JAKARTA, Aug. 24 -- The Chinese gymnasts, hit by the worst ever results in Rio Olympics, aim for a strong comeback in the 2020 Games, said team manager Ye Zhennan after the Asiad gymnastics competition concluded here on Friday.
The Asian gymnastics powerhouse collected eight gold medals out of 14 in total in Jakarta, beating arch-rivals Japanese for the men's team and all-around golds.
"The Asiad is only a minor test before the 2020 Games," Ye said, "our ultimate goal is to stage a comeback in Tokyo," Ye told Xinhua.
"We suffered the big frustration two years ago but we set our sight on 2020 immediately after Rio."
China only took two bronze medals in the team events in Rio 2016, failing to win any medal in individual events at a single Olympics for the first time.
"The Japanese team are still our biggest opponents in our way to Tokyo," he said, "our victory over them here doesn't mean that we can be relieved because Japan didn't dispatch their first team."
The Japanese Asiad line-up is without seven-time Olympic medalist Uchimura Kohei and floor world champion Kenzo Shirai, and Ye anticipates a close battle in the World Championships in Doha in October.
"It's going to be tough as Japan will go all out to defend their team title," he said.
"Some of our gymnasts are very young and lack of experiences but they are determined to challenge Japan," Ye added.