World Championship Crown for Gary Hunt

In a dramatic decision on Hawaii, reigning World Series Champion, Orlando Duque, pulled out his first victory of the year, at the same time handing his overall title to Gary Hunt. This year's dominator won a total of four out of six competitions.

Five podium spots preceded Duque's first victory. In his adopted home of Hawaii of all places, the nine-time World Champion was able to leave all eleven of his competitors in his wake. One day after his 36th birthday, the native Colombian gave himself the greatest gift of all: " It is absolutely fair to call it a gift. Today, every one of my dives was on the mark. Of course, it helped that Gary made minor mistakes, allowing me to pass him, but that was definitely my best competition. All of this year's locations were fantastic, but this one here was the best for me. Being able to win at home in Hawaii is one-of-a-kind. Next year, I want to win back my title. I'm going to train a lot and do my homework. but I am sure Gary has the same plan. "

In his third dive, Russian, Artem Silchenko, was rewarded with two 10s, the highest possible score. After being in last place after the first round, this meant he was able to secure third place for the day, as well as in the overall standings.

9.6 points behind Duque, 26-year-old Gary Hunt took second place at this his sixth stop, thus earning the crown of overall champion. " Fantastic, I am speechless! One dive today would have been enough, and now it's slowly beginning to sink in. Aside from Orlando, Artem was also extremely strong all season long. Kent also improved enormously, too, and he's working on new dives. I'm going to keep working on my running take-off; my goal is to perfect this dive during winter season, and make it a permanent part of my program next year ", explained the British diver.