Three-time Olympian Melissa Wu and South Australia’s Taneka Kovchenko have finished fifth in the women’s platform synchro final at the FINA World Championships in Budapest.

The Australians dived consistently throughout the final, reaching as high as equal fourth after their second dive and dropping to seventh after the third dive, before climbing back to fifth.

The gold medal was won by the Chinese teenagers Qian Ren and Yajie Si, who won platform gold and silver respectively at last year’s Rio Olympics.

North Korea’s Rae Kim Mi and Hyang Kim Kuk won silver, with Malaysia’s Pandelela Pamg and Jun Hoong Cheong third.

Wu and Kovchenko qualified for the final in third position after a strong preliminary competition.

Monday will see medals in the women’s 3-metre synchro and men’s platform synchro.