China's Lu Chunlong scored an overall of 72.40 points to lead the Olympic men's trampoline qualification on Saturday.

His compatriot Dong Dong placed second in 71.70 with Dmitry Ushakov of Russia a close third in 71.50. Reigning Olympic champion Nikitin Yuriy of Ukraine also advanced into the final, placing fourth in 70.70.

Lu joined his compatriot He Wenna, who led women's qualification earlier, on top of the qualifications.

"I was so happy to hear the crowd cheering for me. I had thought I would be nervous but I was not," said Lu, still excited by his own performance.

He led the first routine with 31.20 points and earned a joint highest score of 41.20 for his second, which put him firm on top of the field.

"I'm happy to be in the final. It's my first time competing at home and the atmosphere was simply fantastic," Dong said.

"The final will be tough and the most important thing is to calm down and focus on your own game," he added.

In contrast to the women's event which featured a bunch of trouble, the majority of the men trampolinists gave their bests, finishing all their ten elements in wows and ours from the spectators.

China's Huang Shanshan, who pocketed a bronze medalist in the Athens Games, crashed out with a "sudden death" which happened to a couple of competitors.

She performed dazzling maneuvers with quality before suddenly losing her rhythm in her ninth flip and landing on her side.

(Xinhua News Agency August 16, 2008)