DAKAR, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- China led the men's artistic gymnastics team qualification to enter the final at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games on Saturday with 159.228 points.
Japan finished second with 158.596 points, followed by Britain with 152.830.
In the individual all-around standings, Britain's Uzair Chowdhury led the field with 80.798 points, 0.901 ahead of China's Yang Lanbin. Japan's Naoto Shiroiwa placed third with 79.265.
China's other two gymnasts, Li Lezheng and Zhao Ruiyang, finished fifth and seventh with 77.131 and 76.197 points, respectively. Yang and Li qualified for the individual all-around final.
China posted the highest team scores on floor exercise, rings and vault, but suffered setbacks on pommel horse.
Yang delivered one of China's standout performances, scoring 14.366 on vault and 13.700 on horizontal bar.
"The vault was what I was most satisfied with today," Yang told Xinhua after the competition. "I didn't expect to land it that well. It was a pleasant surprise."
However, the young gymnast admitted that nerves had affected his pommel horse routine.
"I was very nervous before going up. I kept thinking about the technical details of my routine," he said, adding that the tension prevented him from performing as smoothly as he had hoped.
China's coach Huang Yuguo attributed some of the mistakes to the young gymnasts' lack of experience at major international competitions.
"I think the first factor is experience," Huang said, noting that the athletes were still learning to compete on a major international stage.
Huang also acknowledged that China's young gymnasts needed to improve the difficulty of some of their routines.
"We still need to raise the difficulty of some elements," he said, expressing the hope that his gymnasts could settle into their rhythm and deliver stronger performances in the finals.
The men's team final is scheduled for November 9, followed by the individual all-around final on November 10. ■
