David Boudia (Noblesville, Ind./West Lafayette, Ind.) won the men’s 10-meter silver medal Sunday at the opening leg of the 2015 FINA/NVC Diving World Series in Beijing.
In the final, Boudia scored 534.70 points to finish second behind’s China’s Yang Jian, who dominated the contest with 587.40 points – including 123 points on a front 4 ½ pike that earned five 10s. Boudia was in fifth place after round one, when he scored 76.80 points on his inward 3 ½ tuck. He scored more than 85 points on each of his remaining five dives to finish with the silver medal. His second-round armstand double back somersault with 2 ½ twists earned him 95.40 points to move him into third place, and he jumped to second after 88.40 points on his reverse 3 ½ tuck in round three.
Heading into the final round, Boudia held a 1.5-point lead over Germany’s Sascha Klein for the second spot, and both divers were to perform a back 2 ½ with 2 ½ twists. Klein’s earned 86.40 points, while Boudia followed with 97.20 to secure the silver medal. Klein finished with 522.40 points for the bronze medal, edging China’s Qiu Bo by .2 for the final spot on the podium. Qiu nearly overtook Klein with 99.90 points on a front 4 ½ tuck in the final round, but it wasn’t enough as the 2013 world champion settled for fourth in the World Series final.
Boudia advanced to final after scoring 539.55 points for second place in semifinal A, in which Qiu was first and Klein third. Yang was the top qualifier out of semifinal B.