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China avenge Olympic defeat to take men’s team gold in Asian Games gymnastics showdown with Japan

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NAGOYA, Japan: Zhang Boheng produced another masterful display at the Asian Games gymnastics on Wednesday (Sep 23) to help China avenge their Olympic defeat to Japan in a clash of global heavyweights for the men’s team gold.

The 26-year-old Hunan native came up clutch with a clean high bar routine on the final rotation to keep the continental gold in Chinese hands for a third time in succession.

It was the second time Zhang had turned the tables on Japan at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, having edged injury-hampered Shinnosuke Oka for the all-around gold, two years after taking silver behind him at the Paris Olympics.

“Looking back now, I would not call Paris a regret. It was one stage in my gymnastics career,” Zhang told reporters.

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“I learned a great deal there and took a great deal from it, and I used it to work on my shortcomings, right up to taking this gold medal today.”

The linchpin of a star-studded team, Zhang combined with Zou Jingyuan, Lan Xingyu, Sun Wei and Tian Hao for a score of 259.095, just over a point clear of Japan, who settled for silver for a third consecutive time.

Taiwan were delighted with a second successive bronze but were never in the running, finishing 15 points behind China.

Japan’s silver came with regret for talisman Oka, who needed painkilling injections on his back to compete.

Though Japan trailed as they entered the final rotation, the door opened for Oka when China’s Sun Wei had a messy high bar routine.

He needed only a clean effort to help Japan snatch the gold but the triple Olympic champion fell flat on his back after a botched catch, drawing gasps from the crowd at the Nagoya General Gymnasium.

He rose to complete the routine, but his score of 12.966 all but took Japan out of contention.

Oka also posted low scores in the pommel horse and rings, having lowered the difficulty of his routines in a bid to preserve his back for the upcoming world championships in Rotterdam.

“It is a very frustrating result, and I feel the frustration of not having been able to do my own routines fully,” he said.

“Physically, I am still not back, because I had not been able to train.”

Oka’s Olympic champion teammate Daiki Hashimoto battled hard to carry the team on his back and had home fans roaring in the terraces with his pommel horse and vault efforts.

But China also had a vital cameo from parallel bars specialist Zou, who struck a key blow in the penultimate rotation.

The back-to-back Olympic champion went for broke with the highest difficulty exercise in the field, and his score of 15.40 was nearly a point higher than Oka’s next-best effort (14.566), giving China a vital edge.

Later in the evening session, China’s women completed a sweep of the team golds, extending their unbeaten reign in Asian Games competition dating back to Tehran 1974 with a tight win over Japan’s strong team.

Du Siyi, Ke Qinqin, Zhang Qingying, Zhang Yihan and Qiu Qiyuan delivered the gold with a score of 166.462, barely a point clear of the hosts.

North Korea edged out South Korea for the bronze.

Source: Reuters/ec

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