The only confirmed change so far is that Lu Bo has withdrawn and 2009 still rings World champ Yan Mingyong was added to the Chinese Men's team for 2011 Worlds. According to the report from Sina Sports, Lu's withdrawal was due to a wrist injury which has bothered him on and off for quite a while. Lu has been one of the strongest AAers in Chinese Men's team, and competed in 5 events in last year's Worlds team final. No official announcement was made regarding whether Yan will be the team alternate or directly added to the team. Most believe that the original alternate Zou Kai from the nominative team will likely take Lu's spot. If that is the case, coaches will still have to make tough calls on pommel horse and still rings lineup in the team finals and prelims.
No further news on the WAG side. In Coach Lu's most recent blog entry posted earlier today, he talked about the late discussion among Chinese gymfans about the team alternate choice. He mentioned once again that the official team members can be finalized as late as 24 hours prior to the competition, based on gymnasts' overall condition, physical and mental readiness, etc.
Both Chinese Men and Women's teams will leave for Tokyo next Monday, 5 days before Worlds' registration date (Oct. 1st), for some pre-competition local training.
Besides, a TV special featuring Team China's 2011 Worlds preparation will be broadcasted next week on CCTV sports channel. A sneak peak can be found in CCTV gymnastics correspondent Zhang Jie's Weibo.
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