In the women's board diving competition that doubled as the selection for the Japan diving team for the World Championships to be held in Fukuoka City in July, Sayaka Mikami won the championship with an overwhelming performance that won the second place by more than 7 points.
The Japan diving competition is held at the Tokyo Aquatics Center in Koto-ku, Tokyo, along with the Japan Swimming Championships, and in the individual events, the representatives of the World Championships are selected from the top two athletes with the average score of the qualifying round and the final, based on reference points set by the Japan Swimming Federation.
On the 5th, the fifth day of the tournament, the women's board diving was held, and Mikami, who has already been unofficially selected as a representative of the World Championships based on the results of international competitions, took a forward step and scored "8B" three and a half times in the second round of the final, marking 2.3, and the fourth time was "107B" that turned forward two and a half times while twisting twice and a half. He scored in the 72-point range, which was his first time, and won the championship with a total of 85.4, more than 2 points behind the second place.
In second place was Enomoto Ryoka, who put in a stable performance and surpassed the reference score with a total of 2.5154, making it a strong candidate for the national team.
In third place was Yuka Mabuchi, who returned to active duty last year.
From left to right: Enomoto in 2nd place, Mikami in 1st place, Mabuchi in 3rd place
Mikami: "I was happy and I was able to grow mentally."
Sayaka Mikami, who won the women's board diving event, reflected on the final, which she entered despite failing to score points due to a series of mistakes in the qualifying round, saying, "I changed my mind and entered the match with the feeling that I had nothing to lose and that I would be okay because I had made it this far.
On top of that, ahead of the World Championships, he said, "I want to take care of each match so that I can get a job offer for the Paris Olympics."
Enomoto: "It was a match where stability shone through, both good and bad"
Enomoto Ryoka, who finished second in the women's board diving and became a strong member of the national team, calmly reflected on her performance, saying, "It was a match where stability shone through, both good and bad, and I thought that my strength was that I could consistently score 2 points."
Ahead of the World Championship, he said, "I want to gain confidence that I was able to overcome the challenges in the six months leading up to this tournament and play a match that focuses more on scoring goals."