Fourth straight men's team crown for China
October 23, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA claimed its fourth successive men's team title at the gymnastics world championships in the Netherlands after rival Japan tumbled out of the running with a fall from the horizontal bar on Thursday.
Olympic champion China took a narrow 0.794 of a point lead into the final rotation and Japan's gold-medal hopes were all but dashed when Kazuhito Tanaka fell to the mat from the bar.
That left the Chinese knowing three wobble-free performances would land them the top prize and they did not disappoint.
Former Olympic champion Teng Haibin punched his fists into the air when he sealed victory for the Asian powerhouse with a total of 274.997 points.
Japan earned silver with 273.769 and crowd favorite Germany picked up bronze after scoring 271.252.
"I can't express how I felt when he fell," Japan team manager Yusuke Ikeda told reporters. "I knew that the title was gone."
An inconsolable Tanaka added: "I'm very sad, I did my best."
The Chinese, led by Olympic rings champion Chen Yibing, were solid on all their six rotations while Japan made costly errors on the rings as well as the horizontal bar.
"I have already experienced this event and we got the gold before so I did not feel so nervous. I just wanted to encourage my teammates to win because they are less experienced," said a beaming "Lord of the Rings" Chen Yibing.
The Chinese came to the world championships with only one survivor from the 2008 Beijing Olympic champions.
Olympic champion China took a narrow 0.794 of a point lead into the final rotation and Japan's gold-medal hopes were all but dashed when Kazuhito Tanaka fell to the mat from the bar.
That left the Chinese knowing three wobble-free performances would land them the top prize and they did not disappoint.
Former Olympic champion Teng Haibin punched his fists into the air when he sealed victory for the Asian powerhouse with a total of 274.997 points.
Japan earned silver with 273.769 and crowd favorite Germany picked up bronze after scoring 271.252.
"I can't express how I felt when he fell," Japan team manager Yusuke Ikeda told reporters. "I knew that the title was gone."
An inconsolable Tanaka added: "I'm very sad, I did my best."
The Chinese, led by Olympic rings champion Chen Yibing, were solid on all their six rotations while Japan made costly errors on the rings as well as the horizontal bar.
"I have already experienced this event and we got the gold before so I did not feel so nervous. I just wanted to encourage my teammates to win because they are less experienced," said a beaming "Lord of the Rings" Chen Yibing.
The Chinese came to the world championships with only one survivor from the 2008 Beijing Olympic champions.
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