British diving duo Chris Mears and Jack Laugher have missed out on a medal at the second meeting of the Diving World Series in Dubai.
The pair, who lost out to Germany by just four points in Beijing last week, had been on course for bronze in the men's 3m synchro but a poor final dive saw them slip down to fourth.
Mears and Laugher posted week-on-week improvements in every dive until the last round, where their most ambitious routine, the forward 4-1/2 somersault tuck, earned them just 72.96 after Mears over-rotated on entry.
German duo Patrick Hausding and Stephan Feck, who won gold in Dubai last year, had to settle for third, while Russia's Ilya Zakharov and Evgeny Kuznetsov claimed silver after a strong performance that included a stunning final dive for 95.76.
Again it was China that took the top honours as Cao Yuan and new partner Qin Kai delivered six consistent results for an overall total of 461.94. The pair's gold took China's tally for the day to four golds from four events, meaning that the nation has finished first in every event of this season's Diving World Series to date.
Results in full:
1. Qin Kai, Cao Yuan (CHN) - 461.94
2. Ilya Zakharov, Evgeny Kuznetsov (RUS) - 453.66
3. Patrick Hausding, Stephan Feck (GER) - 436.38
4. Chris Mears, Jack Laugher (GBR) - 422.40
5. Jahir Ocampo, Rommel Pacheco (MEX) - 410.94
6. Philippe Gagne, Francois Imbeau-Dulac (CAN) - 405.03
7.Troy Dumais, Dwight Dumais (USA) - 397.23
Jack Laugher and Chris Mears round-by-round:
Dive 1: Back Dive Pike (DD 2.0) - 52.2
Dive 2: Reverse Dive Pike (DD 2.0) - 52.8
Dive 3: Forward 2-1/2 Somersault 2 Twist Pike (DD 3.4) - 85.68
Dive 4: Inward 3-1/2 Somersault Tuck (DD 3.4) - 79.56
Dive 5: Reverse 2-1/2 Somersault 1-1/2 Twist Pike (DD 3.3) - 79.2
Dive 6: Forward 4-1/2 Somersault Tuck (DD 3.8) - 72.96
