Olaru and Tsukahara Win Chunichi Cup Gymnastics Titles

World all-around gymnastics champion Maria Olaru of Romania beat her compatriot Simona Amanar by only 0.100 point to win the women's overall title at the Chunichi Cup gymnastics tournament in Nagoya, Japan, on December 11.

17-year-old Olaru scored 9.750 points in the floor exercise, 9. 650 in the beam, 9.575 in the uneven bars and 9.500 in the vault for a total of 38.475 points.

Amanar, European all-around silver medallist, had 38.375 points, ahead of world uneven bars champion Svetlana Khorkina of Russia with 38.200 points.

Japan's Naoya Tsukahara, all-around runner-up in the world championships, snatched the men's overall title after defeating defending champion Alexey Bondarenko of Russia.

Tsukahara marked a total of 56.575 points from six categories, while Bondarenko totalled 56.425 points.

Third place went to Huang Xu of China with 56.200 points, while world all-around champion Nikolai Krioukov of Russia ended a disappointing sixth.

It was the first time that both Olaru and Tsukahara had won in the Chunichi Cup tournament. (Xinhua)


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