Athens Olympic champion Teng Haibing, world
champions Feng Jing and Fan Ye were dropped from China's squad for Aarhus
Gymnastics World Championship slated for next month in Denmark, as China
released the roster on Monday.
Teng Haibing.[File
Photo] |
Teng Haibing, the Athens pommel horse
gold winner, was excluded from the 14-member squad, and Feng Jing, the 2001
World Championship all-around gold medalist, also missed the opportunity to show
up in the Aarhus gymnastics worlds.
Gymnastic veteran Li Xiaopeng had been ruled out of the tournament by injury
in the previous name-list, having to settle with his 13 Olympic and world
titles, which is only one gold short of the record 14 titles held by Li Ning,
the most prolific gymnast in China.
In the women's list, the 2003 balance beam world champion Fan Ye was the
striking figure to miss the upcoming championship from October 13-21.
Defending vault champion Cheng Fei highlighted women's lineup, which featured
a composition mainly by young gymnasts.
Sydney Olympic men's team gold winners Huang Xu and Yang Wei and the world
defending pommel horse champion Xiao Qin are to spearhead China along with a few
rookies.
The Chinese team is to set out for France on Wednesday training for a week
before attending the Aarhus gymnastics worlds, and the final 12-member starting
lineup will be decided one day ahead of the kickoff of the tournament.
China collected two golds, one silver and one bronze in Melbourne gymnastics
worlds, ranking second in medal rally. United States boasted of four golds, four
silvers and one bronze to top the medal ranking.
Following is China's 14-member roster (six starters and one substitute each
for men's and women's teams):
Men's team:
Huang Xu, Xiao Qin, Yang Wei, Liang Fuliang, Chen Yibing, Dong Zhen dong, Zou
Kai
Women's team:
Zhang Nan, Cheng Fei, Pang Panpan, Li Ya, Huang Lu, Zhou Zhuoru, He Ning.
