A robot drew cheers from the packed crowd at China’s inaugural World Humanoid Robot Games — until it spectacularly face-planted and had to be hauled off stage by two real people.

The pratfall during Thursday’s opening ceremony in Beijing offered a fitting window into the limitations of the machines during the three-day showcase of robotic ambition.

More than 500 humanoid robots from 280 teams across 16 countries gathered to compete in everything from soccer to sprinting, with mixed results. 4

Teams from the United States, Germany, Japan and Brazil brought their mechanical athletes to compete alongside Chinese universities including Tsinghua and Peking, plus three ambitious middle schools.

But the robots had other plans. During soccer matches, four mechanical players crashe

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