London: Japan`s Kohei Uchimura put in a commanding all-around performance at the world gymnastics championships to show he was ready to step into the shoes left vacant by Olympic champion Yang Wei.
Uchimura had snapped at Yang`s heels during the final at last year`s Beijing Games but in the end was powerless to stop a man who was determined to succeed in front of his home fans.
Fourteen months on and with Yang now retired, a huge smile lit up Uchimura`s face as he topped men`s qualifying at the O2 Arena that is set to host the gymnastics competition at the 2012 Olympics.
The day, however, ended on a sour note for China`s Chen Yibing after a botched landing from the rings -- on which he is the Olympic and world title holder -- cost him a place in the eight-man apparatus final.
Things could not have been better for 20-year-old Uchimura as he broke the 15-point barrier in five of the six apparatus to finish with a total of 90.925, a 1.575 point lead over former European champion Maxim Deviatovski of Russia.
"I feel great except the vault landing. I can win the gold medal if I hit everything in the final on Thursday," he said.American Tim McNeill, Briton Daniel Keatings and Jonathan Horton of the US completed the top five with one sub-division remaining.
The athletes would have been further boosted by withdrawal of charismatic European champion Fabian Hambuechen, who took an early flight out of London after hobbling out of training on crutches at the weekend.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, October 14, 2009, 09:08
