Everything was ready for China to reassert its title despite its heavy losses. But they forgot that their neighbor Japan and the 2022 world champion and current Olympian Daiki Hashimoto were looking for revenge after last year’s silver. And so they did it in a great battle, until the end. While China (253,428) fell to first place in just two heats, Japan (255,594) began its comeback to become world champion in the men’s artistic gymnastics team at the World Championships in Antwerp (Belgium). The United States (252,428), a staunch competitor, ranked third. It was already off the podium, followed by Great Britain (249,461), Switzerland (244,426), Germany (244,026), Canada (243,028) and Italy (241,160).
The crowd was enthusiastic at the Antwerps Sportpaleis at the start of the day. They cheered on the gymnasts in element executions. The screaming at the Sports Palace increased when champion Daiki Hashimoto encouraged them to make more noise. Japan did not start well on the ground with Kenta Chiba. Neither did Britain, despite James Hall’s pommel horse experience. Both countries with first hardware failure. Canada represented the big surprise of the final after finishing fourth in the classification and not failing in any exercise. This was not the case for the United States, which had superiority on the ground. For its part, China saved itself from a classification that did not seem worthy of last year’s world champion and Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist, as it ranked eighth in the classification, and was on the verge of missing the final, but it returned to try to repeat. Their qualifications. They did not fail to jump with their triple jumps. And they still have to visit their best devices.
The first round ended with the mighty United States behind great China. With the start of the second gear, the Korean-American, Yul Moldauer, did his work on the pommel horse, more quickly than the others in his movements and clips, and a final turn saved his exit. The difficulty jumped in parallel with the Chinese Hao Yu, as he reached fifteenth place with a score of 14.966. Italy increased its points with jumps by Mario Macchiati and Nicola Bartolini, while Hashimoto showed his potential on the pommel horse with a 14.266.
China, unstoppable and unmatchable in just two rounds, remained first by four points in a shifting and tight classification for the rest of the teams: the United States fell from second to fifth, and Japan and Italy were tied in mid-table. Canada closed the rankings with Germany. As the third session began, Briton Jake Jarman, the current European runner-up, performed three and a half acrobatic jumps, giving his team 15,400 points. Among the parallel teams, Chinese Su Wade severely damaged his country’s ranking after falling twice and failing to score more than 11,166 points. The United States realized that China had failed, and stepped forward into the ring. Germany, looking to make it to the podium, had the Olympic and World Parallel runner-up, an apparatus in which he scored 15.366 points.
Japan still has its top three devices. China, which is still in first place, is only half a point away from second place Great Britain in the fourth round. The Asian giant was trying to treat it on the ground, but Japan and the United States began to reduce its size and expel it. For their part, Switzerland, Germany, Canada and Italy – the current European champions – were playing for positions outside the podium. The rotation finished, and Japan topped the narrow standings 15th behind Kazuki Minami in the colt, a tenth clear of the British, followed by China and the United States.
The battle was heating up, and in Great Britain James Hall fell from the parallel bars while China recovered with three successful carousel actions, but could not recover with a strong Japan increasing the lead in first place. As for the Americans, who were able to taste silver, they crashed in the final session and settled in third place on the podium, ahead of Great Britain.
There was a one-on-one dispute between the two great Asians. But China was impressed by their performance on the track, which is a historic discipline for them. Not enough to overcome the two-point difference with Japan. It was Daiki Hashimoto, the Japanese champion, who perfected his bar routine. He landed on the mat, already knowing that Japan was the world champion.
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