Smith plays down finger injury

Great Britain gymnast Louis Smith remains hopeful of his chances of competing in next month's World Cup Series event in China despite fracturing his finger.

The 2008 Olympic pommel horse bronze medallist suffered the injury while performing a high bar routine during a training session at his gymnastics club in Huntingdon on Tuesday.

An X-ray showed a slight fracture to the ring finger on his right hand, but Smith does not believe the injury will rule him out of the event which takes place in Zibo between April 7-8.

"The finger's holding up okay as I'm practising my routines and thankfully it doesn't seem to be as bad as I thought," Smith said.

"It's just an occupational hazard being a gymnast and doing what we do.

"From past experiences my initial thought was that I may be out of action for three or four weeks, but thankfully where the problem is it hasn't stopped me from getting on with my training, which is a massive relief."

Smith is one of the poster boys for London 2012, where he hopes to improve on his success from Beijing four years ago.

His injury is being monitored by both the British Gymnastics medical team and Smith's coach, while the gymnast continues with his training on the pommel horse ahead of the World Cup Series event, which he is still expected to travel to next Wednesday.

If Smith misses out, he will turn his attention to the European Championships which take place in Montpellier, France, in May.