Xu Huiyan wins women's solo technical gold at World Aquatics Championships

World junior champion Xu Huiyan became a senior world champion on Saturday, capturing China's first women's solo technical gold medal at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.

Xu, 19, who won four gold medals at last month's Artistic Swimming World Cup Super Final in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, claimed the victory with 272.9917 points. Competing as a neutral athlete, Vasilina Khandoshka of Belarus took silver with 260.5416, while Spain's Iris Tio Casas earned bronze with 260.2917 to round out the podium.

Xu also competed earlier in the day in the team free preliminaries, helping China qualify for the final in first place.

In the men's solo technical event, China's Guo Muye finished fourth with 235.0725 points.

Russia's Aleksandr Maltsev, competing as a neutral athlete, grabbed gold with 251.7133 points in his solo debut. The multi-time world champion in mixed duet events was followed by Spain's Dennis Gonzalez with 241.1667, and Mexico's Diego Carrillo with 238.1600.

Maltsev, 30, made his mark in the sport as the first male artistic swimmer from Russia to achieve international success. He previously took the silver in the mixed duet final at the World Championships in 2015, when men were included in the discipline for the first time.