Uchimura repeats as all-around champion

TOKYO, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Japan's Kohei Uchimura won this third consecutive all-around championship Friday at the World Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo.

Uchimura, 22, placed first or tied for first in four of six categories in becoming the first male gymnast to win three all-around titles. He had the second-best scores in the vault and horizontal bar.

He totaled 93.631 points, easily outdistancing German Philipp Boy, who had 90.530 in taking the silver medal. Japan's Koji Yamamuro was third at 90.255.

By the time the competition got to the vault -- the competition's fourth apparatus -- Uchimura had a substantial lead. He opened the all-around with a competition-best 15.566 in the floor exercise and was scored at 15.400 in the pommel horse, tying French gymnast Cyril Tommasone for the top score in the event.

Uchimura was first in the rings at 15.166. Only Yamamuro also topped 15 on the apparatus.

Romania's Flavius Koczi, at 16.433, had the top vault score, with Uchimura second at 16.233. Uchimura was tops in the parallel bars at 15.566 and Boy's 16.066 was the only score better than Uchimura (15.700) in the horizontal bar.