The first day of qualifications has wrapped up at the Anadia World Challenge Cup, and the field is set for five event finals: men’s floor, pommel horse, and rings, and women’s vault and uneven bars.

 

The USA’s Eddie Penev qualified in first place to the floor final with a 15.30, followed by Enrique Tomas Gonzalez (CHI) with a 15.05. Sam Mikulak (USA) also made it to the finals with the fourth-highest qualifying score of 14.95. On pommels, Bo Wang of China set himself apart from the field with a 15.40 for the top qualifying spot. USA’s Alex Naddour tied with Zoltan Kallai (HUN) for the second qualifying spot with a 14.95. Unfortunately Mikulak was not able to put together a clean routine, and he finished in 26th place with an 11.95. Naddour also advanced to the finals on his other event, the still rings, with a 14.80 and the third highest score. However, it was Arthur Zanetti (BRA) who set himself apart on this apparatus with a 15.80 (D-score 6.7) and a full 0.85-point lead over second-place qualifier Markku Vahtila (FIN). Mikulak was preliminarily expected to compete on rings but decided not to participate.

 

There were also several expected competitors from the women's preliminary participant list who did not take part in qualifications; among them were Noemi Makra (HUN) and Oksana Chusovitina (UZB). With their absence, the door stood open a bit wider for other gymnasts hoping to qualify to the finals. On vault, Martina Castro (CHI) nabbed the top qualifying score with a 13.725 average, while Jessica Lopez (VEN) led the uneven bars field by a wide margin of 0.65 points above the second-place qualifier. Her score of 14.15 (D-score 6.2) will be tough to beat in the finals.

Results via Anadia Challenge Cup

Men's Floor


Men's Pommel Horse


Men's Rings


Women's Vault


Women's Uneven Bars