China's Wang fights fatigue to top men's 3m springboard semifinal

China's Wang Zongyuan came out on top in Wednesday's men's 3-metre springboard semifinal at the Paris Olympics, but the 22-year-old said he was actually a bit sleepy during the competition.

"Today I felt a bit sleepy, maybe because I got up too early, or it could be that I've been in competition for all these days and my mind has been so intense that I felt tired," Wang said.

Wang performed in consistent form throughout his six dives on Wednesday, scoring the highest 102.60 points in his last routine to conclude the semifinal.

"The six routines were done better than yesterday (in the preliminaries) but I still felt a bit uptight. Especially in the first three dives, I didn't control the tempo right," he said.

Chinese divers including Wang are aiming to win all eight golds on offer in diving and so far they have claimed all five golds in the previous events, including the men's synchronised 3-metre springboard won by Wang and teammate Long Daoyi.

As the favourite in the final on Thursday, Wang said he would make sure he was well rested.

"Tomorrow I will be 100 per cent for the final battle. I'll do my best and enjoy the competition," he said.

Wang was the silver medallist in the 3-metre springboard event in the Tokyo Games three years ago.

Teammate Xie Siyi, the defending champion, is also in the final after coming second to Wang in the semi.