Wednesday 8 October 2014 17:38, UK
Great Britain's women finished a creditable sixth in the World Gymnastics Championship team final in Nanning, China.
Hannah Whelan, Becky Downie, Claudia Fragapane, Gabby Jupp, Kelly Simm and Ruby Harrold totalled 168.496 points across the four apparatus to finish just short of their best-ever placing of fifth from Tokyo three years ago.
Jupp, Simm and Fragapane were all making their World Championship debuts and coped well with the pressure, performing clean routines on the bars, vault, floor and beam.
However, it was not enough to propel them into the medals, with the United States (179.280) claiming gold ahead of China (172.587) and Russia (171.462).
But Downie was still positive about the young team's performance as she said: "Overall we can be really pleased.
"Of course we would like to have been in the medals but we are definitely happy and proud to have a team that is looking so strong and that is progressing so well.
"The younger girls came in and showed they are more than ready for the major senior competitions and that's really exciting for GB looking ahead to the next Olympics."
Next in competition will be Daniel Purvis and Max Whitlock, who will represent Team GB in the men's all-around event on Thursday.
Whitlock has stepped in to replace Nile Wilson, who is struggling with a sore wrist.
