It was the second straight success at the Diving Grand Prix circuit for the Malaysian duo who had also won at the Canadian Open in Montreal a week ago.
Huang Qiang-Bryan lost the lead after the second dive but they regained control of the proceedings after posting 80.91 for their next attempt, a forward three-and-a-half somersault pike that earned a string of 9s from the judges.
Huang Qiang-Bryan never surrendered their lead after that and completed victory with 415.20 points.
Americans Troy Dumais-Kristian Ipsen, the 2009 World Championships silver medallists, came back in the last two dives to clinch the silver with 376.86 points.
Fellow Americans Christopher Colwill-Drew Livingston finished third (357.99) but the bronze went to Brazil’s Luiz Felipe Outerelo-Ian Carlos Matos (350.01) as FINA rules do not allow one country to have two pairs on the podium for the synchro disciplines.
China’s title hopes collapsed spectacularly when Chao He slipped en route to taking off for the fourth dive with his partner Li Shixin, the reigning 1m springboard world champion, receiving zero points as a result.
The Chinese pair could have taken the gold as their fourth dive had the highest difficulty of 3.8 but that failed dive cost them and they had to settle for fifth with 344.22 points.
But to the Malaysian pair’s credit, their consistencies would have still assured them a medal in the end.
Bryan was paired off with Huang Qiang for the first time for the London World Cup in February and the pair earned a stunning bronze medal for Malaysia en route to achieving Olympic qualification.
Bryan previously partnered Ken Nee but the weight difference of 15kg made it hard for them to really stamp their mark on the international stage.
”I weigh less than Ken Nee and it was hard to synchronise our moves. We had to adjust our take-offs each time.
”I’m very happy because it’s my second gold medal in Grand Prix diving this year.
”We’re a new partnership only for three, four months together. But we train very hard,” said Bryan, who skipped the men’s 10m platform individual to focus on the springboard synchro in Fort Lauderdale.
Pandelela Rinong-Leong Mun Yee again failed to rise to the occasion as they finished fifth in the women’s 10m platform synchro final with 287.58 points.
China’s Liu Huixia-Zhu Jiaming, winners of the national championships before arriving here, took gold (319.02) ahead of Canadians Meaghan Benfeito-Roseline Filion (304.92).
Cheong Jun Hoong and Wendy Ng Yan Yee failed to make the semi-finals of the women’s 3m springboard earlier in the week.
However, Huang Qiang did not disappoint as he made the men’s 3m springboard individual final after finishing third in his semi-final group.
Yeoh Ken Nee failed to make the cut for the final after placing fifth in his semi-final group.
Huang Qiang and Pandelela-Cheong Jun Hoong were due to compete in their respective men’s 3m springboard and women’s 3m springboard synchro finals early this morning.
THE STAR
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