By Michael Church, OCA Media
Tokyo, Japan, September 28, 2026: Wang Zongyuang successful defended his Asian Games title in the men’s 1 metre springboard diving at Tokyo Aquatic Centre on Monday as Korea’s Kim Young-nam split the Chinese divers to take silver.
Wang amassed 442.75 points to comfortably finish clear of Kim, whose score of 373.30 points earned him silver ahead of Chinese 16-year-old Liu Chengzan, who claimed bronze with 361.45 points.
“I'm very happy to stand on top of the podium again,” said Wang. “From the Hangzhou Asian Games until now, I've successfully defended my title.
“But throughout the competition, there were still many areas where I wasn't satisfied. I'll continue working on those issues and gradually improve them in future training.
“I didn't get into competition mode immediately, and my excitement level wasn't quite there yet. During the first two dives, I was a little distracted or unfocused. Fortunately, in the later dives, I gradually regained my competitive rhythm and feeling.”
Wang’s win was his second at the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 after pairing up with Zheng Jiuyuan to take the men’s 3 metre synchronised springboard on Saturday and he will look to complete a hat-trick of successes on Tuesday in the 3 metre springboard event.
Wang, a double Olympic champion at the Paris Games, was dominant throughout the six dives, only once failing to record the best score amongst the 15 divers, while Kim put on a consistent performance to edge out Liu.
“I even beat a Chinese diver, so it is not as though there is no possibility,” Kim said of his silver medal win. “I have built up a lot of experience. From here I will work as hard as I can, for as long as I can.”
Liu had set himself up to challenge his more experienced compatriot after the first two dives but an error in the third round saw the teenager drop off the pace being set by Wang and in the end he had to settle for a third-placed finish.
“Definitely not very satisfied,” Liu said of his Asian Games debut. “To be honest, today's performance was quite far from the level I've been showing in training.
“When you make a mistake, you just can't keep thinking about that dive anymore. You have to focus on the next ones. It was only the third round after all, so there were still opportunities. I just thought about gradually making up ground in the remaining dives.”