Best of first da'y all-around competition (Wednesday) was
Hiroyuki Tomita with a score of 56.050 points, followed by
Isao Yoneda (55,625) and
Hisashi Mizutori (54,775). Daisuke Nakano sat out with an injury and Naoya Tsukahara with illness.
In the women's event, Olympian
Manami Ishizaka took the lead with 36.175, in front of
Miki Uemura (36.025) and
Kyoko Oshima (35.750)....
The results of the 1st meet twould determine the order of competition of second day (Thursday). The average of the results of both competitions would determine who qualified for the NHK Cup, which will determine who qualifies for the Japanese Universiade and World Championship teams.
The top four finishers were all members of Japan's 2004 Olympic gold medal-winning team.
The fourth placed
Takehiro Kashima, world champion on pommel horse and high bar at the
World Champs 2003, earned the highest score of the day with a 9.750 on pommel horse.
On the women's side, it was expected that many young gymnasts would challenge the veterans, most of whom have just become collegiate gymnasts. Notably, there were a lot of hopefuls in Japan who made their senior debut this year. However, the veterans proved that they were still ahead.