China's female gymnasts dominated the first qualification round with a total of 248.275 points at the Beijing Olympics on Sunday.
Defending Olympic champion Romania finished second in 238.425 points in Sunday morning's qualification subdivision which was also participated in by two mix groups.
The Chinese girls got a good start on their first apparatus of balance beam and maintained first place throughout all the four apparatus.
Earlier, China had feared the draw which places them in the first qualification round with balance beam being the first apparatus may be an adverse element because beam is prone to errors.
Cheng Fei of the Chinese team, a world champion for vault and floor exercise, contributed to her team with stable performance, in particular, in floor exercise and vault.
But He Kexin, an uneven bars specialist crowned on the bars event in two World Cups, failed to grip the low bar after a fly from the high. The blunder cost her points and she, with a start value of 7.5 points, the highest among her peers, scored only 15.725 points, a result can hardly guarantee her a berth in the final.
Jiang Yuyuan, another upstart on the Chinese team, sat on the mat after a failed landing during vaulting.
"I am happy with my work today," said Cheng Fei, the only member in the Chinese team with Olympic experience who is seen as the core of the Chinese team.
The 20-year-old admitted she felt the nerves when she took the floor after Jiang's flawed vaults. "I know I have to cheer me up as I know I must set a model for my teammates after me. I am happy I managed it well." she said.
Lu Shanzhen, head coach of the Chinese women's team, said he would give his girls 70 points out of a total of 100 for their show, as He Kexin made a mistake which she should not have made on her strong apparatus.
"It's a great pity that He failed. We had hoped she could bring home a gold medal on uneven bars," Lu said.
Lu said He had a high start value and almost finished all her difficult movements before the fall. "She failed in a movement which is not so difficult and that makes her failure even more regretful," Lu said.
But Lu said overall he is satisfied, in particular, with his team's first two apparatus of beam and floor exercise.
"I had been worried about our beam performance as it's our first apparatus and also one easy to make mistakes, but they did an excellent job," Lu said.
Defending champion Romanians said they felt OK with their performance in the qualifications, though there's a gap of almost 10 points between them and first-placed China.
"I'm satisfied and the team did not make big mistakes. They did not fall during their routines. It's not their best, they can do better. And I hope they do their best in the final," said Nicolae Forminte, coach of the Romanian team.
"We only had one fall on the Beam (from Andreea Acatrinei). We have to accept it. There's no solution. I thought that would happen to her since she's a younger one on the team," he said.
Izbasa Sandra of the Romanian team said she thought she did well on vault and floor, but not so good on beam and uneven bars. "I think I need self-control in the final and hope I can win a medal on floor exercise," she said.
(Xinhua News Agency August 10, 2008)