Japan completed their qualifications performance and dominated subdivision seven, however, they still fell behind China after having a few falls. 


Floor

 

First up on floor, Shogo Nonomura puts up a solid routine for Japan in their lead off position. Started the routine with a powerful 2.5 front twist, followed with a front double full to front tuck half, stuck cold. Tanaka Yusuke takes the second spot in the floor lineup for Japan. Begins the routine with an impressive tuck full to 2.5 twist. Steps out of bounds on his third pass. Huge triple twist to end the routine! 

 

Ryohei Kato has an absolutely incredible first pass of backwards 3.5 twists into a punch front half. Does an excellent job of showcasing powerful tumbling and nearly perfect twisting passes. Nails his set for Japan. 15.833 for the 2013 World All-around runner-up. 

Kohei Uchimura is absolutely stunning on floor. Huge 1.5 to 2.5 twisting first pass. Following with a full tuck to double full twist, absolutely no movement on the landing. Massive triple twist to finish the routine for Japan. Puts up a big 15.80 for the team. 
 

Kenzo Shirai is the anchor for Japan’s first event, no surprise there. His twisting elements are spectacular. First pass was a backwards 3.5 twist into a punch front full forward. Ends the routine with a backwards quad. First time we’ve seen the pass in qualifications. Landings are as close to perfect as anyone can come. Scored a current high of 16.033 to end the first event. 

 

Pommel Horse

 

Nonomura lead Japan off on pommel horse. Performed the routine they were looking for in that lead off position- solid with no major breaks, and a high level of difficulty executed with great precision.

Kato suffers the first fall of the competition for Japan. Despite the mistake, Kato has shown great extension on the pommel with another routine consisting of high difficulty and incredible execution. The fall is obviously uncharacteristic and the team will look to make up for it. Tanaka performs in the third lineup spot for Japan. During one of his handstands, he takes a step off the pommel, regains his com posture and continues the routine without any other form breaks. Finished a solid routine with a stuck landing. 14.508. 

Uchimura delivers a set that further endorses his ‘King Kohei’ nickname. Great hip extension, technical form perfection, high start value, and another stuck landing. Kohei adds a 15.166 to the teams’ score. Kohei Kameyama with a second fall for Japan on the pommel, which means they will count one fall for the total score. Started off the routine looking solid, but didn’t perform the stellar routine we all know he’s capable of. 14.300. 

 

Rings

 

Kato in the lead off position on rings. Could have held his strength hold longer, overall solid first routine for Japan. Scored a 14.90. Tanaka up second on rings. Performed two v-cross variation skills and he nails a great routine. Showcases his strength by holding his skills and great control on handstand work. 15.300. 

Uchimura up third on rings. Begins with a kip to Maltese, roll to a cross with an impressive hold. Hit a solid routine with a big stick on the landing! Japan needed that routine. Scored a 15.266. Nonomuro with an impressive piked Yama to inverted cross, shows control of all strength skills. 15.066, continued to put up big scores for the event score. 

Kameyama with a big hit for Japan! Great picked to tuck Yama to Homna to cross combination, and a stuck dismount! Really impressive on this event with obvious strength and control enough to perform a strong routine for this country. 14.333 score, arguably low for such a great performance. 

Vault

 

Tanaka, first on vault completes a big Kas 1.5. Big step forward on the landing that crosses the line for deduction. Scored a 14.60. Nonomura up second in the vault lineup. Tsuk 2.5 twist with great amplitude and execution. Small hop forward on the landing, but stays between the lines. 14.833. Kato performs the Lopex vault with a decent step forward on the landing that crossed over the deduction line. 14.866. 

Shirai performed two vaults during the rotation. First vault, Yurchenko triple twist with a slightly low landing, but solid. Second vault, Tsuk 2.5 with a STUCK landing! Average scores of 15.195, and is temporarily ranked 4th on the event. Uchimura put up a big 15.266 score to anchor Japan on vault with a handspring 2.5, small hop on the landing. 

 

After concluding four events, Japan leads team rankings with 242.611. 

 

Parallel Bars

 

Shirai up first on parallel bars. Starts the routine with a beautiful peach, giant, giant to Suarez, and displays elegant lines and precise form. Kato up second on the event. Performs a huge giant double back, great amplitude catches the bar smoothly. Ends the routine with a double pike dismount, big stick! Scored a 15.533 and took the third place ranking on the event. 

Nonomura with a big peach to one bar, peach half, peach, to a massive giant double back. He gets incredible height on each element and shows great precision throughout the routine. 

Uchimura with another solid routine for Japan! Performs another consistent routine with a Makutz, Healy, Dimitrenko, peach half, beautiful execution on his giant double pike into giant Suarez, finished with a double piked dismount and a stuck landing! Scored a 15.333. 

Tanaka anchored the parallel bars with a 15.7, putting him in second place on the event. 

 

After five rotations, Japan has the lead in team scores with a 304.377. ghina follows in second place with a 300.516, and Great Britain in third place with a 296.794. 

 

High Bar

 

Kameyama in the lead off position on high bar. Huge Kolman to hop full, stalder Rybalko to mixed connection. Ends the set with a double layout full twist dismount, but took a big hop on the landing. Nonomura up third in the lineup, and falls on his layed out tkatchev! Seemed to just miss the bar and landed on his feet. Re-mounted the bar and absolutely dominated the remainder of his set, including a double layout double twisting dismount, stuck cold. 13.400. 

Kato with an incredibly high first tkatchev, amazing amplitude on each release throughout the routine. Kolman into a stalder Rybalkoto mixed, clean combination. Finished with a decent score of 14.366. Tanaka begins with a Cassina, stalder Rybalko to a Kolman and another Rybalko. Great bar worker- long lines and great execution. Went for the dismount, and put his hands down on the landing. Another fall for Japan. Scored a 14.266.

Uchimura anchors on high bar and shows his elegance. Japan needed a hit routine after Tanaka’s fall. Finished Japan’s qualifications with a 15.200 and is temporarily ranked 2nd on the event. 

Results: Men's Qualification's Day 2

Watch Japan take on each event at the 2014 World Championships Qualifications: