|
YANGZHOU, China, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China dominated the Free Combination and Russian world champion pair Mikhaela Kalancha/Aleksander Maltsev ruled mixed duet on the second day of the 11th FINA Synchronized Swimming World Trophy here on Sunday.
China repeated the feat in last year as the host team, consisting of the Jiangsu provincial team, claimed four titles out of five on stake.
The competition of the mixed duet was the world top level as the top two finishers were world champions and runner-ups in the 2015 Kazan World Championships. Mikhaela Kalancha/Aleksander Maltsev of Russia, world champion in mixed duet free routine, performed newly-composed Swan Lake and won the title in 92.6000 points.
"I am satisfied with their performance because they showed emotional part in the routine, just like the actor and actress, not only competitive swimmers. Maybe they are not perfect technically today, but perfect in art expression. We made some changes to this routine that they performed in Kazan worlds and Europe championships," said Gana Maksimova, long-time coach of the mixed duet pair.
World silver medalists Giorgio Minisini/Manila Flamini came to second in the mixed duet in 91.2000 and Atsushi Abe/Yumi Adach of Japan came to third. Meng Xinyue/Deng Zeyang of China finished fourth.
In the theme of the Nutcracker, China performed joyful and flexible dancing elements in the Free Combination routine and brought the local fans into the fairy tale world. China earned a total of 92.4667. Italy showed Swan Lake to clinch the silver medals 91.0667 while Russia showed the Carmen to finish third with 89.6000.
"We made some changes to the Nutcrackers which was the routine we showed in our national championships two months ago. We performed our best and got improved from each competition. It is a great honor and opportunity to learn from the other strong teams in the world and to represent China in the World Trophy," said Wang Fang, coach of Jiangsu team.
About 80 synchro swimmers from seven countries competed in the two-day World Trophy.
