Zhang Boheng of China competes on the pommel horse during the Artistic Gymnastics Men's All-Around Final on day two of the 20th Asian Games. Photo: VCG

Chinese gymnastics star Zhang Boheng successfully defended his individual all-around title at the Asian Games in Nagoya with 85.065 points on Monday, edging out Paris Olympics champion Shinnosuke Oka and Tokyo Olympics champion Daiki Hashimoto of Japan.

The 26-year-old Chinese held his nerve in the tightly contested final at the Nagoya City General Gymnasium, with Oka taking silver and Hashimoto bronze.  

The three Olympic medalists traded the lead during the six-apparatus competition, with Oka moving into first place before Zhang reclaimed the advantage on the final apparatus.

The decisive moment came before Zhang's horizontal-bar routine. As the last gymnast to compete in the event, he was able to see how Oka and Hashimoto had performed before making a final decision on his own routine.

Zhang had initially prepared to use a difficulty score of 6.2, but after seeing the Japanese pair's results, he and his coaches decided that a lower-risk routine would be sufficient.

"Before they competed, my plan was probably still to go with my maximum difficulty of 6.2," Zhang told the Global Times. "But after they finished, my coach told me that I could do 5.8. At that point, we unanimously decided to go with the 5.8 difficulty."

The adjustment reflected the margins in the competition, as Zhang sought to secure the title without taking unnecessary risks.

"I was thinking about doing the skills that I could rely on and lowering the risk of mistakes," he said. "I didn't think about anything else."

Zhang said the competition was particularly demanding given the quality of his two Japanese rivals and his own physical condition.

"Both Japanese athletes performed very well," he said. "I felt that the pressure in this competition was very, very high. Both of them are extremely strong."

The 26-year-old Chinese gymnast also said he was dealing with a muscle injury, but chose to focus on completing the competition before assessing the problem through treatment.

"I actually haven't completely let go of this tension yet, because we still have another competition," Zhang said.

The men's all-around final was also part of the qualification for the team event, with China finishing first in the team standings ahead of Japan. The men's team final is scheduled for Wednesday.

With less than 48 hours before the team competition, Zhang said he was not yet thinking about his longer-term ambitions, including the Los Angeles Olympics.

"I haven't thought that far ahead for the time being," he said. "For us, there is another very intense team competition in less than 48 hours, so my mindset for now is still focused on the next competition."

Despite beating two Olympic champions, Zhang said the rivalry with the Japanese gymnasts was also a source of motivation.

"World gymnastics is not just about representing a certain country or a certain person. It represents gymnastics as a whole," he said.

"The two Japanese all-arounders can give me a lot of strength and motivation. In private, I also watch their videos and learn from them."

For Zhang, Monday's close contest was also a reminder of the need to keep improving as the standard of men's gymnastics continues to rise across Asia.

"World gymnastics is constantly improving, not just the Chinese team. The Japanese team is also constantly working hard to move forward," he said.

"After I go back, I may need to prepare higher difficulties, and also improve my competition mindset and performance. In two years, I hope I can be in a better state and give better performances."

Hashimoto, the Tokyo Olympic all-around champion, said the growing strength of Asian gymnastics was bringing the continent's leading athletes closer to the world's highest level.

"Being at the top means getting very close to becoming one of the world's top athletes," Hashimoto said through an interpreter. 

He added that winning competitions such as the Asian Championships and Asian Games was difficult but could give athletes significant confidence.