Olympic veterans Yang Wei and Huang Xu are set to compete in the
2006 world artistic gymnastics championships as the 18-strong
lineup were disclosed on Thursday.
The name list, congested with Olympic and world champions, will
finally be reduced to six men and six women pending the tournament
slated for October 13-21 in Aarhus, Denmark, but Yang and Huang
were strongly hinted to stay on.
The two veterans, who had participated in Sydney and Athens
Olympic Games, are set to make their debut in a major international
tournament since Athens. They missed the 2005 Melbourne
championships and a series of World Cup events this year.
"They were absent (from major competition) just to give young
gymnasts more show time. But they have trained well and are very
competitive for the championships," said Chinese team manager Zhang
Peiwen.
"I think they are ready and will try their best," he said.
China will send a team combined with veterans and youths to
Aarhus but their leading gymnast Li Xiaopeng had been confirmed to
be absent due to injury.
Men's lineup also features Athens pommel horse gold medallist
Teng Haibin, world champion Xiao Qin and 2001 world all-around
champion Feng Jing. The other four were relatively new faces in
international arena.
Vault specialist Cheng Fei, gold medallist in Melbourne, will
lead women's nine-person squad, which also include 2003 world
champion Fan Ye on balance beam and Olympic all-around bronze
medallist Zhang Nan.
Six teenagers fill in the other spots in women's lineup.
Chinese head coach Huang Yubin promised that Chinese team, eager
to make a strong comeback after Athens waterloo in 2004, would
exert themselves for good results.
"This tournament will be the first world championships to adopt
new rules and therefore is very important for all the teams. And
it's an opportunity for us to restore image. We will try hard," he
said.
Chinese 18-strong lineup:
Men's
Yang Wei, Huang Xu, Teng Haibin, Xiao Qin, Feng Jing, Liang
Fuliang, Chen Yibing, Dong Zhendong, Zou Kai;
Women's
Cheng Fei, Fan Ye, Zhang Nan, Li Ya, Pang Panpan, He Ning, Zhou
Zhuoru, Han Bing, Huang Lu.
(Xinhua News Agency August 25, 2006)