China wins men's team title at gymnastics worlds

DOHA - By a margin of 0.049 points, China won the men's team title at the 2018 World Gymnastics Championships held in Doha, Qatar on Monday.

Russia finished second while Japan came in third in the hotly-contested final.

The Chinese men overcame early falls from Xiao Ruoteng on floor exercise and Sun Wei on pommel horse, and steadily fought their way back to win the title on 256.634 points. In the fifth rotation, China capitalized on a mistake from Russia to grab the lead for the first time, thanks to a massive 16.200 from Zou Jingyuan on parallel bars, the only score above 16 so far in Doha.

Leading by nearly a full point with one rotation left, the Chinese swallowed mistakes on horizontal bar from Lin Chaopan, who went the wrong way after two big releases Cassina and Kolman, and team anchor Xiao, who fell on his Liukin release move.

Russia tried hard but was not able to overtake China's final score.

"We are very happy to get the gold medal and we are impressed by how the Russian team has improved," China coach Ye Zhennan said.