Britain, USA pounce as China, Japan wobble

The United States and hosts Great Britain exploited error-strewn displays from Japan and defending Olympic champions China to set the pace in men's artistic gymnastics qualifying on Saturday. Two Chinese men slipped off the pommel horse and one of them fell on his face in the floor routine, while Japanese superstar Kohei Uchimura fell twice as Japan finished the second qualifying session in third place overall. The USA were the chief beneficiaries, finishing with a total score of 275.342 that put them above Britain (272.420), with China (269.285) down in fourth. Britain are now set to feature in their first final since 1924, ahead of the day's final qualifying session later on Saturday. China were particularly disappointing on the pommel horse, with Guo Weiyang and Zhang Chenglong both falling, while Zou Kai also failed to convince.Guo, a late replacement for the injured Teng Haibin, also produced a poor floor display, with a clumsy face-first fall in his final tumble contributing to a dismal score of 12.266. "One of the gymnasts is a substitute, and he made quite a few mistakes due to a lack of experience," said Chen Yibing of team-mate Guo's display. "We think that we should beat Britain, but because of the substitute and various other things, we didn't perform as we should have." Three-time world champion Uchimura has been tipped to sweep all before him in London, but he came off the high bar and earned a score of just 12.466 on the pommel horse following a fall and an incomplete dismount. He was nonetheless awarded a mark of 15.766 on the floor, a 16.033 on the vault, and a 15.533 on the parallel bars to finish the second session in fourth place in the individual all-around standings. His Japan team-mates endured similarly mixed afternoons, with Kazuhito Tanaka also falling twice and almost sliding off the mat during his floor exercise. "There were a couple of mistakes that happened at different stages, notably on the high bar, and that created a bit of uncertainty," said Uchimura. On his own errors, he said: "I'll try not to make any more mistakes. We'll practice tomorrow (Sunday), so I'll try to improve." Britain were solid throughout, and saw Kristian Thomas and Daniel Purvis make the early running in the individual standings. Olympic bronze medallist Louis Smith delivered an impressive 15.800 routine on the pommel horse, prompting huge cheers from the home crowd that brought tears to the British star's eyes. "I knew that if I got through my routine I'd break down, because it's been such an emotional four years," he said. On the reaction of the supporters, he said: "It was magical, it really was. When they announced us and the crowd erupted, it blew your socks off." American fans replaced their British counterparts in the afternoon session and they, too, had plenty to cheer about. Jonathan Horton made up for falls on the pommel horse and the parallel bars with a fine 15.566 routine on the high bar, while Danell Leyva and John Orozco claimed first and second place in the individual all-around standings. "I didn't see China's score, but I was aware that Japan was having a rough day," said US team captain Horton. "I watch routines all the time and I see Kohei struggling and some other guys struggling, but I wasn't really focusing on that at all. "We did a good job and managed to stay within our own little team container."