By Ken Marantz
OCA Media
Nagoya, Japan, September 23, 2026: A vulnerable Chinese women’s squad did enough Wednesday to stave off a determined Japan squad and add another gold medal to the gymnastics powerhouse’s perfect record in the team event at the Asian Games.
The difference came down to two mistakes by Japan and a light’s-out performance on the balance beam by China.
China, which conceded the individual all-around title for the first time to Japan’s Aiko Sugihara the previous night, compiled 166.462 points to finish just over a point ahead of second-place Japan at Nagoya City General Gymnasium.
Ke Qinqin, the all-around silver medalist, combined with Zhang Qingying, Qiu Qiyuan, Du Siyu and Zhang Yihan to stretch China’s winning streak to 14 straight Asian Games since the event was added to the program in 1974.
“We trust each other and believe in each other,” Qiu said. “This unity that we have on this team was a factor in our success. I didn’t expect this competition to go smoothly.”
The Japanese squad of Sugihara, all-around bronze medalist Misa Nishiyama, Rina Kishi, Mana Okamura and Haruka Nakamura combined for 165.362 points as the host nation won its second straight silver medal and sixth overall.
Taking home the bronze was the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea quintet of Kim Kyong Rong, Hon Yon Mi, Jo Kyong Bol, Pak Un Jong and An Chong Uk with 158.329 points.
Japan launched the competition by taking the lead helped by a mediocre performance by China in the vault, in which Sugihara had the top score of 14.066 and China was left in fourth place.
But China quickly wrested the lead in the uneven bars with three of the top four scores, led by Du’s 14.866. That was despite China’s one big mistake, when Paris Olympic silver medalist Qiu slipped off the bar and fell to the mat, although the high difficulty of her routine allowed her to still come away with a respectable score of 14.033.
It was on the uneven bars when Japan’s first big error occurred, as Kishi lost her momentum during her routine and had her legs swinging unevenly, leading to a low score of 12.433. That was somewhat offset by Nishiyama’s 14.500, but the damage was done.
China then padded the lead in the balance beam, in which reigning world champion Zhang Qingying put on a dazzling display that garnered 15.066 points, the highest mark of the night. Japan was dealt its second setback when Nishiyama stepped off the beam and received a score of 12.933.
“I was disappointed with yesterday’s competition,” Zhang Qingying said of the all-around, in which the world bronze medalist finished out of the medals. “When it comes to the team competition, I eliminated the negative impact and I could put on a good performance.”
The point differential going into the final event, the floor exercise, changed twice during the first two routines due to requests for inquiry that changed one balance beam score each for both Japan and China.
In the end, the gap was 3.033, and it was too much to overcome. Nakamura and Kishi chipped away at it, but Sugihara went into the final routine of the competition needing a Simon Biles-esque score over 15.066 to give Japan the gold – too much even for the reigning world champion in the event.
Sugihara turned in an amazing performance well appreciated by the partisan crowd, but her competition-high score of 13.966 left Japan 1.100 short.
“China is the team closest to gold in the world, so being able to compete alongside them was a huge plus for us,” Sugihara said.
“Their ability to regroup and correct themselves is something I respect and want to learn from.”
The gymnastics competition will finish up over the next two days with the individual apparatus finals.
