Jack Laugher finished a creditable eighth in the 3-metre springboard final on his World Championships debut in Shanghai.
Teenager hoping to follow in Daley's footsteps
Double world junior champion Jack Laugher finished a creditable eighth in the 3-metre springboard final on his World Championships debut in Shanghai.
The Harrogate District AC diver showed few signs of nerves as he produced a performance beyond his 16 years among a world-class field.
Scoring a total of 453.50points, Laugher's eighth-placed finish sees him into next year's World Series while also booking a place for Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics, although the teenager himself will have to qualify.
The event was won by China's He Chong, who continued China's clean sweep of the gold medals.
However, it was compatriot Qin Kai who appeared on course for the title, leading after the fourth round, before he failed to complete his fifth dive.
He took full advantage and finished with 554.30points ahead of Russian pair Ilya Zakharov (508.95pts) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (493.55pts).
Qin eventually finished fourth.
Laugher is now hoping he can one day enjoy his time in the spotlight currently occupied by Tom Daley.
While Daley was winning senior international titles at 14 and became world champion at 15, Laugher is now trying to make the transition from junior to senior ranks.
Last year the Damian Ball-trained diver claimed double European Junior gold and went on to replicate his achievements at the World Junior Championships in Arizona.
The then 15-year-old reached the 3m synchro final with Nick Robinson-Baker at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, coming seventh, as well as 11th in the individual event.
Role model
Laugher revealed team-mate Daley had imparted advice on staying calm and controlling any nerves and was flattered by comparisons to the 17-year-old, who until Sunday at least is the world 10m platform champion.
He said: "It's very nice to be compared to Tom Daley, he is an amazing representative for the sport.
"He is such a good talent but there is a big difference between springboard and platform diving.
"It would be great to live up to what he has done and the achievements he has got, let's just see."
He added: "Yes, it would be nice to have that kind of spotlight I guess.
"I don't really know what his life's like but it would be nice to get to his level and then you never know what's out there."
Describing the competition as "absolutely great", Laugher had few nerves, saying: "I tried to put them to the back of my mind.
"I tried not to think of it as it is a world championships, but as a home competition or practice.
"I didn't really have any expectations coming in and that helped put my nerves away."
Having completed his GCSEs, Laugher will return to sixth form at Ripon Grammar School, although he is as yet undecided whether he will spread his A-Levels over three years given the Olympics are just a year hence.
He will also be adding a higher tariff to his dives while introducing up to three new dives.
Brits miss out
Meanwhile there will be no British representation in the later stages of the women's 3m springboard competition.
Both Rebecca Gallantree and Hannah Starling failed to make it out of the prelims in Shanghai on Friday.
The 16-year-old Starling finished the higher of the two Britons with 259.40 points, leaving her in 27th place.
Gallantree, 10 years her City of Leeds team-mate's senior, was two places further back with 251.45, a poor second dive scuppering her chances of reaching the semi-finals.
