After an error-prone qualification round on their best events, China regained their form in the final to secure the women's team silver medal for the second straight year at the World Gymnastics Championships here on Tuesday.
China, who finished a disappointing fourth place in the qualifications, got off to a flying start in their traditionally dominant event of uneven bars. Fan Yilin, captain Shang Chunsong and Tan Jiaxin all scored more than 15 points.
Their only mistake came in the balance beam when world championships debutant Wang Yan fell off the apparatus.
And improved work on vault and floor exercise, which they are always trying to improve, helped them to seal the silver medal with a total of 176.164 points.
The United States won their third consecutive world title with a dominant 181.338 points. Britain shocked the world by winning their first team medal in history with 172.380, beating last year's bronze winner Russia to the fourth place.
"I am very satisfied with our girls' performance today," said Chinese women's coach Xiong Jingbin. "We have two world champions, Cheng Ran and Huang Huidan, rested at home because of injuries. But the youngsters did exceptionally well."
"After the qualifications, I told them that we need to keep mentally strong and do not think of winning the medals. You just take the final as a training session," Xiong said.
The 19-year-old Shang, the oldest member in the Chinese team, had also encouraged her teammates to relax and try not to make mistakes.
"I told them that since we would have no chance of winning the gold from the U.S. team, we just go out and enjoy the competition."
Coach Xiong said that China has already closed the gap with United States and they have a serious chance of winning the title in the Rio Olympics.
"We are aware that the U.S. team remains very strong overall, but I think we are doing better in some details," he said.
But the American women, who have won all the major titles since 2011, established themselves once again as the gold medal favorite in Rio.
The star-studded U.S. team, including two-time London Olympic gold medalists Gabrielle Douglas and Aly Raisman, two-time world all-around champion Simone Biles and reinforcements Margaret Nichols, Madison Kocian and Brenna Dowell, performed up to their own high expectations in finals to win their fifth world gold since 2003 in style.
In a competition that left no room for error -- three gymnasts compete per event, and all three scores count -- the U.S. was the only team in the eight country final not to record a fall.
The Americans were in charge from their first event, vault, and also excelled on balance beam and floor exercise, finishing 5.174 points above the Chinese.
Biles posted the top scores of the night on vault, beam and floor, where she closed the U.S. show with a routine that included her trademark element, a double layout with half twist at the end. The 18-year-old Texan will return Thursday for the women's all-around final, where she is seeking her third consecutive world title.
After a golden performance in the same arena at the Commonwealth Games in 2014, Britain's women gymnasts made history by winning their first ever world team final medal
The British team were out of the medals going into their final vault apparatus, but three terrific vaults by Claudia Fragapane, Amy Tinkler and Ellie Downie helped Britain leapfrog Russia, who put in patchy beam and floor performances.
(Xinhua)
