Sydney Olympic champion Tian Liang turned 25 on August 27 but the Chinese number one diver would not have a party until the platform final at the Athens Olympic Games with the best gift -- the victory.

"There won't be a birthday party tonight because I need a good rest and to be focused on the semi-final and final tomorrow," said the Sydney platform winner after finishing third in the preliminary Friday, behind Australian Mathew Helm and Alexander Despatie of Canada.

"I haven't planned for my party but a gold medal will definitely be the most-welcomed gift," he said, already a titlist in the synchronized platform here.

The semi-final takes place Saturday afternoon before 12 out of the 18 divers qualify for the final in the evening, when the diving competition draws its curtain.

"The final victory will be the the best birthday gift for Tian. I will not celebrate for him today but wait until the final," said Zhang Ting, coaching Tian for some 18 years since the Chongqing native picked up diving at seven.

A slanting entry into the water in the second dive left Tian in third in the preliminary but the self-confident defending champion said it was a great position for tomorrow.

"You should know that every time my teammates won at these Olympic Games, they never topped the preliminary," he said half- jokingly.

"The errors I made today are my goal for improvement. If I had dived too good I would have nothing to do tomorrow," he said.

Zhang agreed with his protege.

"Tian is saving the best for the last. But he has to have a good start and leave the pressure to his opponents," Zhang said.

"Consistency is vital in the final but I believe he is the best when he bring his potential to a full display," Zhang added.

Tian's birthday, however, will not pass totally unnoticed.

The 31-year-old Roman Volodkov brought Tian a sweet surprise on their way to the competition venue in the morning when the Ukraine diver gave him a hand-made little flower basket as a gift.

"What a nice surprise! I didn't expect Roman to remember my birthday. I am really moved," Tian said.

Qualifiers for men's 10m platform semi-final

Following are the qualifiers for the men's 10m platform semi-final after Friday's preliminary in the Olympic diving pool:

1. Mathew Helm, Australia, 513.06

2. Alexander Despatie, Canada, 500.55

3. Tian Liang, China, 481.47

4. Peter Waterfield, Britain, 474.03

5. Rommel Pacheco, Mexico, 463.47

6. Hu Jia, China, 463.44

7. Robert Newbery, Australia, 461.91

8. Dmitry Dobroskok, Russia, 445.68

9. Heiko Meyer, Germany, 440.85

10. Juan Uran Salazar, Colombia, 439.77

11. Leon Taylor, Britain, 433.38

12. Christopher Kalec, Canada, 429.72

13. Gleb Galperin, Russia, 427.68

14. Francesco Dell'Uomo, Italy, 426.12

15. Anton Zakharov, Ukraine, 420.30

16. Choe Hyong Gil, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, 419. 58

17. Pak Yong Ryong, DPR Korea, 414.33

18. Tony Adam, Germany, 411.30