Laugher into springboard final

Jack Laugher survived a major scare before qualifying for the 3metre springboard final at the European Diving Championships in Eindhoven.

Laugher faced an early exit when he bombed his third backward two-and-a-half somersault dive, attracting scores as low as 1.5, to sit 22nd in a field of 27.

At that point even two-time European junior champion Laugher thought he was on the way out, tweeting between dives "Gonna be very hard to come back from that.''

But with no room for error the 17-year-old produced three near-perfect dives to finish, and sneak into the top 12 alongside team-mate Chris Mears.

Mears was far more solid to ensure his passage with a score of 399.35 in eighth place.

Laugher, touted as a future world champion by American diving great Greg Louganis, was just back in 10th with a score of 391.65.

Women's platform synchro pairing Tonia Couch and Sarah Barrow will bid to join them in Thursday night's finals session when they compete later this afternoon.

The pair are one of the favourites for gold after a breakthrough 12 months that has saw them finish fourth at last year's World Championships before taking bronze at February's World Cup at the Olympic Aquatics Centre.