Gymnast Shek Wai-hung insisted he had exceeded expectations despite missing out on the podium in the men’s vault at the Asian Championships. Hong Kong’s leading vaulter had qualified second best for Saturday’s eight-strong final in Doha, with teammate Ng Ka-ki also making the cut from the original field of 54. Shek, who has battled injuries this year, fell just short in the final, scoring 14.267 – slightly down on his preliminary-round score. His two downgraded routines were only enough to earn him fourth place, as he finished 0.15 outside the medals. Ng finished in seventh place, managing an average score of 13.817 that matched his effort in the preliminary round on Friday. But two-time Olympian Shek, who won gold in the discipline in the 2015 championships, said that his performance had been “above expectation”. And he had some words of encouragement for his 22-year-old compatriot. “I had issues with my hamstring and Achilles tendon, so I couldn’t even do running sessions,” the 30-year-old said. “Given those limitations, I am more than satisfied with my performance. “I’m extremely happy for Ka-ki – he performed so well considering that it is his first final in these championships. He’s very promising and I’m looking forward to seeing him execute more challenging routines soon.” Carlos Yulo, the reigning world vault champion from the Philippines, clinched gold with an average score of 14.884. Kim Han-sol of South Korea and Shiga Tachibana of Japan tied with an average score of 14.417, with Kim taking second place on the basis of a more difficult routine. Shek has secured a spot in this year’s World Championships in Liverpool thanks to his seventh place in the final leg of the World Cup in Baku in April. Before the Asian Championships, the men’s squad travelled to Poland for a two-month preparation camp. “All the World Cups and Asian Championships are just warm-ups for the worlds in October,” Shek said. The women competed in the team event for the first time since 2015, and Angel Wong Hiu-ying, Vanessa Wong and Tsang Ho-sum finished eighth overall with a total score of 124.898. In the individual all-around competition, veteran Angel Wong finished 18th with a total of 42.799, while Vanessa Wong finished 20th with 42.522, outscoring her teammate on three of the four exercises but struggling on the asymmetric bars. China earned eight gold, three silver and five bronze medals, including golds in the men’s and women’s team events.