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Russia Reaches Gymnastics Final

By PAUL AMES, Associated Press Writer

GHENT, Belgium (AP) - The United States easily qualified for the men's finals of the World Gymnastics Championship on Monday, with the once-powerful Russians barely avoiding elimination for the first time.

Overnight leader Belarus qualified first for Wednesday's final after a sparkling performance by Ivan Ivankov, who topped the individual standings and qualified for three of the apparatus finals.

The United States was second, followed by South Korea, Romania, Ukraine, France, China and Russia. The Americans were jubilant after a groundbreaking opening day Sunday that gives them a real chance for a first team gold medal.

``Our team is just filled with talented guys. ... It was a hard road getting here, but it was worth it,'' said Paul Hamm, who fought back from an ankle injury to produce one of the best performances of the day.

After a lackluster performance Sunday, Russia's Olympic Champion Alexei Nemov predicted his injury-hit team would not make the top eight heading into the final.

That looked accurate Monday as first China, then France and Romania pushed the Russians down the standings. Germany had a solid chance at the final place, but falls on the high bar and stumbles on the mat prevented the Germans from making the top eight, and Russia squeezed in.

Judged by the performances of Ivankov, Marian Dragulescu of Romania and the American pair Sean Townsend and Hamm, Russia's hopes of a team medal still look remote.

Nor was China looking like the force that won last year's Olympic gold and the previous four world championship team events. The Chinese are fielding what amounts to a junior team, since their Olympic stars elected to stay at home for next week's national championship.

``We don't expect a team medal,'' said Chinese head coach Wang Hong Wei.

``They still felt very nervous because its their first international event.''

Belarus had 222.132 points, above the United States with 221.420 and South Korea with 220.857. A standout individual performance came from Eric Lopez of Cuba, who scored 55.874 points to qualify second 0.612 points behind Ivankov heading the field of 34 in the all-around final.

Because the Cubans only sent three gymnasts, they could not take part in the team competition even though all three got in the top 20, a feat only matched by the United States.

Russia's gloom continued over into the individual competition. Nemov failed to make any final, and Alexei Bondarenko was the only Russian among the 34 gymnasts in the all-around individual final.