After the Japanese men's gymnastics was defeated by China in team events in
Doha, Japanese media expressed concerns that it's hard for the Japanese
gold-winning team in Athens to continue its brilliance to Beijing in 2008,
citing their low level of difficulties and unsteady performance.
Kyodo News said the Japanese men's team significantly adjusted its lineup
after the 6-5-4 rule was decided to be implemented in Doha, however freshmen,
due to their lack of experiences in big event, lapsed repeatedly and confined
Japan's advantage to China only to the horizontal bar.
The prospect for Japanese men's team is blur now that there is only less than
2 years left before the Beijing Olympic, Kyodo said.
The Industrial and Economic Daily said on Monday that China is going further
ahead of Japan on men's gymnastic team event. The newspaper praised Chinese
gymnasts for their more stable action than in the 2005 world championship, and
predicted a larger disparity between China and Japan if the trend continues.
The Tokyo Daily, mentioning the Japanese men's gymnastic team's no-gold
results in front of China ever since the Athens Olympics, also showed its worry
on the uncertainty of Japan's performance in Beijing. It ranked elevation of
actions' level of difficulties as the primary task for the Japanese men's
team.