Diver heads to 3rd straight final in men's springboard event

Diving medal hopeful Woo Ha-ram qualified for his third straight Olympic final in the men's 3-meter springboard event Wednesday.

Woo finished ninth among 18 divers in the semifinal with 432.00 points at the Aquatics Centre in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, as the top-dozen divers advanced to the final scheduled for Thursday.

Fellow South Korean diver, Yi Jae-gyeong, will not join Woo in the final, after ranking 17th in the semifinal with 366.50 points.

Woo finished fourth in the 3m springboard at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the best performance by a South Korean diver at a Summer Games.

The three medalists from Tokyo finished 1-2-3 in the semifinal, with the silver medalist Wang Zongyuan of China leading the way at 537.85 points, followed by Xie Siyi, the defending champion from China, at 505.85 points. Jack Laugher of Britain was third with 467.05 points.

The two Chinese divers are once again expected to duke it out for the gold, leaving Laugher and others to vie for bronze.

In Tokyo, Xie finished over 40 points ahead of Laugher, while Woo was about 36 points back of Laugher for fourth place.