'King Kohei' eyes fifth gymnastics title and team gold

Kohei Uchimura will be aiming to extend his dominance of gymnastics and help Japan topple all-conquering China at the world championships opening on Friday.
The 25-year-old "King Kohei" will go for a record-stretching fifth straight world all-around title, to add to his 2012 Olympic gold, at the event in Nanning, China.
The 10-day competition at the Guangxi Sports Centre Gymnasium begins with four days of qualifying followed by men's and women's team finals and individual all-around and event-by-event apparatus contests.
"Ours is a fully promising team," said muscle-bound Uchimura. "If we hand the baton from one to another (as in a relay race) without too much dwelling on the team gold, we will undoubtedly get it."
Uchimura has remained unstoppable since the retirement of China's Yang Wei, the 2006 and 2007 world all-around champion, who beat Uchimura for gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Renowned for an array of apparatus specialists, China want an unprecedented sixth straight world team title on top of their 2008 and 2012 Olympic golds.
Japan won the 2004 Olympic team gold but have not triumphed at the worlds since 1978, finishing second behind China in their last three encounters.
But confidence is high in the Japanese camp after a second-string men's team, minus Uchimura and others, won the team title at the Asian Games in South Korea, outscoring China by four golds to three.
Britain, Germany and the United States have been also among recent medal contenders.
- Chinese backlash -
After a disappointing bronze in the Asian Games team event, China's squad is boosted by the return of top names like 2010 world high bar champion Zhang Chenlong, one of the 2012 Olympic team gold medallists, Deng Shudi, who won four titles at the national championships in May, and 2013 world parallel bar champion Lin Chaopan.
Uchimura and his 2013 all-around runner-up Ryohei Kato spearhead Japan's campaign together with 2013 world apparatus champions Kenzo Shirai (floor) and Kohei Kameyama (pommel horse).
Uchimura's bid for a fifth crown faces challenges from Commonwealth Games all-around champion Max Whitlock of Britain, 2013 all-around bronze medallist Fabian Hambuchen of Germany and the home contingent led by Deng, 23, who has yet to win a major international title.
In the women's competition, American Simone Biles is aiming to become the first female gymnast since Russia's Svetlana Khorkina in 2003 to win a second straight all-around world crown.
Her teammate and 2013 runner-up Kyla Ross may find it hard to narrow a wide gap with her as shown at the national championships in August.
Among other contenders are Russia's 2012 world champion Aliya Mustafina, who took the all-around bronze at the 2012 Olympics and the 2013 worlds.
China's Yao Jinnan could be a force to be reckoned with as she tries to improve on last year's fifth spot. Yao impressed at the Asian Games with three individual golds.
The United States are seeking a third straight women's team gold after the 2011 worlds and the 2012 London Olympics. No team event was held last year in Antwerp.
Russia are hoping to regain the title they lost to the United States in 2011, with China raring to catch them.
Source: AFP