Son Yeon-jae [Yonhap Photo]
South Korean rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae ranked first midway through the individual all-around at the eighth Rhythmic Gymnastics Asian Championships in Uzbekistan, setting herself on course for her third straight title.
In Tashkent on Sunday (local time), Son earned 36.750 points combined from the ball and hoop routines to take a one-point lead above Sabina Ashirbayeva of Kazakhstan. Elizaveta Nazarenkova of Uzbekistan was third at 35.500.
Other South Koreans, Lee Da-ae (32.500) and Chun Song-e (32.000), were 11th and 12th, respectively. Lee Na-kyung was 20th after scoring 30.150.
Son finished first in both apparatuses, scoring 18.500 in ball and 18.450 in hoops. She will perform clubs and ribbon programs Monday.
The 21-year-old is looking for her third consecutive Asian individual all-around title after winning it in 2013 and 2015. The biennial competition was originally slated for 2017, but the Asian Gymnastics Union (AGU) decided to hold the competition this year.
Meanwhile, the AGU announced just a day before the competition's opening that there will be no team event at this year's Asian Championships. The Korean Gymnastics Association said it received a letter of apology from the AGU regarding the cancellation of the team event.
At the team event, a team of three or four gymnasts performs 12 routines with the top-10 scores being tallied as the team score.
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