BEIJING, 25 February - Diving powerhouse China has proved their preparedness for tot 2008 Olympic Games as a host country - they collected seven out of eight golds on offer at the 16th FINA Diving World Cup at the National Aquatics Center. all the 10 Chinese divers competing took medals home.

The World Cup was held between 19 and 25 February, and for many participants, it also doubled up as a trial for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

The Competition started with the Men's 3m springboard synchro, Qin Kai (CHN) and Wang Feng (CHN) secured the first gold medal with a margin of 43.47 points over silver medallists Yuriy Kunakov (RUS) and Dmitry Sautin (RUS). The Chinese pair has been unbeatable in this event since they won the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne.

Qin also participated in the individual Men's 3m springboard as the reigning world champion in the event, however, he was beaten by his teammate He Chong (CHN). He, currently ranked world No.2 in this event, performed brilliantly and pulled off his trademark dive in style, a Forward two and a half Somersault with triple Twists (DD 3.8), scoring 102.60 points in the Final. He avenged his defeat at Melboume 2007 where he disappointingly finished sixth in this event.

Chen Ruolin (CHN) grabbed a clear-cut victory in the women's 10m platform event. She showed why she is the current world No.1 in this event by beating the reigning world champion Wang Xin (CHN) by a large margin of 44.35 points. Following this victory, Chen teamed up with Wang and earned her second gold in the women's synchro 10m platform.

We Chinese men's platform pair delivered more success - the current world champions in this event, Lin Yue (CHN) and Huo Liang (CHN) added another gold to China's medal collection.

Diving queen Guo Jingjing entered into the fray in the women's 3m preliminaries on Day 4, however Guo lost her luster in all sessions, especially struggling with a Forward three and a half Somersault in Pike position (DD 3.1). The most famous icon in women's diving, Guo settled for silver behind teammate Wu Mincia (CHN) who dived very solidly. Often a silver medallist behind Guo, Wu stepped out of the shadow and into the limelight on her home soil. The World Cup may mean something special to Wu - she won this event by beating Guo at the last World Cup which was held in Changshu, China in 2006.

Another drama unfolded on Day 6 when a German diver Sascha Klein finally stopped China's gold rush and claimed the title in the men's 10m platform by beating two strong Chinese. Klein was more aggressive than Chinese divers Zhou Luxin and Lin Yue and dashed into gold by successfully performing a series of difficult dives whereas Zhou and Lin, ranked top two in the world in this event, made a few errors on their entry in several rounds. Zhou settled for silver and Lin surprisingly finished fourth. The Chinese duo were beaten by a Russian diver, Gleb Galperin in this event at Melbourne 2007 as well.

Wu and Guo re-established their country's dominance in the sport and took the last gold on offer when they won the women's 3m springboard synchro. The Chinese pair, who won in this event at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece and the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia, entertained the excited crowds with their elegant performance and perfect synchronisation in all five dives.

Due to the absence of strong Russian figures, such as Sautin, Galperin and Julia Pakhalina in individual events, China's dominance often made headline news. However a British prodigy, Thomas Daley was one of the central characters during the competition. The 13-year-old from Plymouth wowed crowds with a series of fine performances with no splash, taking bronze in the process in the men's 10m platform synchro with partner Blake Aldridge (GER). Turning 14 in May, Daley missed a medal in his individual event though but left an impression as a possible medal contender at Beijing 2008.

On Day 7, four individual events were conducted for those who haven't qualified for Beijing 2008 at Phase 1 (at the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia - 12 finalists from the each individual event were given spots) and Phase 2 (at the World Cup - Up to 22 divers from each individual event were given spots) . Additional total 32 spots for Beijing 2008 were filled on the last day of the competitions.