You might assume the Chinese men will be “weak” at World Championships considering the retirements after the Beijing Olympics.
Andy Thornton has posted analysis on the American Gymnast blog.
… Who’s going to make it? Well, you’d have to think that Zou Kai is probably a lock, given he has established himself as China’s best on two out of the six events. I think they may end up ditching any medal opportunities on vault and focusing on the other five events, but we’ll have to see. The question may be whether they even put any all-arounders on the team or simply go for individual event medals. …
Here are a couple of no names that might not make the team.
Click PLAY or watch Yan Mingyong Rings 2009 Chinese National Games Prelims on YouTube.
Click PLAY or watch Huang Yuguo Vault 2009 Chinese National Games AA on YouTube.
Incredible.
What a fight it must be in China to be considered the “best” on one apparatus. (Aside from HBar. They don’t have anyone competitive with the best in the world on that apparatus.)
See more routines – American Gymnast – Some more Chinese male specialists we may see in London…
=== update:
Another Andy’s Angle blog post compares the new kid vs Olympic Pommel Champion Xiao Qin.
Click PLAY or watch Zhang Hongtao PH 2009 Chinese National Games Prelims on YouTube.
16.250 (D-score:6.6)
If you take the Olympic Champion to World Championships, do you leave the second best pommel routine in the world in Beijing?
… A nice problem for the Chinese coaching staff.
yet more videos – A look at some of the specialists in contention for the Chinese men’s world team…
Gymnastics Coaching.com 