British divers strike double gold on day two in Edinburgh

Jack Laugher won the men's 1m springboard and Eden Cheng and Lois Toulson clinched gold in the women's 10m synchronised platform event

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Great Britain struck double gold on day two of the Diving competition at the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh on Tuesday.

Jack Laugher won the men's 1m springboard and Eden Cheng and Lois Toulson teamed up to take victory in the women's 10m synchronised platform event.

Olympic Champion Laugher was considered a favourite for the title in the 1m springboard but Cheng and Toulson sprung a surprise when they snatched gold from Russian pair Ekaterina Beliaeva and Yulia Timoshinina with a perfect last dive.

Laugher had looked dominant in the preliminaries but did not take the lead in the final until the third of six rounds. The Rio 2016 Olympic Champion in the synchronised 3m hit his last dives perfectly and accumulated 414.60 points overall. His highest scoring dive was a spectacular inward two and a half somersaults that earned him 74.80.

"With two more events to go, it is a really good way to kick off these Championships," Laugher said. "It was not my best performance and not as good as the Commonwealths [where he also won the gold in 2018] but I am happy to come out on top again."

Giovanni Tocci (ITA) claimed silver with 401.10, moving up the rankings with his last two dives, including the highest scoring effort of the day - a forward three and a half somersaults that scored 76.50.

James Heatly (GBR) completed a successful day for Great Britain by capturing bronze with 391.70 in the pool where he trains.

Heatly edged out Guillaume Dutoit (SUI) by just 1.20 points, while medal hope Patrick Hausding (GER) failed to qualify for the final after struggling with injury. He finished in 14th place in the preliminaries.

The women's 10m synchronised final was thrilling to the very end, with pairs changing position from one round to the next.

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Cheng and Toulson were third after the penultimate round, but produced a high scoring back two and a half somersaults with twist to end with 289.74 points. Beliaeva and Timoshinina earned 288.60 overall while Maria Kurjo and Elena Wassen of Germany scored 284.64 to claim bronze.

"That was a bit crazy," Toulson said. "I wasn't happy with two of my dives and I thought we had lost the chance. But we finished with two really good dives, our hardest ones, and managed to climb back up."

Then she watched her boyfriend, Laugher, and team-mate Heatly in the 1m springboard final. "When you're watching someone else, especially when it's Jack [Laugher], it is a bit nerve-racking," said Toulson. "But he's done it in the end and I'm very proud."

Timoshinina added silver to her bronze from the mixed team event and team bronze medallist Kurjo also earned her second medal of the Championships.

The British divers are hoping to win more medals in Edinburgh as the competition continues. "I think there's going to be a lot more medals from Great Britain as most of us are feeling very strong," Toulson said.