Sergio Sasaki Junior of Brazil put up a clinical display in the men’s Vault final at the 4th FIG ART Challenge Cup to clinch gold with 16.012pts.
The silver and bronze went to China’s Yuguo Huang and Kai Zou, respectively. Huang accumulated 15.850pts while Zou managed 15.750pts for his effort.
In the men’s parallel bar, Germany’s Christopher Jursch bagged 14.800pts for gold ahead of Yernar Yerimbetov of Kazakhstan and Felipe Andres Pina Valenzuela of Chile .
This was the only event were the Chinese gymnasts did not figure in the top three on the last of the event.
The Chinese gymnasts, however, finished first and second in the men’s horizontal bar. Kai Zou took the top honours with 16.425 pts, while compatriot Xuezhang Chen settled for the silver with 15.175pts. Coming third was Kevin Rossi, who managed 14.500pts for his effort.
Qatar’s Ahmed put up a good show to qualify for the horizontal bar final, but failed to keep his form going. He started well but suddenly stopped midway through his routine and had to start all over again and that severally dented his medal prospects.
“I’m happy that I came this far. I just lost it as I was thinking ahead. But this experience will do a world of good to my confidence,” said a dejected looking Ahmed.
In the women’s action, Sixin Tan of China got the better of second placed Ashleigh Brennan of Australia to claim gold in the balance beam final with 14.550pts. Belgium’s Gaelle Mys settled for the bronze after pocketing 13.400pts for her efforts.
“It’s a great start and I want to continue to do well and qualify in the team for the London Olympics,” said a visibly pleased silver medallist Brennan after the medals ceremony.
Qatar Gymnastics Federation President Ali Ahmed al-Hitmi revealed that the tournament has come a long way. “I think we have done our best and the response that we got from the gymnasts here has been positive. We would like to keep improving from here on and like to make this sport as popular as we can among the people here. We will be seeing many more gymnasts from Qatar in the coming years. This tournament must have been a great experience for Ahmed and I’m sure he will do well in future,” revealed al-Hitmi.
On Saturday, Ali al-Asi of Jordan retained his title by beating Chinese gymnasts with a tally of 6.90 in the men’s rings event. China’s Junlin Liao and Qiuhua Liao bagged the silver and bronze, respectively, with scores of 6.80 and 6.70.
“This is a great achievement for me. It was not easy as I was competing with the Chinese who are good at this,” said an elated al-Asi.
In the men’s floor event, hot favourite Zou stayed up to his reputation to clinch gold. Brazil’s Sasaki Junior won the silver while Quihua had to settle for the bronze medal.
In the men’s pommel horse competition, Prashanth Sellathurai of Australia won the gold. Saso Bertoncelj of Slovakia won silver while Quihua won his third bronze of the day.
In the women’s vault, Brazilian star Daniele Matias Hypolito got the better of the rest of the pack to clinch gold. Makarena Pinto Adasme of China won the silver while Dewi Prahara of Indonesia surprised fans with a bronze medal.
In the women’s uneven bars, Tan of China , Larrissa Miller of Australia and Jinnan Yao of China picked up the gold, silver and bronze, respectively.
