The Asian Gymnastics Union (AGU) is determined to keep the Asian Gymnastics Championships going on a regular basis, said the AGU president Hidenori Futagi here Saturday.

Visiting the southern city of China for the ongoing second version of the championships, Futagi expressed his confidence in holding the biyearly event on a regular basis.

"The second Asian Gymnastics Championships must end in success and triggers the continuance. That is to say we will start to keep holding it every two years in the future," said Futagi.

The Asian championships was inaugurated in 1996 when the first version was held in Changsha, Hunan province of China in a bid to help develop gymnastics in the biggest continent of the world.

It had been supposed to take place in Thailand in two years later but the economic crisis sweeping Asia in 1997 forced the tournament to be postponed until Guangzhou agreed to take it over in 2003.

"After 1996, there was supposed to be the second one but the whole Asian economy level was going down. Therefore they (Thailand) were not able to hold it until it was put in China in 2003," said the Japanese, who is also a member of the executive committee of the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG).

"But with the economy recovering, every member wants to stage the event, so we don't worry who is gonna hold it," said Futagi, adding that Thailand and Kazakhstan are bidding for the hosting right.

The AGU will decide the winner at its executive meeting next year in Japan.

"There is a big hope to keep the championships going and for the future it will grow up," said the president.

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