After the Japanese men's gymnastics was defeated by China in team events in Doha, Japanese media expressed concerns that it's hard for the Japanese gold-winning team in Athens to continue its brilliance to Beijing in 2008, citing their low level of difficulties and unsteady performance.

Kyodo News said the Japanese men's team significantly adjusted its lineup after the 6-5-4 rule was decided to be implemented in Doha, however freshmen, due to their lack of experiences in big event, lapsed repeatedly and confined Japan's advantage to China only to the horizontal bar.

The prospect for Japanese men's team is blur now that there is only less than 2 years left before the Beijing Olympic, Kyodo said.

The Industrial and Economic Daily said on Monday that China is going further ahead of Japan on men's gymnastic team event. The newspaper praised Chinese gymnasts for their more stable action than in the 2005 world championship, and predicted a larger disparity between China and Japan if the trend continues.

The Tokyo Daily, mentioning the Japanese men's gymnastic team's no-gold results in front of China ever since the Athens Olympics, also showed its worry on the uncertainty of Japan's performance in Beijing. It ranked elevation of actions' level of difficulties as the primary task for the Japanese men's team.

Editor: Donald