Chinese gymnast Li Xiaopeng returned to the event he left one year ago, and took the gold in the men's parallel bars event at the World Cup competition in Germany.

The Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medallist edged out Japanese ace Hiroyuki Tomita to win with a high mark of 16.300 points.

Tomita finished second with 15.850 points, followed by Russia's Nikolai Kryukov at 15.800.

Li Xiaopeng, who was unable to compete in the World Championships earlier this month, had been absent from the sport since last November due to an ankle injury.

(CRI October 31, 2006)