DOHA, March 26 -- Chinese young gymnasts grabbed five out of ten gold medals in the FIG Artistic World Cup here on Saturday.
Liu Tingting, 16, who was forced to skip the Rio Olympics last year due to a hand injury, snatched golds on the balance beam and floor.
Luo Huan won the women's uneven bars with a total of 14.433 points.
Xiao Ruoteng and Zou Jingyuan shared the top honors in men's bars competitions.
Xiao also missed the Rio Olympics due to injury but came back strongly with an impressive routine that earned him 14.533 points on the horizontal bar.
His young compatriot Zou, who had a difficulty score as high as 6.800 points, won the parallel bars with a nearly flawless performance.
"Our young athletes and coaches really paid a lot of efforts to have higher difficulties and better execution during their winter training. I'm proud of them for such good results," said Chinese team manager Ye Zhennan.
The FIG has approved a new format that will see the number of gymnasts in the team competition reduced from five to four for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Up to two gymnasts from countries and regions already qualified for the team competition would be eligible to compete in the all-around event or on their specialities based on a qualification system that includes results from the World Cup series.
"This change will open a door for the athletes who focus more on single disciplines," said Ye.
