"It was my first World Cup competition, a new experience for me. I didn't think too much on the springboard, just focused on each dive and tried to finish it well," Xie said.

British established diver Jack Laugher ranked second after four rounds before making a mistake in his fifth which left the chance to Rio 2016 gold medalist Cao, who delivered perfect dives in the last two rounds to surpass Laugher and clinch the silver.

"My first three dives today were not so good. Although I tried to catch up in the next three, it was too hard. A silver was a not bad result for me," Cao said.

China team manager Zhou Jihong said that the competition in the men's 3m springboard was very intense and close as it has gathered the world's top three divers.

"Both Xie and Cao faced big pressure today, because Laugher is an experienced diver with high level. Xie did a very good job today, but compared with him, Cao was not as consistent," Zhou said.

Laugher won the bronze medal with 515.00 point, which was his second medal of the tournament after a silver in the synchro event on Tuesday.