Jiangsu pockets sixth straight China's national gymnastics men's team title

Jiangsu underlined its dominance in gymnastics as world champions You Hao and Su Wei led the team to its sixth consecutive men's team title at the National Gymnastics Championships on Saturday.

Jiangsu, a traditional powerhouse in men's gymnastics, had stumbled to second place behind Hunan during the qualification stage of the tournament held in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

"It was the first time that Hunan beat us in national championships. We were not in form at that time -- everybody was like daydreaming," joked You after Jiangsu won the final with 323.392 points. "We woke up just in time, though not in our best form."

Jiangsu's Youth Olympic champion Yin Dehang injured his shoulder before the final. He competed on floor and rings but was taken to the hospital after the award ceremony.

"Our top priority is this year's National Games, so our coach decided to protect Yin and put me on pommel horse today. I hope we can put ourselves together and present a great show in November," said You.

Under the new code of points for 2025 to 2028, several changes have been introduced in the evaluation system. The most notable adjustment is that the difficulty value of a routine is now calculated from the top eight, rather than ten, highest-value elements.

"I think the change came too late for me. Because it's very friendly to the veterans like me. We can focus more on the landings and qualities of every movement," said You.

Hunan's men's team, led by China's top all-around gymnast Zhang Boheng, made two early mistakes in the opening round. Zhang required medical attention for his neck after completing his rings routine in the third round.

"I injured my neck in rings training just one day before our departure, so I can hardly bend my head on floor, parallel bars and pommel horse. It's a huge blow for us," said Zhang, who helped his team fight back to finish second with 316.492 points.

Guangdong edged out local favorite Guangxi for the final podium spot by a margin of nearly one point.

This year's championships also serve as a qualifier for the National Games, with the top 12 teams earning berths.

"We still get chances for the national title in November. These championships is a warm-up for us. We will definitely push ourselves to the limit to win the title," said Zhang.