China and Japan qualify for men's gymnastics team final at Rio Olympics

As expected, the defending Olympic champion China and the world champion Japan both qualified for the men's gymnastics team final here on Saturday at the Rio Olympic Games.

China was the top qualifier with a total score of 270.461 points, despite captain Zhang Chenglong fell off the high bar.

"Maybe because I cared about this event too much, it affected my performance," said the 27-year-old Zhang, who was the only member with Olympic experience in the Chinese squad.

Japanese star Kohei Uchimura also felt off the high bar earlier and the team placed fourth in 269.294 points, trailing behind Russia and the United States.

"I was too concerned with the slipperiness of the horizontal bar, and that's made me fall," explained the defending all-around Olympic champion.

However, Uchimura managed to lead the all-around qualification after two subdivisions with a result of 90.498 points until Oleg Verniaiev from Ukraine edged him in 91.964 poings.

The host team made history by reaching the final as the sixth qualifier. It's the first time that Brazil competed in the men's team event at the Olympic Games.

During the second subdivision of the qualification, French gymnast Samir Ait Said fractured his left tibia as he landed following his second vault.

The French team leader Corrine Moustard-Callon said Ait Said made a technical mistake. Endite