August 14, 2007

World University Games: Kinzbach places third in platform semis to advance to finals
 
BANGKOK – J.J. Kinzbach (Montgomery, Texas/University of Miami) will compete in men's platform finals on Saturday, August 18, after finishing third with 457.60 points in Tuesday's semifinal.

In a field that included the Olympic champion in the event, China’s Hu Jia, Kinzbach secured his spot in the finals with an impressive semifinal performance, averaging 76.28 points per dive. Kinzbach wowed the crowd on his third dive, a near-perfect back 3 ½ somersault tuck that earned him 89.1 points. Kinzbach held second place after his fifth dive, but was bumped to third when Russia’s Oleg Vikulov garnered 83.6 points for his back 2 ½ somersault, 2 ½ twists pike.

Two other U.S. divers competed Tuesday, with Daniel Mazzaferro (Cheshire, Conn./Auburn) scoring 354.5 points for 23rd place in the preliminaries. Dan Frebel (Fort Wayne, Ind./Florida State) posted a preliminary round score of 347.25 for 25th. Kinzbach finished 10th in the prelims to advance to the semis.

 More USA Diving News