Swimming: Morgan makes medal move

ROBERT MORGAN is in contention for a springboard medal after qualifying for today's semi- finals of the men's one-metre competition at the European Championships in Sheffield.

The highboard specialist, who was fifth in the 10-metre platform discipline at the Olympic final last year and won a European bronze medal in 1991, finished in second place after yesterday's preliminary round.

The 26-year-old Welshman scored 356.37 points from his seven dives and only the defending champion, Andrei Semeniouk of Belarus, finished higher with 363.54.

Under the rules of the competition, the top four in the preliminary round go straight through to the semi-finals, while the next eight highest-placed competitors have to contest a quarter-final.

'It was great that I didn't have to do another series because I was feeling tired,' Morgan said.

'As a series of dives I couldn't have asked for much more than that and now I just hope I can keep it going tomorrow.'

Morgan's team-mate, Tony Ali, the 19-year-old from London, was unable to make further progress after finishing 14th with 306.12.

The final is also being staged today. The last time a British diver won a European medal in the springboard was 10 years ago when Chris Snode finished with a bronze.