Chinese pair Qiu Bo and Huo Liang led the men's 10m platform synchronized preliminary competition at the 14th FIFA World Championships on Sunday.

Qiu and Huo collected 477.96 points from six dives to finish the first, while American pair David Boudia and Nick Mccrory placed second at 447.21. German Patrick Hausding and Sascha Klein finished third at 441.12.

Thomas Daley, winner of the 10m platform at the 2009 Rome worlds, only managed a fifth finish with his partner Peter Waterfield at 424.47.

"I'm a little bit nervous since it's the first time I pair up with Qiu Bo in the men's 10m synchro platform," said Huo, 21, who was the Olympic champion in the event with Lin Yue. "Today's performance is Okay. But I think that we could improve in synchronization."

Huo and the 18-year-old Qiu have just paired up for less than two months.

"We will try our best in each competition, and that is my expectation," said Qiu.

The Chinese diving team originally planned to send another pair Zhang Yanquan/Cao Yuan, however Zhang was injured before the worlds. The biggest worry for Huo and Qiu is their synchronization.

"I'm happy about my performance," said American Mccrory. "I think I'm where I wanna be for the final. I gonna relax later. I like the outdoor environment. It's beautiful out there."

The final will be held later Sunday.

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