Tom Daley seals World Series crown with bronze in London

Tom Daley has been crowned FINA Diving World Series 2019 champion after winning bronze in the Men’s 10m Platform at the final leg in London.

Daley headed to the London Aquatics Centre atop the overall rankings, having already won gold, silver and bronze medals in the event across the first four legs of the season.

He looked in a strong position to challenge for his second gold of the week as he qualified for the final in first place with 542.65 points.

But after a steady start, Daley’s medal hopes suffered a blow with his third dive of the final.

The 68.40 points left him in last place, needing a big finish to move back into contention.

As he has done so often in his home pool, Daley rose to the occasion, with back-to-back dives around the 90-point mark giving him a chance heading into his final dive.

That proved to be his best of the night, yielding 95.40 points for a total of 525.25 to snatch the bronze medal from Russia’s Aleksandr Bondar.

As a result, Daley finished comfortably on top of the World Series rankings, 15 points clear of Bondar.

The reigning world champion won gold for Britain alongside Matty Lee in the Men’s 10m Synchronised event on Friday and he was perhaps aided by his team-mate’s misfortune.

Lee had qualified for his first individual World Series final and could have worked his way onto the podium, but for a disappointing last dive.

The 21-year-old scored just 44.40 points to finish in sixth place, with a total of 474.80.

Historic win for Daley and Reid

Daley’s night got even better as he teamed up with Grace Reid to win a thrilling Mixed 3m Synchronised Springboard final.

The pair had already enjoyed a brilliant season, winning three bronze medals and a silver before arriving in London.

Less than five points separated the top four heading into the final round and the British pair moved into top spot with a stunning final dive of 77.19 points.

Only the Australian duo of Domonic Bedggood and Maddison Keeney could usurp them and they went close to upsetting the home crowd.

But Daley and Reid held on to beat the Australians by just .75 points, claiming their first ever win as a pair.

British record for Reid

Earlier in the day, Reid fell agonisingly short of claiming a first individual World Series medal of the season, finishing fourth by just .15 points in the Women’s 3m Springboard.

But there was still something for the Scot to celebrate as she set a new British record of 344.25 points.

Reid left her best dive until last, picking up 72.00 points to finish her individual campaign on a high.

Photo:@fina1908/Twitter

Top