1st day competition: Artistic Gymnastics World Championships 13th – 18th October 2009
LONDON (GBR),October 13, 2009: 1st day competition recognize the domination of the Asian Gymnasts during the Men`s Artistic Gymnastics Qualifications
Men’s Qualification
London’s O2 Arena finally opened its doors to the public this morning as the 41st Artistic Gymnastics World Championships got underway with the Men’s qualification round. FIG partner Gymnova supplied a superb set of apparatus and the Organising Committee, in partnership with AEG and British Gymnastics, has delivered a tournament that sets new standards for this sport!
The venue filled up during the day with exuberant fans, an encouragement to the gymnasts here in London. Today’s preliminaries featured 247 gymnasts from 67 different countries, and determined the 24 All-around finalists and eight qualifiers per event who will advance to the Apparatus Final.
Russia’s Maxim Devyatovskiy, 2008 Olympic All-around finalist, led the rankings after subdivision 1 with an overall score of 89.350 in front of US American McNeill (88.775). As the competition unfolded Japan’s Kohei Uchimura (90.925) took over, pushing Devyatovskiy and McNeill back a step.
Subdivision 1
Subdivision 1 saw local All-around hopeful Daniel Keatings (GBR), 2008 Junior European Champion in Lausanne (SUI) and 2009 Senior European All-around Silver medallist, face to face with Russian Maxim Devyatovskiy, Timothy McNeill from the US and Japan’s second All-around competitor Kazuhito Tanaka. With a total of 88.400 Keatings finished third in this subdivision while Devyatovskiy took the lead, scoring the 89.350 that placed US American McNeill in second with 88.775 points. Japanese Tanaka managed an overall 86.650 and settled for fourth after this first round.
Switzerland’s Roman Gisi and Germany’s Marcel Nguyen also made the grade in this All-around with 85.475 and 84.900 points respectively.
23-year-old Chilean Enrique Tomas Gonzalez Sepulveda gave a convincing performance on Floor and Vault where he led the ranking after the last rotation of subdivision 1. China looked good with its two entries, Yan Mingyong and Wang Guanyin, taking the lead on Rings and Parallel Bars respectively. American All-arounder McNeill placed first on Pommel Horse just ahead of Hungarian Vid Hidvegi and North Korean Kyong Hak Kim, who prevailed on Horizontal Bar while his teammate Jin Hyok Kim pocketed the third best score on Rings. Romania was well represented by Marius Daniel Berbeca, who placed second on Vault, followed by 21-year-old Egyptian Abdel Rahman Sobhy Ahmed Sobhy. Canada’s All-around competitor Jackson Payne secured his best result on Horizontal Bar today, placing third in this subdivision.
Opening Ceremony
After the qualifying rounds, the lights were turned off in the arena to signal the beginning of the official opening ceremony but came back on as the flags of 67 countries participating in these world championships were marched in. Paul Garber (GBR), President of British Gymnastics, stood before an impressive audience to address a warm welcome to the gymnasts, coaches, judges, media representatives and spectators.
On behalf of the FIG and its President Prof. Bruno Grandi (ITA), Vice President Slava Corn (CAN) expressed gratitude to the Local Organising Committee, to the management of AEG Europe and The O2 Arena, to the London City Council, to British Gymnastics, to the sponsors and partners and to the many wonderful volunteers who are offering their invaluable support. Corn wished success to the athletes, delegation members and officials in the hopes that these World Championships would be a successful milestone on the road to the London Olympic Games. Finally she declared the 41st Artistic Gymnastics World Championships open.
Leading British female gymnast Elizabeth Tweddle spoke the oath on behalf of the athletes followed by Robin Leewrhy and James May (both GBR), representing the judges.
Gymnasts from local clubs Bromley Valley, Childs Hill Display Team and Harlequins Gymnastics then provided an entertaining show of Acrobatic Gymnastics before the ceremony ended with the exit of the flag bearers.
Subdivision 2
The second subdivision was peppered with several big names in gymnastics: China’s 2008 Olympic Champions Zou Kai (Floor and Horizontal Bar) and Chen Yibing (Rings), Beijing All-around Silver medallist Kohei Uchimura (JPN), 2008 Olympic runner-up on Horizontal Bar Jonathan Horton (USA), Beijing All-around Bronze medallist Benoit Caranobe (FRA) and double World Champion on Rings Iordan Iovtchev (BUL) battled it out this afternoon in The O2 Arena.
2008 Olympic finalist on Floor Alexander Shatilov (ISR), 2007 World Silver medallist and reigning European Champion on Pommel Horse Krisztian Berki (HUN), Slovenian veteran and 2007 World runner-up Aljaz Pegan, Dutch star Epke Zonderland on Parallel Bars and Horizontal Bar, Beijing finalist on Floor and Vault Marian Dragulescu (ROU) and winner of the 2008 World Cup Final on Parallel Bars Feng Zhe (CHN) pleased an excited crowd with exceptional routines.
Local fans cheered on Kristian Thomas, who represented Great Britain on all apparatus in this round; Thomas bagged his best score of 14.550 on the Horizontal Bar.
After completing his routine on Horizontal Bar in the last rotation Japanese Kohei Uchimura took the lead in the All-around ranking with 90.925 points. He was joined at the top by Jonathan Horton (USA), whose 88.000 placed him in fifth for the time being.
Ukrainian Mykola Kuksenkov (87.750), Israeli Alexander Shatilov (87.425), Russian Yury Ryazanov (86.950) and Britain’s Kristian Thomas (86.800) also popped up among the top ten All-around gymnasts at the end of subdivision 2.
Individual apparatus rankings began to take shape after this second subdivision, with three more Chinese gymnasts taking the lead: Zhang Hongtao on Pommel Horse, Feng Zhe on Parallel Bars and Zou Kai on Horizontal Bar. Kohei Uchimura (JPN) prevailed on Floor, followed by Marian Dragulescu (ROU) and Zou Kai. New at the top for Pommel Horse were Krisztian Berki (HUN) and Robert Seligman (CRO). Yan (CHN) kept the lead on Rings, followed by Iordan Iovtchev (BUL) and George Stanescu (ROU). Dragulescu overtook Chilean Gonzalez and his own teammate Berbecar on Vault. Jonathan Horton (USA) and Epke Zonderland joined Zou at the top of the Horizontal Bar ranking after subdivision 2.
Subdivision 3
After a long day of exciting gymnastics performances, the third and final subdivision in Men’s Qualifications finalised the ranking. Famous gymnasts in this group include Russian Anton Golotsutskov (2008 Olympic Bronze medallist on Floor and Vault), Beijing Bronze medallist on Rings Oleksandr Vorobiov from Ukraine, Slovenians Aljaz Pegan (2007 World runner-up on Horizontal Bar), Mitja Petkovsek (2007 World Champion on Parallel Bars) and 2007 World Champion on Floor Diego Hypolito (BRA).
France lined up with Thomas Bouhail (Beijing runner-up and reigning European Champion on Vault), Yann Cucherat (2009 European Champion on Parallel Bars) and Danny Pinheiro-Rodrigues (Beijing finalist on Rings).
The host country’s pride and 2008 Olympic Bronze medallist Louis Smith captured the full attention and support of local fans during his flawless Pommel Horse routine.
Completing the list of big shots tonight were North Korean Se Gwang Ri (2007 World Bronze medallist), Spaniard Isaac Botella Perez (Beijing finalist on Vault) and Italy’s Matteo Morandi (Beijing finalist on Rings).
Tension rose in the O2 Arena as the day wound to a close and people began checking the scoreboards for the final results. The highest All-around rankings remained unchanged after subdivision 3; Uchimura notched the top, followed by Devyatovskiy and McNeill. The leading three gymnasts on Floor and Parallel Bars maintained their status throughout the qualifying rounds, but Hypolito’s 15.400 failed to qualify him for the Floor Final; he finished in a disappointing 9th place and the first reserve position.
Great Britain’s Smith did not disappoint his fans tonight. He scored 15.900, sliding into third place on Pommel Horse.
Danny Pinheiro-Rodrigues looked good on Rings, placing second between Yan and Iovtchev.
On Vault, Golotsutskov pushed Dragulescu down to second, and both were joined on the top by Dragulescu’s teammate Flavius Koczi.
Finally on Horizontal Bar, Italian Igor Cassina and Slovenian Pegan joined Olympic Champion Zou in the lead.
The prestigious All-around Final will feature the following 24 gymnasts this year:
All-around Finalists
1- UCHIMURA Kohei JPN 90.925
2- DEVYATOVSKIY Maxim RUS 89.350
3- MCNEILL Timothy USA 88.775
4- KEATINGS Daniel GBR 88.400
5- HORTON Jonathan USA 88.000
6- KUKSENKOV Mykola UKR 87.750
7- SHATILOV Alexander ISR 87.425
8- RYAZANOV Yury RUS 86.950
9- THOMAS Kristian GBR 86.800
10- TANAKA Kazuhito JPN 86.650
11- WAMMES Jeffrey NED 86.300
12- RIVERA Luis PUR 86.050
13- POZZO Enrico ITA 85.925
14- ALMEIDA CAMPOS Manuel POR 85.600
15- GISI Roman SUI 85.475
16- VARGAS VELAZQUEZ Luis PUR 85.075
17- GIRALDO LOPEZ Jorge Hugo COL 85.000
18- LUGO SICHACA Didier Yamit COL 84.975
19- NGUYEN Marcel GER 84.900
20- CARANOBE Benoit FRA 84.550
21- MUNOZ Sergio ESP 84.475
22- BOESCHENSTEIN Nicolas SUI 84.425
23- MOLINARI Federico ARG 83.600
24- SASAKI JUNIOR Sergio BRA 83.125
The following gymnasts qualified for the Apparatus Finals in today’s Qualification:
Apparatus Finalists
Floor
1- UCHIMURA Kohei JPN 15.775
2- DRAGULESCU Marian ROU 15.725
3- ZOU Kai CHN 15.675
4- GONZALEZ SEPULVEDA Enrique Tomas CHI 15.575
5- FAHRIG Matthias GER 15.525
6- SHATILOV Alexander ISR 15.475
7- LEGENDRE Steven USA 15.475
8- OKIGUCHI Makoto JPN 15.425
Pommel Horse
1- ZHANG Hongtao CHN 16.275
2- BERKI Krisztian HUN 16.100
3- SMITH Louis GBR 15.900
4- KOCZI Flavius ROU 15.625
5- SELLATHURAI Prashanth AUS 15.575
6- TOMMASONE Cyril FRA 15.450
7- SELIGMAN Robert CRO 15.350
8- MCNEILL Timothy USA 15.350
Rings
1- YAN Mingyong CHN 15.900
2- PINHEIRO-RODRIGUES Danny FRA 15.625
3- IOVTCHEV Iordan BUL 15.600
4- VOROBIOV Oleksandr UKR 15.550
5- MORANDI Matteo ITA 15.450
6- STANESCU George ROU 15.450
7- AIT SAID Samir FRA 15.350
8- NABARRETE ZANETTI Arthur BRA 15.250
Vault
1- GOLOTSUTSKOV Anton RUS 16.412
2- DRAGULESCU Marian ROU 16.362
3- KOCZI Flavius ROU 16.337
4- BOUHAIL Thomas FRA 16.312
5- RI Se Gwang PRK 16.262
6- BOTELLA PEREZ Isaac ESP 16.112
7- FAHRIG Matthias GER 16.012
8- WAMMES Jeffrey NED 15.987
Parallel Bars
1- FENG Zhe CHN 15.950
2- WANG Guanyin CHN 15.800
3- TANAKA Kazuhito JPN 15.600
4- KIERZKOWSKI Adam POL 15.375
5- TSOLAKIDIS Vasileios GRE 15.375
6- CUCHERAT Yann FRA 15.375
7- YOO Won Chul KOR 15.300
8- ZONDERLAND Epke NED 15.175
Horizontal Bar
1- ZOU Kai CHN 15.600
2- CASSINA Igor ITA 15.500
3- PEGAN Aljaz SLO 15.475
4- LEYVA Danell USA 15.450
5- HORTON Jonathan USA 15.325
6- ZONDERLAND Epke NED 15.300
7- UCHIMURA Kohei JPN 15.250
8- TSAREVICH Aliaksandr BLR 15.100
