Tomita Takes Second at Secondary Trials

Nineteen-year-old Kohei Uchimura was the top qualifier at the first of Japan's two Olympic trials, held in Tokyo this past weekend.

Uchimura defeated former world champion Hiroyuki Tomita, 182.500-182.00, at the two-day event.

Miki Uemura

The top 18 men and top 24 for women advance to May's NHK Cup. Half of the points from the first trial will count toward each gymnasts' total.

Daisuke Nakano, a member of the 2004 Olympic champion team, placed 35th on the first day. He withdrew from the second day of competition because of an injury of his right shoulder. Under Japan's strict qualification rules, he will not be eligible for the NHK Cup or the 2008 Olympics.

Reiging world all-around bronze medalist Hisashi Mizutori dropped from fourth after the first day to 11th.

In the women's competition, 22-year-old Miki Uemura topped 15-year-old Koko Tsurumi by one tenth of a point.

1992 Chinese Olympian He Xuemei, competing under her Japanese name of Setsubai Takaseki, finished 12th.

At the 2007 Worlds, the Japanese men finished second and the women finished 12th, qualifying two full teams to the Olympic Games for the first time in 20 years.

2008 Japanese Secondary Olympic Trial
April 12-13, Tokyo

Men's All-Around
1. Kohei Uchimura 182.500
2. Hiroyuki Tomita 182.000
3. Kazuhito Tanaka 180.050
4. Takehiro Kashima 179.050
5. Kensuke Murata 179.000
6. Shun Kuwahara 178.400
7. Naoya Tsukahara 178.250
8. Koki Sakamoto 178.100
9. Yosuke Hoshi 177.550
10. Isao Yoneda 177.300
11. Hisashi Mizutori 177.150
12. Kyoichi Watanabe 176.700
13. Eiichi Sekiguchi 175.900
14. Takuya Nakase 175.750
15. Mitsuyasu Ota 175.600
15. Shun Nishimura 175.600
17. Takehito Mori 175.500
18. Makoto Okiguchi 174.800

Women's All-Around
1. Miki Uemura 116.900
2. Koko Tsurumi 116.800
3. Yu Minobe 116.350
4. Kyoko Oshima 115.450
5. Mai Yamagishi 114.900
6. Yuko Shintake 114.500
7. Mayu Kuroda 114.400
8. Keiko Mukumoto 113.250
9. Rie Tanaka 112.450
10. Momoko Ozawa 111.900
11. Erica Lynn Danko* 111.100
12. Setsubai Takaseki (He Xuemei) 110.200
13. Sayuri Minobe 110.050
14. Akiho Sato* 109.450
15. Yuma Imanishi 109.200
16. Haruhi Uchimura 107.900
17. Chinami Otaki 107.350
18. Serina Takeuchi 107.000

* Junior competitor, not eligible for 2008 Olympics