World Aquatics Championships: Jack Laugher finishes fifth in 3m springboard

Jack Laugher won silver in the 3m springboard at the Rio 2016 Olympics

A disappointing World Championships for British diving continued as Olympic silver medallist Jack Laugher finished fifth in the 3m springboard final.

Laugher, who won bronze in the event at the 2015 Worlds, was sixth after the first of six rounds, but fought back into third with his penultimate dive.

His final routine was solid, but not strong enough to secure a medal. Team-mate Ross Haslam was 11th.

GB have just one medal - mixed 10m silver - to show from 10 events so far.

Laugher finished fourth with fellow synchronised 3m springboard Olympic champion Chris Mears on Saturday, while Rio 2016 bronze medallists Tom Daley and Dan Goodfellow were fifth in their 10m event.

China's Siyi Xie claimed 3m gold ahead of Patrick Hausding of Germany, with Ilia Zakharov of Russia taking bronze.

Laugher, 22, told BBC Sport: "That was dreadful from start to finish, awful generally and finishing five points off a medal really isn't good enough.

"I felt prepared, injury free, and training had gone well but I felt nervy and stressed and that showed."

Haslam, 19, scored a personal best of 452.90 in his maiden World Championships, and was delighted with how performed in the final.

"What a thing to be a part of, I'm so pleased and proud to have been a part of it," he told BBC Sport.

Rio Olympian Grace Reid qualified for Friday's individual 3m springboard final with an impressive showing in the semi-final.

The penultimate day of diving action will also see Tom Daley begin his bid for a first individual world title since 2009 when he competes in the 10m preliminaries.

Analysis

Diving and swimming commentator Bob Ballard:

That's agony - to miss out on a medal by six points.

It will be no consolation to Jack Laugher to know he has been involved in one of the great 3m finals. All he will think about is the big dives that weren't quite on when he needed them to be.

Fifth in that company is no disgrace and will make him even more determined not to finish off the podium again. He is a classy diver among many in that field.

Ross Haslam will gain a lot from this experience - he's proved he can survive at the highest level.