Team Ireland’s sole female contender in the diving at the Tokyo Olympics was in action in the 10m platform semi-final this morning
Tanya Watson qualified for this stage of the competition after coming in 16th place in preliminary rounds yesterday. The 19-year-old would need to improve to be in top 12 to make it to the finals.
To read more about Tanya Watson’s Olympic diving journey, click here.
The semi consists of each diver performing five dives, all to be scored by judges and added together to find the highest ranked athletes.
The final will take place later today at 08:00.
Tanya Watson ready to go for semi-final of 10m platform diving. Goes 3rd of 18. Top 12 into this evenings final @RTEsport #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/9uNq2XJi4V
— Paul O'Flynn (@OFlynnPaul) August 5, 2021
Women’s 10m Platform – Semi-final
Watson decided that she was going to start her routine with one of her most demanding dives; a Back two and a half somersault with one and a half twists.
She performed the move to almost complete perfection and was awarded 64 for her attempt, an improvement of 1.6 on the same dive she did yesterday. She now sat in a good position in ninth.
Tanya Watson's first dive earns a score of 64.00 from 3.2 difficulty #olympics #tokyo2020 #RTESport
📺 Watch live – https://t.co/b2OI4OoWVJ
📱 Updates – https://t.co/2FsXVVTWRN pic.twitter.com/GM3QV1mZft
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 5, 2021
Next in round two and she kept up her good form. She added to her total with 63 more points completing a neat tuck and causing little splash.
Round three would be Watson’s downfall, she attempted a Back two and a half somersault, difficulty 2.9. This move had worried her the previous day and the nerves continued as she scored badly.
She over rotated, smacking the tops of her feet of the water and only receiving 39.15 from the judges. The narrow margin of a few inches mean so much in this event as she dropped to 15th at the end of the round.
For round four she calmed herself with a Reverse two and a half somersault. It was her easiest dive but the teenager was pleased with her result of 56 more points.
In her final round, the qualification places seemed just too far out of reach. She went for another hard difficulty dive, 3.2 degree; an Inward three and a half somersault.
This was a good end to her program, showing a tidy entry into the water. Another 56 points meant that she would finish in 15th place with an overall score of 278.15, less than 25 off of 12th.
Tanya Watson has finished 15th in the 10m Platform Semi-Final, bettering her place in the prelims and showing the whole world what she can do!
No final, but fantastic debut for Ireland's first Olympic female diver 🔥#TeamIreland #Tokyo2020@swimireland pic.twitter.com/ZplQoZWgsm
— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) August 5, 2021
China’s Quan and Chen stole the show, leading the pack with scores of 415.65 and 407.75 respectively. These young women are the two major favourites to battle for gold later today.
Watson managed to improve her placement today from the preliminary rounds, which is a major accomplishment for the teenager. Paris cannot come sooner for this Irish diver, we can see she has a bright future ahead of her on the platform.
