Romania’s Ponor floors rivals with thrilling show

By N D  Prashant /Doha

Catalina Ponor of Romania in action on the beam yesterday at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics Challenge Cup in Doha. Picture: Jayaram

Romanian star gymnast Catalina Ponor personifies grit and determination. The Athens Olympics triple gold medallist’s immense self belief has not only got her back on her feet after a career-threatening knee injury but also taken her back to the top of her game. Ponor enthralled the crowd at the Aspire Dome with her flawless performance in both her pet events – the floor and beam – on the concluding day of the 5th FIG Artistic Gymnastics Challenge Cup. The 24-yr-old thus gave enough evidence that she has regained top form in the Olympic year.Ponor had announced her retirement from the sport in 2007 but resumed training last year, making a successful comeback at the Romanian National Championships. “Winning two medals is quite normal for me. I’ve won gold several times but yes it is the right preparation but I want to keep working more hard.“ I want to do better because I want to do the same thing that I did in 2004,” said a visibly pleased Ponor, who was a class apart from the rest on the field and won the floor and beam event comprehensively with total of 15.257 and 15.300 respectively.“I would say I’m reaching the same level that I had in 2004. It was hard to make a comeback but all the time I was thinking that I can do it. I kept telling myself over and over again that I have to work hard. I think that helped me to get back in good shape. I will not relax till I get to my goal,” said Ponor, who will be returning to Romania to prepare for the European Championships.The silver in the floor event was bagged by Ponor’s compatriot Diana Laura Bulimar with 14,725 points, while China’s Yuyuan Jiang with 14.000 points claimed bronze.“I’m very pleased with my showing but I want to improve. We have qualified for the Olympics as a team but I have not qualified individually. I would like to keep working hard ahead of the European Championship. This was a good tournament,” said the 17-year-old Bulimar.  

Gymnastics officials pose with some of the winners yesterday

Unlike in the women’s section, China dominated the men’s action on the final day, with the top honours going to them in all the three events of the day – horizontal bar, parallel bar and vault.Kai Zou, who won the floor gold on Thursday, completed a grand double by winning gold in the horizontal bar with another inspired performance that fetched him 16.075points. Weiyang Guo clinched gold in the parallel bar brushing aside the challenge from Frenchman Yann Cucherat with 15.275 points, while Wie Du completed the clean sweep for the Chinese by winning the men’s Vault with a total of 16.012 points.  Women’s floor: Catalina Ponor (ROU) 15.275, Diana Laura Bulimar (ROU) 14.725, Yuyuan Jiang (CHN) 14.000; Women’s beam: Catalina Ponor (ROU) 15.300, Ashleigh Brennan (AUS) 14.325, Marta Pihan-Kulesza (POL) 13.900; Men’s horizontal bar: Kai Zou (CHN) 16.075, Yann Cucherat (FRA) 15.275, Weiyang Guo (CHN) 14.900; Men’s parallel bar: Weiyang Guo (CHN) 15.275, Yann Cucherat (FRA) 15.200, Claudio Capelli (SUI) 14.900; Men’s Vault: Wei Du (CHN) 16.012, Artur Davtyan (ARM) 15.725, Marek Lyszczarz (POL) 15.550.