

At 14, Wakefield-born Blagg is the youngest of the British competitors across all aquatic disciplines in China and she faltered after a good start to drop from 10th to 30th overall.

It followed her disappointment on Saturday after she failed to qualify for the final of the 3m synchro alongside club colleague Rebecca Gallantree.

The Leeds diver did not have long to wait before she could return to make amends and was back in the outdoor diving pool 24 hours later.

Blagg started well, her inward one-and-a-half somersault seeing her place joint 10th at the end of the first round with team-mate Hannah Starling down in 34th.

Blagg dropped three places in her second round with her GB team-mate moving nine in the opposite direction but it was her third attempt that really derailed Blagg. when she over-rotated on her back one-and-a-half somersaults and her low scoring saw her in 25th place, just four ahead of Starling.

The following round saw Blagg get good height on her reverse one-and-a-half somersault but again she over-rotated to drop further to 31st, trading places with Starling in 23rd.

She performed her final effort adequately enough but with marks in the five range pretty much across the board, it was only enough for 30th with 212.50pts.

Starling fared better, ending up in 25th on 226.40pts.

Of her first World Championships, Blagg said: “I’ve really enjoyed it, it’s been a great experience out here.

“It’s just long but now I’m done I can just chill and relax and watch the rest of the competition.”

Saturday’s 3m synchro got the competition under way in Shanghai, but it did not conclude as planned for Blagg and Gallantree, as they eventually finished in 15th place.

Gallantree, an Olympic and World Championship veteran, and who still has the 3m individual event to contest said: “We are a little bit disappointed.

“Our preparation was really good but we just had a bad day.

“We had a good dive to finish on which is positive but just a bad day on the other two.

“(We were) just nervous so we need to go and chat with our coaches and debrief and hopefully have a better day next time.

“I don’t think it was a major thing.”

Blagg added: “I’m disappointed that it could have gone so much better. It wasn’t my day.”

The pair, who started diving together in 2009, also admitted having a guaranteed synchro berth at next year’s Olympics, as host nation, lifted a little of the pressure.

Last year they finished fifth at the European Championships before claiming fourth place at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October.

At 26, Gallantree is 12 years older than Blagg, who first started featuring at senior national level in 2009 with three top-seven finishes at the British Championships that year.

She made her senior international debut in February 2010 at the FINA Grand Prix in Moscow which she followed up with a medal of each colour, with gold in the one-metre springboard, at the national championships.

The duo were the last of 18 pairs to dive in Shanghai before making their entrance with an inward pike which saw them score 45.6pts after Gallantree slightly over-rotated to leave them joint ninth at the end of the first round.

Their second effort, a forward pike, saw them drop a place after Blagg twisted a little.

The third round featured a lot of inconsistent diving, which saw the Canadian Commonwealth champions disappointingly being marked as low as 3.5.

The British pair attempted a back two-and-a-half somersault but, with Gallantree over-rotating, they dropped to 14th.

After a poor dive in the penultimate round, the pair knew they had a lot of work to do with their final effort – a forward two-and-a half somersault.

And, although they executed it well, it was only enough to see them finish 15th – three places off qualifying for the final with 239.40 points.

In the final, hosts China went on to clinch the first gold medal of the Championships.

The duo of Wu Minxia, half of the triumphant 2009 pair, and He Zi scored 356.40points.

Canadian pair Emilie Heymans and Jennifer Abel were second with 313.50pts ahead of the Australian pair of Sharleen Stratton and Annabelle Smith in third (306.90).

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