The Chinese powerhouse grabbed three golds out of five apparatus events at the 41st Artistic Gymnastics World Championships here on Saturday but Olympic champion Zou Kai believed that his performance in the floor was underestimated. Three-time Olympic champion Zou somersaulted on the floor as the first competitor on Saturday, executing a set of movements pretty well with the highest difficulty score of 6.8 points among the eight finalists.
Although he was "very satisfied" with his performance, Zou was 0.025 point behind the final winner Marian Dragulescu as the 29-year-old Romanian veteran pleased the judges well to earn 15.700 points.
"Maybe the judges prefer the style of Dragulescu and he has big fame," said Zou. "Of course, I need to improve the quality of my movements and pay more attention to the details."
Alexander Shatilov of Israel pocketed the bronze with a result of 15.575 points.
Gold medalist Zhang Hongtao (C) of China, silver medalist Krisztian Berki of Hungary (L) and bronze medalist Sellathurai P. of Australia pose during the victory ceremony of the Pommel Horse final of the 41st Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in London, Britain, Oct. 17, 2009
Later, Zhang Hongtao, He Kexin and Yan Mingyong give few chances to the other finalists as they showed great dominance in their specialties. Zhang lowered the difficulty score of his pommel horse routine to 6.6 points, but amazingly finished his final in an execution score of 9.6 points. He punched into the air with both fists immediately after his landing.
"I just celebrated for doing almost perfectly. I was not thinking about the gold medal," said Zhang after clinching the title in 16.2 points.
Hungarian Berki Krisztian and P. Sellathurai of Australia finished second and third respectively. Berki was 0.125 point behind Zhang and Sellathurai received a score of 15.4 points.
Gold medalist He Kexin (2nd L) of China, silver medalist Koko Tsurumi of Japan (L) and bronze medalists Ana Porgras of Romania (2nd R) and Rebecca Bross of the United States pose during the victory ceremony of the Uneven Bars final of the 41st Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in London, Britain, Oct. 17, 2009
Olympic champion He was unparalleled in the uneven bars as she led the squad easily with 16 points, leaving runnerup Koko Tsurumi from Japan 1.125 point behind. Anna Porgaras from Romania and U.S. gymnast Rebecca Bross shared the third position at 14.675 points. Bross was the silver medallist in the women's all-around on Friday.
Although Olympic champion and world title holder Chen Yibing unexpectedly failed to qualify for the men's rings final, his Chinese teammate Yan Mingyong completed his job well to take victory at his first World Championships.
American Kayla Williams added a second gold for her team with two brilliant attempts in the women's vault while Olympic champion Hong Un Jong from DPR Korea only managed a fifth finish.
Williams's teammate Bridget Sloan, who clinched the title of the women's all-around on Friday, finished sixth in uneven bars. Newly crowned men's all-around world champion Kohei Uchimura from Japan ranked fourth in the floor final.
Gold medalist Kayla Williams of the United States (C), silver medalist Ariella Kaeslin of Switzerland (L) and bronze medalist Youna Dufournet of France pose during the victory ceremony of the Vault final of the 41st Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in London, Britain, Oct. 17, 2009