Chinese diver Yang Hao competes in the boys' 10 meters platform diving competition at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing on Tuesday. Photo: Cui Meng/GT

 

China's Yang Hao is already eyeing overtaking his predecessor Qiu Bo in the diving world after claiming the gold medal in the boys' 10 meters platform diving with 665.90 points at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province on Tuesday.

Yang delivered a convincing win with a 134.20-point lead over the runner-up, Canadian Philippe Gagne. Mexican Rodrigo Diego Lopez was the bronze medalist 18.95 points behind Gagne.

"I'm confident I can surpass Qiu in the future," Yang told the Global Times after the ­victory ceremony.

But Yang is reluctant to reveal where his confidence comes from.

"I just feel sure I can surpass him, though I don't know where it comes from," he said.

Qiu won a gold medal in ­diving at the maiden Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

Later Qiu became world champion after winning the men's 10 meters platform twice at the World Aquatics Championship in 2011 and 2013. He was also the silver medalist at the 2012 London Olympic Games, only 1.8 points behind winner David Boudia of the US.

Yang was also gold medalist in the boys' three meters springboard with 613.80 points on Sunday, with Diego Lopez second-placed with 20.15 points behind. Gagne ranked third.

In the 10 meters platform ­final, Yang didn't perform well in his first dive. The ­undisputed leader in the heat, where he kept a triple-digit lead, he only scored 72 points in his tuck ­inward 3.5 somersault.

But later he surged back to the top with his second dive and never looked back.

Yang said it was due to psychological inconsistency why he underperformed in his first dive.

He also thinks his dives on the platform are better than the ones from the springboard, and he didn't expect he could win the springboard title.

The Yan'an-born diver regards his provincial trailblazer Qin Kai as an idol. Qin was an Olympic gold medalist in the synchronized three meters springboard. However, the humble 16-year-old ruled out that he is seen as a rising star in the diving pool.

"I'm not considering this so-called rising star thing right now," Yang said. "Now I will focus on both stability of my mind and trying more difficult dives."

Though he was ­excluded from the senior national team who will compete at the Asian Games later this year in Incheon, South Korea, Yang said he will watch their ­performance and learn from them.