European Aquatics Championships: Ben Cutmore & Kyle Kothari take surprise gold for Great Britain
Ben Cutmore and Kyle Kothari continued Britain's streak of diving success at the European Aquatics Championships with a surprise synchronised platform gold in Rome.
r have only been diving together since the spring and finished fourth at this summer's Commonwealth Games.
However, their consistent excellence overhauled Ukrainian favourites Oleksii Sereda and Kirill Boliukh.
Kothari and Cutmore landed a superb 76.80-point final dive to take gold.
It is Britain's fourth victory from nine diving finals so far in the Italian capital, adding to individual success for Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Jack Laugher and Kothari's mixed synchro success title alongside Lois Toulson on Tuesday.
"This morning when I woke up I looked at Kyle's gold from the other day on the side and I was like 'I want one of those'," said Cutmore after he joined Britain's gold rush.
In the final diving event of the day, Yasmin Harper added a bronze to Britain's medal haul, taking the final spot on the 3m springboard podium.
22-year-old British champion beat Germany's Tina Punzel - a winner of two golds earlier in the week - to bronze with a score of 296.20.
Italian teenager Chiara Pellacani took a hugely popular victory in front of her hometown crowd to win her second gold and fifth medal overall of the Championships.
Cutmore and Kothari succeed fellow Britons Tom Daley and Matty Lee, who won the same event in Budapest last year, as European champions.
His and Kothari's win was reward for their determination and concentration as they rose from being fifth of six pairs after the opening round.
An excellent third-round effort carried them from a share of third place into second, but Sereda and Boliukh seemed as if they may be out of reach with a lead of more than 10 and a half points at the halfway point.
However, Kothari and Cutmore closed to within five and half points before the final dives and then nailed an inward three and a half somersault with tuck to heap pressure on the leaders.
Sereda and Boliukh's final attempt was a more difficult dive, but lacked accuracy in execution, allowing Britain to snatch an unexpected gold.
"They were consistent throughout and that is exactly what you need to get on top of that podium," said former European champion Tonia Couch to BBC Sport.
"They did amazingly.
"The Ukrainians really put themselves under pressure by having their hardest dive last. Kothari and Cutmore had theirs in the right order and their consistency really added to the pressure on Sereda and Boliukh."