On Friday, the second day of the diving competition as part of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series was held in Mostar. The audience had the opportunity to watch the second and third round of jumps, and the lead before the fourth decisive round is now held by Rhiannan Iffland and Constantin Popovici.
After sharing second place with Xantheia Pennisi and Maria Paula Quintero after the first round, Rhiannan showed why she is the champion and legend of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series on the second day of the competition and took the lead with a total of 268.80 points after two great jumps. Now the Australian is leading ahead of the aforementioned Pennisi, who has 258.60 points, while Lisa Faulkner is in third position with 229.80 points. On the eve of the last round of jumping, Rhiannan is very close to winning her ninth King Kahekili trophy, that is, her ninth championship title in a row.
“Confidence is key at the moment. I’m at the top of the table and I feel confident ahead of tomorrow. It’s always nice to do a jump in the third round and get a lot of points, but the fourth jump is always my favorite. I can’t wait to feel the energy. I don’t know how things will go, but a win will secure the title for me. It’s an added pressure. Regardless of the competition, I’ll try to do my best jump. That’s what I’m thinking about,” said Iffland, adding that it would be nice to win the title in Mostar, especially because of the crowd.
Pennisi feels great in Mostar, where she came at least for her best result.
“I am very happy, I came here to relax and enjoy myself. I competed here for the first time in 2018, I have good memories. I did a good job and that is a bonus. Considering that I am a wildcard competitor, the second position is very important to me. This year was difficult, this is not my best season. I had to fight every time for the invitation, I will try my best. In the fourth round, everything is possible, and I just want to have four great jump. I want to achieve my best result. Whatever will be, will be,” said Pennisi.
After the second day of the competition, the lead in the men’s competition was taken by the brilliant Romanian Constantin Popovici, who now has a total of 310.8 points. Andrea Barnaba, the Italian who was the leader after the first round, finished the second day of the competition in second position with 290.25 points. The third is the American James Lichtenstein with 287.70 points, while the fourth place is held by the legendary Frenchman Gary Hunt with 287.30 points.
Popovici delighted the audience in Mostar with his jumps again, even though he has problems with an injury.
“I feel really good before the last jump. I was thinking about other things, not about the jump, but I just performed it brilliantly. I was more worried about my leg, I have an injury that I got at the World Championship. (…) I hope that my leg will be ready for tomorrow, that’s why I changed the jumps a little. The last jump was the hardest for me. I hope for the best. In the worst case, I won’t perform test jumps, but I will enter directly into the competition like today,” said Popovici.
