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Vinay Nayudu
Doha
A maiden gold by 16-year-old Li Qi of China on the balance beam, an electrifying show on the floor by American Jade Carey for a golden double, and three-time world champion Dutchman Epke Zonderland’s unfortunate fall in the high bar made for a fascinating finale of the 12th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup which came to a close at the Aspire Dome on Saturday.
Watched by a large and appreciate audience once again, the final day of the four-day event was pulsating with all the five individual apparatus competitions (three for men and two for women) produced absorbing contests and enthralling performances from some of the world’s very best.
While there was big delight for some, there was also huge disappointment for a few who were expected to emerge on top given their status and form.
Ensuring her second gold medal at the meet, 18-year-old Carey lit up the arena with a sizzling floor exercise being the last to hit the stage and up against strong shows of Italians Lara Mori and Vanessa Ferrari.
The nimble-footed and short-statured gymnast, however, stood tall with an imposing routine which had clean backflip landings. Backed by a technically sharp finish, Carey flew up the scoreboard with a tally 14.466, much ahead of the second-placed Mori (13.433) and Ferrari (13.300).
“It feels pretty good. I think this week went pretty well,” said the American, who had also claimed gold in Vault on Friday.
“There definitely was some pressure (in the floor final) since we all competed together last week so I knew it was going to be a good competition here in Doha as well. I was just focused on not getting nervous,” she added.
Earlier, in the women’s Balance Beam, Belgium’s Nina Derwael, who swept the Uneven Bars competition, couldn’t complete the dream of a golden double.
Derwael, who has often accepted to her being weak comparatively on this apparatus, was edged by quite a confident Qi Li.
The Chinese logged 14.333 points to Derwael’s 13.633 for her first World Cup gold. Frenchwoman Marine Boyer finished third.
Elated and flashing the victory sign while receiving the medal, Li Qi couldn’t hide her emotion.
“I was very nervous before the final, competing against the best gymnasts,” she said.
“It’s my first gold in World Cup and I am very happy to achieve that. We have a tough competition in China and this win will give me a lot of confidence,” she added.
Derwael was gracious saying, “Li Qi was better and I am not surprised with her victory. Overall, I am happy. Coming to Doha always gives excites me as I have achieved a lot here.”
Among the men’s, the highly anticipated Horizontal Bar saw favourite Zonderland suffer a fall early into his routine stunning the crowd into silence.
“My first release was itself a mistake because I was too close to the bar and then the second was that you have to throw yourself over the bar and again I was too close thereby I couldn’t hold on to the bar properly and I fell down. I made a technical mistake and it’s highly disappointing,” explained the Dutch later.
“I expected to do better because the whole week I was tired but today I felt strong and I thought let’s go for it but sadly this happened. I really wanted to excel, it was a festive atmosphere. At this level you can’t win with your routine exercise, you have to be at your best,” he added.
Eventually, it was Croatia’s Tin Srbic who managed to beat his nerves by competing last, after waiting patiently for the other seven gymnasts to finish.
The 2017 Horizonal Bar world champion raised the highest score (14.400) to defeat by small margin, Japan’s Hidetaka Miyachi (14.300).
“It was a tough final in Doha, because it was like it was like a World Championships final with all these great competitors. It is always hard for me to go last. The scores were lower than I expected. I needed over 14.3 to get the gold. I did the best. For now I am satisfied with what I did”, he said.
Miyachi was challenging but came just short. Cuba’s Randy Leru was third (14.000).
On the Vault, the 2012 Olympics gold medalist Hakseon Yang earned his secondWorld Cup win of the season.
The Korean was awarded with 15.266 points, including a 15.466 score for his first vault. The winner of the first World Cup in Melbourne, Igor Radilov (Ukraine) with 14.916 points was second again to Yang after the 1-2 at the previous World Cup in Baku.
“It is a long season, I am happy with my results so far. Next year everything will be clearer, regarding the Olympic qualification”, said Radilov.
Armenian Artur Davtyan was third with 14.695, having suffered a fall in his second effort.
China’s Jingyan Zou put up an impressive performance on the Parallel Bars and
took victory with a great margin (15.700). Finishing second was Russia’s
Vladislav Polyasov (15.066) while Australian Mitchell Morgans was third (14.566).
A total of 128 male and 60 female gymnasts from 57 countries took part in the World Cup, hosted for the 12th consecutive year by Qatar.Results
Men
VaultcTypeface:> 1. Hakseon Yang (KOR) 15.266; 2. Igor Radivilov (UKR) 14.916; 3. Artur Davityan (ARM) 14.695.
Parellel BarscTypeface:> 1. Jingyuan Zou (CHN) 15.700; 2. Vladislav Poliashov (RUS) 15.066; 3. Mitchell Morgans (AUS) 14.566.
Horizontal BarcTypeface:> 1. Tin Srbic (CRO) 14.400; 2. Hidetaka Miyachi (JPN) 14.300; 3. Randy Leru (CUB) 14.000.
Women
Balance BeamcTypeface:> 1. Li Qi (CHN) 14.333; 2. Nina Derwael (BEL) 13.633; 3. Marine Boyer (FRA) 13.333.
Floor ExercisecTypeface:> 1. Jade Carey (USA) 14.466; Lara Mori (ITA) 13.433; 3. Vanessa Ferrari (ITA) 13.300.
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24/03/2019
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