Olympic gymnastics champions Yang Wei and Zheng Lihui scored high marks to help Hubei win the men's team title at the Chinese National Gymnastics Championships opening late Wednesday.

Yang, a member of the Chinese team which claimed the country's first ever Olympic gymnastics team title in Sydney, led all the competitors on Wednesday with a total of 56.475 points, followed by Zheng in fourth place at 55.675.

Hubei collected 223.050 points for the crown and Guangdong finished runners-up with 221.275 points. The bronze medals went to Shandong at 218.650.

Nineteen teams were taking part in the men's team competition at the national championships, which also served as the qualifying tournament for the Ninth Chinese National Games, with the top eight finishers advancing to the finals to be held in Guangdong province in October.

Hunan, Jiangsu, People's Liberation Army of China, Sichuan and Shanghai, who finished fourth to eighth after Wednesday's action, also secured their berths in the finals.

(People's Daily 06/07/2001)