China sweep the trampoline at Doha

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-12-13 08:55

Chinese gymnasts finished one-two in both men's and women's individual trampoline final at the Doha Asian Games on Tuesday.


Huang Shanshan of China competes in the women's individual trampoline final at Doha Asian Games December 12,2006.Chinese gymnasts finished one-two in both men's and women's individual trampoline final at the Doha Asian Games.[Xinhua]

Huang Shanshan collected 38.40 points with a commanding performance, winning the first ever Asian Games trampoline title in women's individual competition.

Huang soared above the mat and had flawless body line throughout, exploding into a lofty triple pike somersaults with a half turn out for the 10-skill set.

Huang achieved the highest scores in both of the two routines to qualify as the top scorer.

"I was not very satisfied with my performance. I just performed a so-so standard," said Huang.

Huang's teammate Zhong Xiongping, the second best finisher in qualification, took the silver with 38.30 points, only a slim margin of 0.10 behind Huang.

Ekaterina Khilko of Uzbekistan settled with a bronze on 36.00 points. Khilko's teammate Anna Savkina suffered "sudden death" to pick up 7.40 points only.

China's Que Zhicheng beat world number one Yasuhiro Ueyama of Japan to win the men's individual title.

Que Zhicheng earned the highest score of 39.50 to capture the gold medal. Que performed an impressive height from the trampoline, maintaining amplitude and showing powerful twists.

Que has the highest difficulty for his routine on 16.7, with teammate Lu on 15.7, Japan's Ueyama and Nagasaki both on 15.5 difficulty rating.

"I displayed the same set of routine in all finals, so I have a high stability and high difficulty," said Que Zhicheng.

"We defeated Japanese trampolinists for the first time since the Athens Olympic Games, so I get my confidence boosted."

Que's teammate Lu Chenglong pocketed the silver on 39.10 points after a consistent performances.

Shunsuke Nagasaki of Japan was third on 38.80, grabbing the bronze, 0.40 points ahead of his teammate Yasuhiro Ueyama, who boasts as the world number one.

Ueyama won gold at the World Cup final in Birmingham in November, but faltered to score only 38.40 after a routine of mistakes.

Chinese team coach Hu Xinggang set their target on reaching top eight at world championships.



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