Debutant Hong Yanming clinched China's first gold medal at the 53rd Artistic Gymnastics World Championships with victory in the men's pommel horse, while Yang Fanyuwei and Lan Xingyu added bronzes in the women's uneven bars and men's rings respectively.
JAKARTA, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Debutant Hong Yanming captured the men's pommel horse title on Friday to win China's first gold medal at the 53rd Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Hong, 19, tied with Armenia's Mamikon Khachatryan on 14.600 points, but won gold on execution advantage. The bronze medal went to Patrick Hoopes of the United States with 14.566.
"This is my first world championships, and my goal was just to reach the final," said Hong. "When I saw my name in second place after qualification, I knew I had a chance. I just told myself to relax and do what I do in training. This gold is only the beginning. I hope to contribute more to the team at the Los Angeles Olympics."
China's success continued in the women's uneven bars final, where Yang Fanyuwei secured the bronze medal with 14.500 points. The event was dominated by Algeria's Kaylia Nemour, who claimed gold with 15.566, while individual neutral athlete Angelina Melnikova took silver with 14.500 but edged Yang under tie-break rules.
"Although I made a small error on the bars, I'm happy I finished my routine at my first major competition," said Yang. "Competing here helped me gain valuable experience under pressure."
In the men's rings final, top qualifier Lan Xingyu finished third with 14.500 points, behind Donnell Whittenburg of the United States, who won gold with 14.700, and Turkey's Adem Asil, who took silver with 14.566. Zhang Boheng narrowly missed the podium in fourth place with 14.466.
Lan reflected on his bronze with humility. "My training had been solid, but going first made me more nervous than usual," he said. "It's a good lesson for me to handle pressure better in future events."
The day also brought disappointment for China's Deng Yalan in the women's vault final. Having tied for second in qualification, Deng suffered a mishap on her first attempt, failing to touch the vaulting table and being ruled as not having started her routine. As a result, she was unable to perform her second vault.
Later, Melnikova claimed her second gold of the championships with a total of 14.466, followed by Canada's Lia-Monica Fontaine with 14.033 and Joscelyn Roberson of the United States with 13.983.
The championships conclude on Saturday with the final day of apparatus events, featuring China's Huang Mingqi on vault, Zou Jingyuan and Shi Cong on parallel bars, and Zhang Qingying on balance beam. ■
