Si dethrones Olympic champion in world 10m duel

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Si Yajie of China celebrates winning gold in the Women's 10m Platform Diving final on day six of the 15th FINA World Championships at Piscina Municipal de Montjuic on July 25, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.

Si Yajie of China celebrates winning gold in the Women's 10m Platform Diving final on day six of the 15th FINA World Championships at Piscina Municipal de Montjuic on July 25, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.

Fourteen-year-old Si Yajie upstaged defending champion Chen Ruolin in the final of the women's 10m platform at the FINA World Championships.

Si, the youngest finalist, triumphed with 392.15 points, with Chen, four times Olympic champion, having won 10m and 10m synchro gold medals in 2008, less than four points adrift on 388.70. European champion Iulia Prokopchuk of Ukraine scooped the bronze on 358.40, more than 30 points behind the Chinese pair.

Si and Chen were exactly level after three of the five final dives, having astonishingly recorded precisely the same scores on each effort. But Si broke the deadlock in the fourth round as Chen faltered after Si had registered her own lowest score. The teenager then held her nerve in the final series and withstood a rousing challenge from the Olympic champion.

Chen, who had won her fourth successive world 10m synchro title earlier in the week, had been aiming to become only the second woman to retain the world individual 10m crown. It was the sixth Chinese one-two in the event and the seventh Chinese victory in 15 editions at the Worlds.

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