Laugher does a dive double as Melissa bags gold

ENGLISH diver Jack Laugher boasted that he had been “on fire” after winning the 3m springboard for his second gold medal of the Commonwealth Games.

The Olympic silver medallist racked up a total of 519.40 points from his six dives to secure a whopping 66.7point victory over Canada’s Philippe Gagne with Australian James Connor taking bronze yesterday.

In the night’s other final, Australia’s Melissa Wu stunned defending champion Meaghan Benfeito of Canada with her final dive to win her first major individual title in the women’s 10m platform in dramatic fashion.

Laugher is now chasing a Gold Coast hattrick after winning the 1m title earlier in the week.

“I was on fire from the start and because I wanted that title so much it meant that I really tried quite hard,” said the 23yearold.

“I’m really proud of my score, first time finally competing outdoors and almost what I got in Rio.”

Laugher’s score was just four points off his silver medal performance behind China’s Cao Yuan at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Melissa trailed Rio bronze medallist Benfeito by 8.95 points heading into the final round of the women’s platform, but peeled off a back 2½ somersaults with 1½ twists dive to snatch gold.

For Melissa, a silver medallist at the 2010 Delhi Games, it was her first individual gold after successes in synchro finals.

“I’m so proud to be able to do it before all those Australians supporting me in the crowd,” said the 25yearold.

“I’m just super happy. I’ve had a pretty tough year with injuries, so to be able to have such a good result means so much to me and gives me motivation and inspiration to keep pushing through.”