Editor's Note: In the sixth installment of China Daily's Tokyo Olympics preview series, we take an in-depth look at the Chinese artistic gymnastics squad.

Liu Jieyu of China competes during the women's floor exercises category at the Friendship and Solidarity Competition international gymnastics event held at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan, Nov 8, 2020. (DU XIAOYI / XINHUA)

China's young gymnasts will bid to banish the memory of their predecessors' spectacular slump in Rio five years ago by bouncing back onto the podium at the Tokyo Olympics.

Over the course of the last two editions of the Games, China's fall from grace on the mat has been nothing short of alarming. From gaining nine out of the 14 gold medals available at the 2008 Beijing Games, China managed just four titles four years later in London, before crashing to an embarrassing all-time low of zero golds at the 2016 Rio Games.

Now a group of fearless young guns－most of whom will be making their Olympic debuts－are raring to revive the glory days.

Following the 2008 home Olympics, leading squad members such as Yang Wei and Li Xiaopeng retired, leaving the nation's gymnastics program struggling to find a new generation to stand on the highest podium.

After years of devotion to the sport, gymnastics team manager Miao Zhongyi is also buoyed by the recent upswing in performances

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It appears, however, that search is over.

"We want to bounce back," said world all-around champion Xiao Ruoten, who will also lead China for team gold in Tokyo.

At the 2018 world championships, Xiao led China's men to the team title. The same squad, which also includes Zou Jingyuan, Sun Wei and Lin Chaopan, looks well-positioned to repeat the feat in Tokyo.

Apart from the team competition, Xiao and Sun are also highly competitive in the all-around event, with the in-form duo raring to show the world that China's gymnasts are truly back on top again.

World champions Zou and You Hao are title contenders in the parallel bars.

Rings specialist Liu Yang put on a near-perfect routine of 6.500 difficulty points on the third men's team trial earlier this month, despite nursing a back injury. He is expected to at least pocket bronze.

"To be honest, I'm really satisfied with my form right now. I believe that I will be even more confident on the rings in Tokyo," said Liu.

After years of devotion to the sport, gymnastics team manager Miao Zhongyi is also buoyed by the recent upswing in performances.

"We only had two bronze medals at the Rio Olympics. I'm looking forward to a strong comeback this time in Tokyo," said Miao.

"We are coming here to fight for the best results. Our target is to win as many gold medals as possible. I have total trust in this team. They have showed great form and improvement."

Since the country's Olympic debut at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, China has collected 26 gold medals in gymnastics.

Biggest rival

Miao says China's biggest opponent in the men's competition is Japan's leader and superstar, Kohei Uchimura.

The three-time Olympic champion, widely considered one of the greatest male gymnasts of his generation, will be hoping home advantage can make the difference in his gold-medal hunt.

"As the host and also a traditional powerhouse, Japan is the biggest rival for our athletes. Uchimura has proved he is the best in the world. We have to do the best to challenge him," said Miao.

"As long as we perform to our best, like what we have done in training, we fear nobody."

On the women's side, uneven bars world champion Fan Yilin will join newly crowned national all-around champion Lu Yufei and balance beam starlet Guan Chenchen, along with Ou Yushan, Zhang Jin and Tang Xijing. Fan is the only female member of China's squad who has previous Olympic experience.

She failed to advance to the final round in Rio because of a major error in qualifying, although later managed to lead the women's team to bronze.

Fan has been in superb form ever since that Rio failure, and now feels ready for redemption in the event. "I hope I won't have any regrets this time," said the 22-year-old.

Fan's father admits that 22 is not a young age for a gymnast these days, and hopes his daughter can wrap up her career in winning style.

"Performing at Olympics has always been her biggest dream," said Fan Bingzhu. "It won't be long until she retires as a gymnast. I hope she can win an individual medal at her last Olympic Games. That would be a perfect ending for her career."

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Balance beam is also traditionally a strong event for China, and 17-year-old prodigy Guan's impressive routines at the Olympic trials suggest she could reign in Tokyo.

"Guan has showed the world top-level difficulty in the balance beam. She has the ability to fight for the gold for us," said Qiao Liang, women's team head coach. "Our team is very young but is the best we can choose from."

The eyes of the world will be on defending Olympic women's all-around champion Simone Biles.

The American, who has won every all-around competition she has taken part in since 2013, won five medals in Rio, including all-around gold, and is predicted to improve on that in Tokyo.