Jack Laugher and Dan Goodfellow made a medal-winning start to the 2020 Diving World Series as they took silver in the men's 3m springboard in Canada.
The duo were in pole position heading into the last round of dives, 0.63 points ahead of Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nikita Shleikher, but were leapfrogged at the last as the Russians scored 84.36 to the Brits’ 77.52 with their final efforts.
The result, nevertheless, represents an early improvement on last season’s results, with bronze the best showing from Goodfellow and Olympic gold medallist Laugher in the synchro discipline.
“Overall, we’re very happy,” said Laugher.
“This was our first competition back since the World Championships last year.
“I felt I could have done better on my last dive but our final score of 415.74 was a strong start for us.”
Goodfellow added: “This was an excellent score to start. We’re very happy with that. We’re looking forward to the next two World Series events in this Olympic year.”
Grace Reid and Katherine Torrance came agonisingly close to doubling up GB’s tally for the day, as they were edged out of a podium place on their last dive.
Heading into the final round, they held a slim advantage over Kristina Ilinykh and Maria Polyakova in third, but the Russians’ fifth effort proved enough to move the Brits off the podium, as they missed out by 3.68 points.
Elsewhere, Eden Cheng and Lois Toulson finished fifth in the women’s 10m synchronised, while Noah Williams and Matty Lee notched the same result in the men’s equivalent.
Competition in Montreal continues tonight, with Toulson competing in the women’s 10m platform.
Sportsbeat 2020