Dubai: British sensation Tom Daley will be among the star competitors at next weekend's Fina/Midea Diving World Series to be held in Dubai.
Teenager Daley is among the five confirmed divers from Great Britain, along with Jack Laugher, Peter Waterfield, Tonia Couch and Sarah Barrow in a field of 68 of the best divers from 11 countries.
China will have the biggest of competitors number with 11, followed by Ukraine with eight and Mexico, US and Germany with seven each.
"All these are the best athletes in the world of diving, and to have them all under one roof will be such a prestigious moment for the UAE," Ayman Sa'ad, Executive Director, UAE Swimming Association (UAESA), told Gulf News.
But it is Daley who is tipped to take centre stage at the Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Sports Complex on March 16-17.
The 17-year-old, who specialises in the 10-metre platform event, took the world by storm when he was crowned individual champion at the 2009 Fina Championships in Rome, reaching the top of the world rankings as a result.
After starting diving when aged just seven, Daley was winning competitions within two years. He went on to represent Great Britain at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he was the country's youngest competitor and also the youngest of any nationality outside swimming.
Highest level
He won two gold medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, one in the 10-metre individual platform and the second in the synchronised diving with Max Brick.
"The divers will start arriving in Dubai on March 13 and we are putting in a lot of effort to ensure we maintain the highest level of organisation, like we do at all events," said Abdullah Al Shaddad, Vice-Chairman of the Organising Committee.
The competition will get under way with the semi-finals from 10am on March 16, followed by the opening ceremony — featuring the Jerobeam Clown Diving Team from Finland — at 5pm and the finals from 6pm. The second day's events will also be conducted in two sessions at 10am and 5pm.
