China wins first women's solo technical title at World Aquatics Championships

SINGAPORE, July 19 (Xinhua) -- China's world junior champion Xu Huiyan became a senior world champion on Saturday, capturing the country's first women's solo technical gold medal at the World Aquatics Championships.

Xu, 19, who won four gold medals at the Artistic Swimming World Cup Super Final in China's Xi'an this June, claimed the victory with 272.9917 points. Competing as a neutral athlete, Belarus' Vasilina Khandoshka took silver with 260.5416, and Spain's Iris Tio Casas earned bronze with 260.2917.

Xu also competed earlier in the day in the team free preliminaries, helping China qualify first for the final.

In the men's solo technical event, China's Guo Muye finished fourth with a score of 235.0725. Russia's Aleksandr Maltsev, competing as a neutral athlete, won gold with 251.7133 points in his solo debut. The artistic swimming veteran and multiple world champion in mixed duet was followed by Spain's Dennis Gonzalez with 241.1667 and Mexico's Diego Carrillo with 238.1600.

Maltsev, 30, is Russia's first male artistic swimmer and previously won silver in the mixed duet at the 2015 Kazan World Championships, where male athletes were included for the first time.

Gonzalez, despite falling short of gold, expressed admiration for his rival. Enditem