Baker snatches Bronze with stunning final two dives

Leon Baker got his second medal of this year’s LEN European Junior Diving Championships after a stunning final two dives saw him take Bronze in the A Boys 3m Springboard Final.

After qualifying from the morning preliminary round in sixth place, Baker was consistent in the first three rounds, sitting seventh heading into his final two dives.

He delivered when it mattered however when his fourth round reverse 3 ½ somersault tuck scored an incredible 82.25 points to move him into fifth place with just one dive to go.

That dive was the highest scoring of the entire competition and brought him right into the medal hunt.

At that stage he was still 10.60 points off the medal places so there was still a lot of work to do to snatch a spot on the podium.

Baker then produced another huge score with his final dive of a forward 2 ½ somersault with two twists in pike to earn himself a further 78.20 points.

That took Baker to a total of 532.10 with the two divers around him scoring only 42.00 and 45.90 for their final dives.

That meant the Brit stormed onto the podium to claim his second medal of the championships.

Hugo Thomas also made the final and performed well to finish in sixth place.

Dive London’s Thomas opened the final in fine form when his inward 2 ½ somersault pike scored him 66.00 points to move him into eight place.

He remained in tune in the second and third round before finishing strong just like his synchro partner Baker.

Thomas’ final dive scored 67.50 points to move him into sixth place, the highest he had been throughout the competition.

Both Baker and Thomas have already enjoyed success in Romania after they won silver in the A/B Boys 3m Synchro Final yesterday.

Both Brown and Kutty just miss out on a medal

In the Girls A 1m Springboard Final both Tilly Brown and Maya Kutty both just fell short of a medal.

Brown was the closest of the British pair, finishing fourth with a total score of 379.40.

Southampton’s diver was consistent throughout, scoring around the 50-point mark for each of her final four dives.

Her best dive was her first of those four, scoring 51.60 that left her just five points off a medal place at that stage.

She kept up her form for the rest of the competition but it wasn’t quite enough to keep up with Italy’s Elisa Pizzini who took the final medal place.

Pizzini’s advantage from the dives carried over from the morning session helped her keep ahead of Brown as she took the final spot on the podium with a final score of 388.25.

Kutty wasn’t far behind her teammate in sixth, finishing on 366.35 points.

Much like her teammate she performed well throughout but just couldn’t fight her way into the medal place.

Kutty did earn herself a medal on day one however as she was part of the Jump Event team that won silver on day one.

It’s another busy day for Britain’s diver’s tomorrow on day six of the competition in Bucharest.

Masie Bond will compete in the Girls B platform event with Brown back on the board alongside her synchro partner Evie Smith in the A/B Girls 3m Syncho Final.

Oscar Wilcox and Todd Geegus will also compete as they take part in the Boys B 3m Springboard event.

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