South Korean rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae won the individual all-around at the eighth Rhythmic Gymnastics Asian Championships in Uzbekistan, becoming the first athlete to triumph in the event three consecutive times.

In Tashkent on Monday (local time), Son earned 73.750 points in total from hoop, ball, ribbon and clubs after two days at the Asian Championships. She beat Elizaveta Nazarenkova of Uzbekistan by 2.3 points to defend her Asian individual all-around title, which she previously claimed in 2013 and 2015. The biennial competition was originally slated for 2017, but the Asian Gymnastics Union (AGU) decided to hold the competition this year. Sabina Ashirbayeva of Kazakhstan was third at 70.500.

Son was taking the lead after hoop (18.450) and ball (18.500) programs Sunday. She scored 18.200 in ribbon and 18.600 in clubs Monday, respectively, to seal her title. The 21-year-old finished first in all four apparatuses.

Son's overall score in the individual all-around fell short of her personal best of 73.900, which she set at the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) World Cup in Italy in April.

Son will aim to sweep the gold medals in this competition as she reached all four apparatus finals, open to the top eight gymnasts in each category from the individual all-around. She will perform on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, there was no qualification round for the individual all-around at this year's Asian Championships as the AGU decided to minimize the competition schedule. 

Son, fifth in individual all-around at the 2012 London Games, is gearing up for her first medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games in August. She has collected medals in every event she has competed in this season. After winning four medals at the Moscow Grand Prix, she picked up a handful of medals at the FIG World Cups in Russia, Finland, Portugal and Italy. (Yonhap)