The World Cup will be a great opportunity for Yang's teammate Li, who has been plagued by injuries the past two years.

Li has just made it back onto the Chinese men's team and his exceptional performance at the recent Stuttgart World Cup raised people's expectations for the former Olympic gold medalist.

Li, who has the most World Championship titles of any member on the national team, claimed his first World Championship gold on the vault nine years ago in Tianjin.

Since then he has claimed gold medals on the parallel bars at the Olympics, World Championships and World Cup competitions, solidifying his status as "Prince of the Parallel Bars".

Cheng Fei leads the women's team along with three rising stars - Yang Yilin, He Kexin and Xiao Sha.

Huang said the event offers the best chance to chart China's progress, especially for the younger athletes.

"We will review our technique and approaches in the hope that after experiencing international competition, our younger gymnasts can go on to achieve greater success on the world stage," Huang said.

"For the Chinese team, the mission of winning gold medals is still a challenge. The Tianjin World Cup gives competitors a chance to see how they can improve and raise awareness of gymnastics in China," said Gao Jian, director of the China Gymnastics Administrative Center.

"Through the cooperation of the CGA and our event promoter, Octagon, there has been great event support and we look forward to a successful World Cup competition in 2008."

(China Daily May 15, 2008)