There was agony then ecstasy for Australia as divers Esther Qin and Georgia Sheehan claimed gold in the 3m synchro springboard final at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games on Wednesday.
Red hot favourites Maddison Keeney and Anabelle Smith crashed and burned in their final dive to slump from first to last before Qin and Sheehan swooped from fourth to earn the first gold of the four-day diving program.
Australia's James Connor later added 1m springboard silver.
Rio bronze medallists Keeney and Smith were tipped to open the Games diving with gold.
And the pair stuck to the script when they led the seven-strong field before the fifth and final dive.
Then disaster struck.
Disrupted by delays in competition due to technical scoring glitches that at one stage relegated judges to old school scoring cards, Keeney and Smith registered a failed dive - and no points - to finish last.
Assistant coach Chava Sobrino summed up the mood as he sat poolside with his head in his hands in shock.
However, Rio Olympians Qin, 26, and Sheehan, 18, ensured he was all smiles again when they clinched gold with their final dive.
Asked what went wrong, a teary-eyed Keeney said: "I don't really know where to start.
"It was all over the shop for everyone with all the delays and technical stuff going on."
Sheehan said the swirling winds at the outdoor venue also made it tough but believed they couldn't be used as an excuse.
"Everyone is in the same boat. It's who can deal with it best and today it was us," she said.
Meanwhile, defending champion Jack Laugher (438pts) of England dominated the 1m springboard final to claim gold ahead of Connor (412.45) and Scotland's James Heatly (399.25).
Heatly became the first Scotsman to claim a Games diving medal since his grandfather Sir Peter Heatly won three gold from 1950-58.
In Wednesday's other medal event, Australia's Melissa Wu - at her fourth Games - and last minute partner Teju Williamson were pipped for bronze on the final dive of the 10m synchro final won by Malaysia's Jun Hoong Cheong and Pandelela Rinong Pamg.
Wu and rookie Williamson had just two training sessions together.
Wu's original partner Taneka Kovchenko was forced to retire days before the Games after being told she could risk becoming a "ventilated quadriplegic" if she kept diving due to a compressed spinal cord.
Australian Associated Press
