China sweep golds in gymnastics team events in Asian Games

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China proved its dominance at gymnastics in Asia as their athletes wrapped up two more gold medals in the men's and women's team events at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta.

China and Japan are old rivals in the event both in Olympics and Asian Games. China's men’s team has dominated the event in Asian Games 10 times but was disrupted by Japan in 2014 in Incheon. Thus, this win was sweet revenge for the Chinese team.

China's Zou Jingyuan competes in the parallel bars event in the men's team final of gymnastics. /VCG Photo

The final of men’s team all-round began as eight teams entered the JIExpo Hall D. Among the fans cheering and applauding, old rivals China and Japan came into view and were put in the same group.

In the 2016 Rio Olympics, Japan won the gold while China took the bronze. And back to 2014 Incheon, China’s 10-time consecutive win in men’s team all-around in Asian games was halted by Japan. But in Jakarta, China won the gold quite comfortably with 260.950 points.

Former Olympic champion and China's men’s team coach Teng Haibin said, “We are satisfied with the result as we are the champions. I think this is our normal performance. We don’t care much about the score because all our focus is on the ranking.”

Lin Chaopan of China competes in the parallel bars event in men's team final at the Jiexpo Hall. /VCG Photo

However, keeping an eye on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Japan decided to send their second tier of national teams to Jakarta.

“Yes they just sent the second tier of their national team here. They are a young squad. Sometimes they are not good enough on landing and even commit some faults. But to us, earning experience is more important than the final result. We need to compare with ourselves and find out what we have to improve on in the future,” Haibin added.

China's men's team won gold in 2008 and 2012 Olympics, and then Japan stood on top of the podium in the 2014 Asian Games and 2016 Rio Olympics in the men's team all-around. So the tough task will come two years from now, when the Tokyo Olympic Games get underway. There, China will face the host team as well as other powerhouses.

In the women's team event on Wednesday night, the Chinese team also demonstrated its strength and claimed the title with 165.250 points, its 12th consecutive victory at the Asian Games.

As of now, China has won four golds at gymnastics in Jakarta after Lin Chaopan won the men's all-around and Chen Yile in women's.

(With input from Xinhua.)