Jack Laugher bounces back to earn a first shot at world gold

Teenage diver Jack Laugher today qualified for his first final at the World Aquatic Championships.

The 16-year-old produced a consistent series of dives in the 3metre springboard to win a place in tomorrow's 12-man final in Shanghai.

Laugher, from Harrogate, qualified 11th with a score of 436.60 and in the process earned a place for Britain in the same event at London 2012.

The performance showed Laugher's strength of character given that on his World Championship debut on Saturday he could only finish 33rd in the preliminaries of the 1m springboard.

Laugher became the first British world junior diving champion last year, when he took both the 1m and 3m titles in Tucson.

Britain's Tom Daley, who won senior world gold in the 10m platform aged 15 in 2009, only managed two silvers at junior level.

Tonia Couch - who came fourth with Sarah Barrow in the 10m synchro on Monday - had to settle for ninth place in the final of the 10m platform.

The Briton, who qualified in 11th, finished on 315.0 points, which was 90.3 behind the winner, China's Chen Ruolin. Her medal was the host country's seventh gold of the championships.