China posted 159.228 points on Saturday to lead the men’s artistic gymnastics team qualification at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, english.news.cn reported.
Japan finished second with 158.596 points. Britain placed third with 152.830 points.
Britain’s Uzair Chowdhury topped the individual all-around qualification field with 80.798 points. He finished 0.901 points ahead of China’s Yang Lanbin.
Japan’s Naoto Shiroiwa took third place with 79.265 points. China’s Li Lezheng and Zhao Ruiyang placed fifth and seventh with 77.131 and 76.197 points, respectively.
Yang and Li secured spots in the individual all-around final. China recorded the highest team apparatus scores on the floor exercise, rings, and vault, but encountered difficulties on the pommel horse.
Yang earned a standout 14.366 on vault and a 13.700 on the horizontal bar. The vault was what I was most satisfied with today,
Yang told english.news.cn after the competition. I didn’t expect to land it that well. It was a pleasant surprise.
The young gymnast also discussed his struggles on the pommel horse. I was very nervous before going up. I kept thinking about the technical details of my routine,
he said.
Chinese coach Huang Yuguo pointed to a lack of major international competition experience as a factor in the team’s mistakes. I think the first factor is experience,
Huang told english.news.cn.
Huang noted that the athletes are still adapting to a major international stage. We still need to raise the difficulty of some elements,
he said.
The men’s team final takes place on November 9. The individual all-around final follows on November 10.
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