Chinese Male Gymnast Shine at Apparatus Qualifying

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, November 22, 2002

Chinese Male Gymnast Shine at Apparatus Qualifying

Chinese male gymnasts reaffirmed their dominance in the sport as they took two top spots in the men's apparatus qualifying at the world gymnastic championships in DEBRECEN, Hungary, on Thursday.

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Chinese male gymnasts reaffirmed their dominance in the sport as they took two top spots in the men's apparatus qualifying at the world gymnastic championships in DEBRECEN, Hungary, on Thursday.

Xiao Qin, the 2001 world championships runner-up on pommel horse, had a near-fla0wless routine to score 9.775 points, the highest score of the day.

Teammate Teng Haibin was second with 9.762.

Olympic champions Li Xiaopeng and Yang Wei also completed a 1-2Chinese finish on vault.

"Overall, my gymnasts did a good job today," said Huang Yubin, head coach of the Chinese men's team. "But I think the results were normal because in every event they are among the best."

In the floor event, Yang was third behind Romania's Marian Dragulescu and Kyle Shew felt of Canada.

Liang Fuliang, who is competing in his first world championships, came in fifth.

Li, the 2000 Olympic parallel bars champion, finished fourth on his specialty, while compatriot Huang Xu was a distant 14th, yet still enough to make the semifinals.

The horizontal bar was the only apparatus where no Chinese entered the top 16.

Liang, 20th, and Teng, 25th, were disqualified from Friday's semifinals.

"It's a pity that they were eliminated," Huang said. "But they are very young, the defeat will do them good in preparations for the 2004 Olympics."

Dragulescu combined grace and acrobatics on the floor to top the standings with 9.712 points.

Russian veteran Alexei Nemov, who won the floor event in 1997 and 1999 worlds, finished 10th with 9.550.

But the multi-world champion slumped to 43rd in the parallel bars, which saw Slovenia's Mitja Petkovsek surprisingly top the standings with 9.700 points.

Vasileios Tsolakidis of Greece was second with 9.650, followed by Romanian Marius Daniel Urzica.

Defending world champion Sean Towsend only finished a disappointing 12th.

The 2001 world rings champion Jordan Jovtchev of Bulgaria had a highly flying start to his title defence as he led the qualifying with 9.700 points.

Local favorite Szilveszter Csollany had to settle for second place with 9.687, followed by Italy's Andrea Coppolino on 9.625.

France's Guille, who was third last to compete, became the leader in the horizontal bar, scoring 9.637 points.

Isao Yoneda of Japan was second with 9.600 and US gymnast Paul Hamm third with 9.587.

Maras Viasios of Greece, winner of the event at last year's worlds, only finished 11th with 9.487.

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