U.S. women's team leads qualification at Artistic Gymnastic Worlds

LONDON, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. women's team reached the team event final as the top qualifier while China finished sixth in the qualification at the 51st Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Liverpool.

Despite missing the legendary Simone Biles and Olympic all-around champion Sunisa Lee, the U.S. women's team is still the hot favorite to win the team event.

Led by Jade Carey, Olympic champion in the floor exercise, the American girls collected 167.263 points from Saturday's qualification and no team managed to earn more after Sunday's competition.

Host nation Britain trailed in second place with 164.595 points, while Brazil finished third with 163.563. China reached the eight-team final after being ranked sixth with 162.064 points.

World Championships debutant Ou Yushan said she was quite nervous, especially on the beam, but was pleased with her performance on the uneven bars.

"We do want to achieve a top-three finish in the team event, and I think we have a great chance," said the 18-year-old, who was a member of China's team that finished seventh at the Tokyo Olympic Games last year.

Ou finished first on the beam and clinched a berth in the all-around final with the sixth highest score in the qualification. Her teammates Luo Rui and Wei Xiaoyuan both reached the uneven bars final.