Rio de Janeiro, April 17 (IANS): London 2012 Olympic gold medallist Arthur Zanetti showed he will again be favourites on the gymnastic rings at the Rio Games with an impressive performance on the first day of the sport's official Olympic test event.

The 26-year-old Brazilian posted the day's second highest score at the Olympic Arena with 15,800 points, just behind the current world champion Eleftherios Petrounias of Greece, who collected 15,900 points on Saturday, reports Xinhua news agency.

"It was a deserved result. I put in a good performance with a decent finish," Zanetti said.

"The rings weren't the same as they are in training but we managed to overcome that."

Some 331 athletes from 62 countries and regions are competing in the test event - which includes artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline.

Brazil, Japan, China, Britain, Russia, the United States, Switzerland and South Korea have already qualified for gymnastic berths at the Rio Games in August.