Kothari and Williams close out memorable Worlds for British Diving

10 Feb 2024

Kyle Kothari and Noah Williams again played their part in an enthralling Men's 10m Platform final as the pair closed out a record-breaking World Championship programme for the British Diving team. 

At the end of a platform showpiece that required a staggering 528 points to even make the podium, Kyle ranked sixth and Noah seventh in the world in a hugely competitive field, seven months on from placing fifth and fourth respectively in Fukuoka. 

This time around, a slight second-round drop saw Kyle with work to do early on - and he followed it up with some outstanding dives, including scoring nines from the judges for his Inward 3 1/2 Somersaults Tuck (407C) and a tally of 90.65 for his Forward 4 1/2 Somersaults Tuck (109C), finishing on 482.20 points overall.

Noah, meanwhile, was incredibly consistent across his list, without delivering the one or two sets of nines and 10s from the judges that may have led to a medal, ending with 479.05 to his name.

Still, both look well set at this early time of what is a packed season ahead over the next six months. 

"It's a super busy schedule now - we've got World Cup events in Montreal, Berlin and then hopefully Xi'an in China, and then British Championships, which is super important. It's been a year of good performances now for me, and each one is more in my favour," said Kothari.

"I dropped my second dive here today and then I was like, 'right, I need to do some really good dives to get me back in the running, and I did two back-to-back. To be honest, it's sixth here, fifth in Fukuoka, so I'll take it." 

Williams added: "It's the first international of the season, obviously with Worlds being a big one. Everything was consistent, nothing was great, so at least now I know what I need to work on.

Noah Williams twisting dive Men's 10m Platform prelims Doha 2024.jpg
Noah Williams

"I'm just looking to improve from competition to competition. Competing with the best in the world is always good, because I get to see where I'm at, and hopefully even if I'm not medalling at those, I'll get closer and closer to the medals going into the summer."

Earlier in the day, Grace Reid and Ross Haslam came agonisingly close to a second medal apiece at these World Championships, as they placed fourth in the Mixed 3m Synchro. 

They sat second heading into the final round of dives but could not close out with a safe enough score in round five to secure the medal, ultimately finishing eight points behind South Korea.

Grace and Ross had both already picked up individual 1m Springboard medals of their own this week - Grace a silver, Ross bronze - and then achieved their primary goals for the competition, securing the outstanding Olympic quota spots in the women's and men's 3m springboard events. 

"It's been a hugely successful week for both of us. We came with a very specific job, and I think we both delivered that job, and went above and beyond in the 1m as well," said Haslam afterwards.

"We practiced the mixed synchro this morning for the first time in six years, so I think fourth isn't too bad!"

Reid added: "It is always nice to dive with Ross, he's such a great partner to dive alongside. That was enjoyable up until my last dive - I'm very frustrated.

"But like Ross said, we had a very specific goal coming here, and we've both done exactly what we needed to do. It would've been nice to finish with a medal today, but ultimately we knew what the main target was, so we have to take that away."

Grace Reid Ross Haslam Mixed 3m Synchro Doha 2024

After eight days of diving, British Diving close out these World Championships on a record seven medals, third in the medal table and second in terms of Olympic events, behind only China. More importantly, they collected all three of the Olympic quota spots that they needed to here, meaning Team GB will have a full complement of diving spots for Paris 2024 - two apiece in the individual springboard and platform events, and one synchro pairing in each on both men's and women's sides.