A twist has entered Tom Daley’s training

LONDON // British diving star Tom Daley has admitted he is so fearful of his twist dive he is having “therapy” to cure himself of what he said he believes is a “phobia”.

The teenager took part in last weekend’s 10-metre platform event at the London Aquatic Centre, his first competitive appearance at the venue since winning a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games.

This time around 19-year-old Daley finished fifth, with the twist dive – which he had to repeat during the Olympics after being distracted by a camera flash – again letting him down.

Since the Games, Daley has not landed the dive to his satisfaction and he said: “The scale of this issue is massive.

“I’m trying every single thing possible to try and get it back to normal. I’m going under different types of therapy.

“It is almost trauma therapy – to get myself to process the things that have gone wrong on it to get it to a stage where I can forget about it and feel positive about it.

“I am literally terrified of it. I suppose you could call it a phobia and I don’t know what my heart rate is when I go up there and do it but it’s definitely above 180, something ridiculous, because it is so terrifying.”

Daley will miss the next leg of the World Series in Moscow to prepare for the defence of his Commonwealth Games title in Glasgow in July.

Since his Olympic success, Daley has become arguably even more well known in his native Britain as a television personality.

Pete Waterfield, who competed with Daley in the synchronised event at London 2012, said his former dive partner needed to spend more time in the pool and less in the television studio. “I know Tom’s been a busy boy with his shows, but I think that’s now starting to show through,” Waterfield, 33, who retired from diving in 2013, told the BBC. “He needs to knuckle down with his training and his diving if he’s to achieve what he’s capable of achieving.”

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Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion

The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.

Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".

The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.

He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.

"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.

As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.