‘DON’T shoot the messenger,’ exclaim the Chinese gymnasts accused of ambush marketing at the Asian Games who find themselves in considerable amount of hot water in Guangzhou.

HOT WATER: Teng Haibin (L) and Lu Bo (R) make a gun-shaped hand gesture on the gymnastics podium at the Asian Games (Reuters)

China have won 13 of the 14 gold medals on offer in the gymnasium and plenty of gold and silvers to boot – so they have been permanent fixtures on the podium.

And a handful of them have been making rather peculiar hand gestures – resembling a gun-shape, but also not too dissimilar to the sports manufacturer named Li Ning, after the three-time Olympic champion.

As Li Ning is not an Asian Games sponsor, the Chinese team is being investigated for ambush marketing by the Olympic Council of Asia.

Men’s all-around gold medallist Teng Haibin may have landed his team in hot water after he wasn’t exactly discreet about the gesture following his victory on Monday.

“This is a gesture that’s required as part of the deal with our sponsor,” he said, explaining that it was meant to resemble Li Ning’s “L” shaped logo.

But Chen Yibing and He Kexin have tried to pour cold water on the situation, insisting the gesture has been completely misunderstood.

“The gesture looks like the letter ‘l’, the first letter of the English word love, so it means love,” Olympic rings champion Chen said.

He added: “We decided to do that together before the competition as a celebration gesture, nothing (about) business, just for fun.”

Nice try but those hand gestures look like smoking guns to me.

GREAT Britain’s Beth Tweddle says she can retire from gymnastics a happy woman after securing bronze in the London 2012 women’s uneven bars final – Team GB’s first-ever medal in the individual event.

BRONZE MEDAL: Beth Tweddle win’s bronze in the women’s uneven bars to heal Beijing hurt

Three-time world champion Tweddle, Britain’s most successful gymnast ever, posted a score of 15.916 after a difficult routine – but an unstable landing denied her a different coloured medal.

However the 27-year-old, who plans to retire following London 2012, insists she is over the moon to finally secure an Olympic medal after finishing an agonising fourth in Beijing.

She said: “This is the one medal that I wanted to finish my career. It was the one that was missing from my collection; I wasn’t bothered what colour it was.

“It is my third Olympics, everyone knows I wanted this one medal to be able to finish my career happy. This was the one thing that was missing.”

Russian Aliya Mustafina took home the gold with a huge 16.133 as title holder He Kexin settled for silver with 15.933, and Tweddle had a nervous wait as she sat in second place with three gymnasts still to go.

The USA’s double-Olympic champion Gabrielle Douglas couldn’t add to her fantastic medal haul from London as she finished in last place and ensured the Brit held on to third place.

There was no doubt as to who the home crowd had been supporting, with Tweddle receiving a rapturous reception from the North Greenwich Arena crowd as she signed off her career in style.

And the South African-born Brit admits her fairytale ending looked in danger after pre-Olympic surgery on a knee injury cast doubt on her quest for home glory.

“Twelve weeks ago I couldn’t think about competing here. I cried myself to sleep back then because I thought it was the end of my Olympics,” she said.

“Tonight it will be easy to sleep, because I have a medal.”

GREAT Britain’s Louis Smith paid tribute to rival Krisztian Berki after the Hungarian beat him to the London 2012 men’s pommel horse gold in the narrowest of fashions.

TWO-THREE: Louis Smith and Max Whitlock push Team GB’s gymnastics medal tally up to three in the home Games

After Berki posted a huge 16.066, Smith could only replicate the two-time world champion’s score and his lower execution total saw him take silver instead, ahead of fellow Brit Max Whitlock in third.

And despite missing out on Olympic glory on home soil by the slimmest margin, 23-year-old Smith insists there is no shame to coming second to the Hungarian.

He said: “We’re great rivals but we’re good friends. If I was going to be beat by anyone apart from Max (Whitlock), Krisztian Berki is that guy.

“He will go down as one of the greatest pommel horse workers ever and the fact that I came second to him is something to be proud of.”

When securing a bronze pommel medal in Beijing, Smith became the first British man to secure a medal in the event since 1908, and had been tipped to win gold as he posted the highest qualifying score.

A flawless performance from 23-year-old Smith, who became the first British male gymnast in over a century to win an individual Olympic medal with bronze in Beijing, sent the crowd into raptures as it seemed he had done enough to secure gold.

But the Hungarian’s execution score of 9.166 was enough to better Smith’s 9.006 and despite the Brit posting a better score for difficulty, Berki secured Olympic glory.

Teammate Whitlock secured third place after producing a terrific performance to take 15.600, including 9.000 for execution, to add to his bronze from the team final.

And Smith, the captain of the men’s gymnasts who secured the first team medal since 1912, admits that he may have struggled with the weight of expectation on his shoulders.

“It was very tough. Being a British athlete in the home Games is very nerve wracking, especially with the build-up that we’ve had over the past couple of years,” he said

“It was hard to come out into this final and the crowd roaring and two excellent scores that had gone before me so it was a tough job.”

Whitlock produced a terrific performance to secure a score of 15.600 to cap off a dream London 2012 campaign with his second medal.

And the 19-year-old, tipped as one of British gymnastics’ brightest prospects, admitted he was surprised to pick up another medal.

He said: “It was basically whoever went out there and did the cleanest routine would get a medal, Louis did a great job and I’m very happy to get a medal.

“I have two bronze medals now, this is unbelievable. It’s crazy. I didn’t think I would get one so to come home with two is an amazing feeling.”