Canada's Abel, Citrini-Beaulieu take silver at Montreal Diving World Series
Meaghan Benfeito, Caeli McKay miss podium in 10-metre event
Jennifer Abel and Melissa Citrini-Beaulieue won silver on Friday in the women's synchro three-metre springboard at the FINA Diving World Series in Montreal.
The Canadian duo earned a total of 304.83 to finish behind Yani Chang and Tingmao Shi of China, who came first with 313.50.
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For Abel, a native of Laval, Que., and Citrini-Beaulieu, from St-Constant, Que., the score was a season-high. The result was also an upgrade, since the pair had previously won bronze at each of the first two FINA Diving World Series events.
"I think we showed the world that we're capable of beating the Chinese," Abel told CBC Sports. "It's not the first time that we're really close to them. The biggest step will be in two years at the Olympics and we'll be ready."
The Canadians actually led the powerful Chinese going into the fourth dive.
"It's pretty positive," said Citrini-Beaulieu, "because we can see that they're not unbeatable."
Esther Quin and Anabelle Smith of Australia came third with 295.80.
In the 10-metre event, Canada's Meaghan Benfeito and Caeli McKay finished fourth.
The pair earned silver in the same event at the Commonwealth Games in Australia earlier this month.
Calgary's McKay clipped the tower with her foot on her first drive which had a significant impact on their final score of 293.70.
"I didn't get the distance I needed in the back dive so my feet hit the tower, which added more rotation to the dive," McKay said.
"I have never hit the tower in that dive or never had anything like that happen before."
Benfeito, from Montreal, was happy with their point total, given the rare circumstances.
"It's never really happened to us before in completion or practice, so it was new to us," Benfeito said. "Happy we still scored over 290 with a major mistake like that".
Pandelela Pamg and Jun Hoong Cheong of Malaysia earned 322.74 for gold. North Korea's Mi Rae Kim and Kuk Hyang Kim captured silver with 321.90 points, while Yajie Si and Shan Lin of China rounded out the podium with 320.82.
In the men's three-metre synchro springboard Philippe Gagne, of Montreal, and Francois Imbeau-Dulac, of
Saint-Lazare, Que., placed fourth with 409.86 points.
CBC sports is providing a live stream of the event through to the end of the competition on Sunday.
With files from The Canadian Press