Making their international debut as a new pair, Chen and Lu showed remarkable chemistry from their opening dive. Every twist, turn and entry into the water was perfectly aligned, drawing gasps and bursts of applause from spectators in the stands.

Earlier in the morning sessions, Wang Zongyuan and Zheng Jiuyuan opened the host team's medal count by winning the men's 3m synchro gold with a big margin, followed by another golden finish by their women's counterparts Chen Jia and Chen Yiwen in the female 3m synchro final.

Teen talents Zhao Renjie, 15, and Yang Zhihao, 16, kept up with their senior teammates by winning their first men's 10m synchro gold medal at the Super Final.

The Chinese squad completed Friday's actions perfectly by winning the mixed 3m & 10m team event in the final session to cap off its fruitful opening day with a fifth gold medal.

Highlights on Friday also included the participation of Russian divers, who, for the first time in years, have competed in a World Aquatics senior event under their national flag with their national anthem allowed to be played should they win any finals.

Platform divers Viktoria Kazantseva and Anna Konanykhina finished fifth in women's 10m synchro final to become Russia's best-performing athlete, or team, across all disciplines on Friday.

Previously, Russian athletes were allowed only to compete as neutral entries without their national flag shown, or anthem played, at international events, until the governing body World Aquatics announced on April 13 to remove the restrictions on Russian athletes.