Tom Daley was 13 years, ten months and three days old when he became the youngest European diving champion in history, off the ten-metre platform in March. Having turned 14 on Wednesday, the youngest member of the Great Britain Olympic squad is ready to take on a tougher challenge this weekend in Sheffield, where he will face the cream of China's gold-medal challengers in the second round of the Diving World Series.

The Plymouth schoolboy will compete against Zhou Lu Xin and Lin Yue, the Chinese divers aiming to win gold at a home Games this summer off the ten-metre high board from which Daley leapt to continental success in Eindhoven in March.

The teenager will then join Blake Aldridge, 26, from Southampton, in the ten-metre synchronised event in which the pair have been working hard to gain the status of Olympic medal prospects since November last year, when they defeated Pete Waterfield and Leon Taylor, the British synchronised diving Olympic silver medal-winners, at an event in Canada.

For Daley, this weekend marks a return to the World Series in which he made his international senior debut a year ago in front of a home crowd at the Ponds Forge pool. Yesterday, buoyed by a good performance in the first round of the series in Mexico last month, the teenager was relishing the challenge posed by the Chinese.

“Last year's event for me was a good learning experience,” he said. “I am looking forward to going back to Sheffield. The home crowd support is just amazing and like nothing I have experienced before. I know it will push us on to get a result. Competing in Mexico was a great experience and it allows us to set targets and see what level people are at with just a few months before the Olympics.”

A year ago, Daley made an impact, finishing fourth off the platform ahead of Dmitriy Dobroskok, the world No4 from Russia. “Individually, I have quite a hard semi-final this weekend,” Daley said. “I am drawn against two Chinese divers, so I have to get pass one of the best just to make the final.”

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