Zhang Boheng gets the final word over Oka Shinnosuke and Hashimoto Daiki.

Monday (21 September) saw Zhang winning back his Asian Games all-around title in Aichi-Nagoya, three weeks after finishing runner-up behind Oka in Paris 2024 Olympic Games last month then to Hashimoto in last year's Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.

The People's Republic of China's pride edged Oka by just under two-tenths of a point, 85.065 to 84.698 to win gold. Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Hashimoto was third on 83.865.

All three were far from their best, but Zhang will take it.

"It was a great fight, an exciting fight," said the 26-year-old, who securely stored away his final event of the day, the horizontal bar, after Oka and Hashimoto concluded their floor exercise programs without doing enough to turn the heat on Zhang.

"Personally I also felt a bit under a lot of pressure as I sustained a slight injury just before coming here and during the competition it did have a certain impact.

Oka Shinnosuke: "It felt like my body had forgotten"

All three medallists stated that it was hard to begin the competition with the all-around before the team event and apparatus finals.

Oka strained his lower back earlier this month and had to cut back on his training and take injections to get through it. He will lower his D score at the Asian Games to not risk missing next month's world championships in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

They also all agreed that having to maintain a certain level of fitness time and again from race to race is another factor.

"It was my first competition for a while, so I think my body had forgotten how to compete," said Oka. "But I think it's good to have these kinds of experiences before worlds even if it is frustrating."

"I was really nervous on the first device. I think I just couldn't get a hold of myself, I was just out there."

"(Having missed out today) was hard. I got quite emotional at the beginning and I felt it in my body more than I normally do at the end as well."

Meanwhile Hashimoto said: "I'm trying not to get too excited. Naturally I want to take part at the Asian Games because it's in my home country, and naturally I want to win the all-around. But with the World Championship after it, that's really hard.

"There's a part of me that just wants to go for it here but if you get in that situation it's hard to contain yourself. And all-around on the first day is tough. I've never been that way before, and it is not easy."

(Press Association) – 27 November 2023, 16:07 – 4 min read There's still more for the big trio at these Games. The team event is Wednesday, then the two days of event finals.

Yet all three will agree that this spat is the kind to enjoy while it lasts and look forward to the upcoming contests.

"The other two are very good though," Oka added. "I had to reduce the difficulty because of my back but that didn't prevent me from needing to be competitive."

"These kind of things don't happen for years on end. It really gets me going, it pushes me to perform better, to beat him."

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Tanu