Tribune News Network
Doha
The 17th edition of the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup (Taishan) will swing into action at the Aspire Dome on Wednesday. The four-day spectacle has the world’s top male and female gymnasts with the event carrying a total prize pool of $50,000 ($5,000 per apparatus). Athletes will compete across 10 apparatus events—6 for men and 4 for women—with prizes awarded to the top eight athletes in each.
The World Cup features 95 male gymnasts and 55 female gymnasts, and the contests will be officiated by 35 international judges. The qualifying rounds will take place over the first two days, followed by the finals on the last two days, all at Aspire Dome.
The championship is expected to deliver an exceptional level of performance, given the calibre of the participants. Among the standout names are: Karbanov (Armenia) - Silver medalist on pommel horse at the Paris Olympics; Star gymnast from Kazakhstan - Olympic silver medalist on vault; Tong Hong (Chinese Taipei) - Bronze medalist on high bar at the Paris Olympics; and Ashaw Yaqian (China) -National champion and Olympic silver medalist on balance beam, among others.
The organizing committee, chaired by Ali Al Hitmi, has completed all preparations, with everything now in place for the competition to begin and for fans to enjoy top-level action.
Al Hitmi confirmed that everyone is fully prepared for the start of this important championship.
“We are proud to host this major event for the 17th consecutive time. All organizing committees have worked tirelessly to ensure this edition is delivered to the highest standards.
“We began our preparations early by forming all working committees and meticulously planning every organizational aspect to ensure smooth operations and avoid leaving anything to chance,” he said.
“We have full confidence in the capabilities of every team member across all committees to fulfill their duties and help deliver a world-class event.
“Through this event and other championships previously hosted by Qatar, we aim to promote the culture of gymnastics. This has been a core mission of the federation since its establishment in 2001,” he added.
The Men’s Judges Committee, headed by Ando Tumbas, Chair of the FIG Technical Committee, held its meeting and conducted the draw for apparatus assignments.
A similar draw was conducted by the Women’s Judges Committee, chaired by Donatella Sacchi, who also serves as Chair of the FIG Women’s Technical Committee. All judges confirmed their readiness to officiate the event.
Al Buainain: We’re ready
to launch
Abeer Al Buainain, Secretary General of the Qatar Gymnastics Federation and Championship Director, also confirmed that everything is in place for the start of the 17th Artistic Gymnastics World Cup (Taishan).
She said: “The federation has worked intensively over the past months. All committee members have gone above and beyond to finalize every detail ahead of this big moment — the official launch of the championship.
“We are proud of the preparations we’ve achieved and have great confidence in all our teams to deliver a world-class event that meets expectations.”
Al Buainain also highlighted the importance of having Qatari gymnasts Rakan Al Hareth and Salma Nasser compete in this championship: “It’s a great opportunity for them as they’ll be competing alongside the world’s best gymnasts. This level of exposure is rare and will help significantly in developing their technical skills. We hope they can achieve something special here, especially after their strong performance at the DOBRO Artistic Gymnastics World Cup inCroatia from April 10 to 13,” she said.
On Tuesday, the participating teams conducted their final training sessions in preparation for Wednesday’s start. All gymnasts appeared in top form during training, delivering strong performances — a promising sign of high-level competition to come in the official matches.
