Olympic Gymnastics: Hashimoto Daiki helps Japan men take gold ahead of China, USA

Paris, July 29 (IANS) Led by a fine routine by Hashimoto Daiki, the reigning Olympic champion on the horizontal bar, Japan clinched the gold medal in men's team gymnastics quelling the USA in a dramatic final in the 33rd Olympic Games here on Monday. Japan won the gold with 259.594 and China had to be satisfied with a silver medal after managing only 259.062, finishing second with a very narrow margin. The United States finished with 257.793 and bagged the bronze medal.

The United States had fought back with a clean routine from Stephen Nedoroscik, the former pommel horse world champion. Nedoroscik had a score of 14.866, which ensured at least bronze for the U.S., and he ran over to his teammates as they started jumping up and down in a big bear hug.

But a disappointing routine on the high bar by Su Weide, who scored just an 11.600 after his two falls, meant that Japan overtook the USA and the People's Republic of China with just one gymnast left to perform for each team.

The Japanese had Hashimoto Daiki on the horizontal bar and he nearly stuck the landing, just a small single step back, and the Japanese fans in the arena were up on their feet and roaring.

China's hopes depended on Zhang Boheng. He needed 15.266 to pull China ahead of the United States and go ahead of Japan. He had scored higher than that in qualifying. Zhang had a pretty good routine, but he took a pretty big left-foot step back on the dismount, and that could made all the difference. Zhang got a score of 14.733, which means Japan took the gold.

Sugino Takaaki also contributed to the win with a clean routine but for a slightly wobbly dismount. Japan needed to make up over three points to China as he gets 14.566. Xiao Ruoteng followed for China but had a loose dismount, landing on his knee with a couple of steps forward. He gets only 13.033 opening the door for Japan.

Meanwhile, the battle for bronze is also a close one with Ukraine in hot pursuit of the USA. Ukraine's first routine is from Nazar Chepurnyi, who struggles on his final pass and takes a big step while Paul Juda nails his pommel horse set, a well-executed routine with slightly lower difficulty. The score is 13.366 for Chepurnyi and 13.900 for Juda means the U.S. pulled further ahead.

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