2020 Melbourne World Cup: Day 1 results and notes

And we’re off! The first of the final three FIG Individual Apparatus World Cups kicked off with the Melbourne World Cup on Thursday (like 2 a.m. Thursday if you live on the U.S. East Coast).

This is the final stretch for athletes hoping to secure a nominative spot for themselves (not their federation) to the Tokyo Games, and competition is heating up!

Remember: An athlete can earn Olympic qualification points at each Apparatus World Cup in 2020. The athlete who earned the spot on each apparatus will be announced after the conclusion of the Doha World Cup in late March. There will be 10 athletes total who earn berths to the Tokyo games–six men, four women–via this route.

Day 1 in Melbourne included qualifying for Men’s floor exercise, pommel horse, and still rings, and Women’s vault and uneven bars.

Continue reading for detailed results, notes, and video!

Men’s

Floor Exercise Qualifying

1. Kirill Prokopev RUS – 15.0 (6.2/8.8)
2. Sunghyun Ryu KOR – 14.5 (6.5/8.0)
3. Milad Karimi KAZ – 14.433 (6.1/8.433)
4. Rayderley Zapata ESP – 14.066 (6.3/7.866)
5. Ethan Dick NZL – 13.966 (5.5/8.466)
6. Jorge Vega Lopez GUA – 13.933 (5.8/8.233)
7. Yahor Sharamkou BLR – 13.9 (5.9/8.0)
8. Bram Verhofstad NED – 13.633 (5.8/7.833)
9. R1 Hayden Skinner GBR – 13.533 (6.5/7.133)
10. R2 Clay Mason Stephens AUS – 13.5 (5.7/7.9)
11. R3 Ilyas Azizov KAZ – 13.4 (5.7/7.9)

Notes: The big story with men’s floor was a last-minute injury that forced Japan’s Kazuki Minami to withdraw from competition. Russia’s Prokopev, the former junior European champion on floor, competed at the Apparatus World Cup in Cottbus last fall, qualifying second and finishing in sixth. Here, he qualified first. Can he continue with that momentum in the final? Current World Cup leader Zapata made some uncharacteristic mistakes, so look for him to recover in the final. In fan-favorite news, the Netherland’s Verhofstad qualified in the final spot.

Pommel Horse Qualifying

1. Stephen Nedoroscik USA – 14.6 (6.2/8.4)
2. Saeedreza Keikha IRI – 14.4 (6.1/8.3)
3. Vladislav Poliashov RUS – 14.3 (6.0/8.3)
4. Kohei Kameyama JPN – 14.3 (6.8/7.5)
5. Joshua Nathan GBR – 14.233 (6.5/7.733)
6. Fu Jie Tan MAS – 14.2 (6.0/8.2)
7. Robert Seligman CRO – 14.133 (5.9/8.233)
8. Thierry Pellerin CAN – 14.1 (6.2/7.9)
9. R1 Ilyas Azizov KAZ – 13.8 (6.0/7.8)
10. R2 Saso Bertoncelj SLO – 13.733 (5.7,/8.033)
11. R3 Kirill Prokopev RUS – 13.733 (6.1/7.633)

Notes: U.S. pommel horse specialist Nedoroscik had a great outing but not nearly his best. The Penn State gymnast didn’t perform the upgraded routine he was planning due to a bad warmup. Look for him to upgrade in the final if he wants to challenge Japan’s Kameyama. In other news, despite not making the finals, the Netherland’s Verhofstad successfully competed a new skill that should be dubbed “The Verhofstad” in the Code of Points moving forward.

Still Rings Qualifying

1. Eleftherios Petrounias GRE – 15.058 (6.3/8.758)
2. Courtney Tulloch GBR – 14.7 (6.2/8.5)
3. Mahdi Ahmad Kohani IRI – 14.633 (6.2/8.433)
4. Ali Zahran EGY – 14.5 (6.2/8.3)
5. Kiu Chung Ng HKG – 14.333 (6.0/8.333)
6. Hamza Yilmaz TUR – 13.2 (5.5/7.7)
7. Devy Dyson NZL – 13.033 (5.3/7.733)
8. Rick Jacobs NED – 12.766 (5.0/7.766)
9. R1 Sebastian Gawronski POL – 12.466 (4.6/7.866)
10. R2 Federico Molinari ARG – 12.333 (5.6/6.733)
11. R3 Shoichi Yamamoto JPN – 12.266 (5.3/6.966)

Notes: Reigning Olympic champion Petrounias is treading water right now. He needs to win these final three events in the Apparatus World Cup series if he wants a shot at returning to the Games and defending his title. Great Britain’s Tulloch is looking more and more consistent.

(P.S. Petrounias and wife Vasiliki Millousi (’00,’12,’16 Olympian) had a daughter back in November, and he wants to dedicate an Olympic medal to her. How sweet!)

Women’s

Vault Qualifying

1. Jade Carey USA – 15.049 (6.0/9.266 & 5.4/9.433)
2. Shoko Miyata JPN – 14.166 (5.4/8.866 & 5.2/8.866)
3. Coline Devillard FRA – 14.050 (5.8/9.0 & 5.4/7.9)
4. Ahtziri Sandoval MEX – 13.916 (5.6/8.933 & 4.6/8.8)
5. 5T Maria Paseka RUS – 13.883 (5.4/8.966 & 4.8/8.7)
6. 5T Angelina Radivilova UKR – 13.883 (5.4/8.4 & 5.2/8.866)
7. Teja Belak SLO – 13.849 (5.4/8.366 & 5.0/8.933)
8. Tjana Kysselef SLO – 13.733 (5.0/8.8 & 4.8/8.866)
9. R1 Makarena Pinto Adasme CHI – 13.633 (5.6/8.433 & 5.2/8.333)
10. R2 Emma Spence CAN – 13.333 (5.0/8.9 & 4.1/8.666)
11. R3 Georgia Godwin AUS – 12.999 (5.2/7.633 & 4.6/8.866)

Notes: World silver medalist Carey continues to look sharp and consistent. The U.S. standout is literally paving her own path to Tokyo (go girl!), and with a win in the final, she should easily assure herself of at least a share of the series title on vault.

2012 and 2016 Olympic vault medalist Paseka competed watered down exercises, which will only get her to the middle of the pack. She’ll need to upgrade to medal in the final, but really, gold is Carey’s to lose.

Uneven Bars Qualifying

1. Anastasiia Iliankova RUS – 14.8 (6.3/8.5)
2. Daria Spiridonova RUS – 14.266 (6.1/8.166)
3. Diana Varinska UKR – 14.1 (6.0/8.1)
4. Anastasiia Bachynska UKR – 13.466 (5.7/7.766)
5. Aoka Mori JPN – 13.333 (5.7/7.633)
6. Georgia-Rose Brown AUS – 13.266 (5.5/7.766)
7. Georgia Godwin AUS – 13.066 (5.6/7.466)
8. Kokoro Fukasawa JPN – 12.933 (5.8/7.133)
9. R1 Ahtziri Sandoval MEX – 12.766 (5.4/7.366)
10. R2 Emma Spence CAN – 12.7 (5.2/7.5)
11. R3 Ondine Achampong GBR – 12.458 (5.5/6.958)

Notes: Russia’s embattled bars specialist Iliankova had a dominating outing and should be able to secure a win with the Chinese gymnasts absent. Barring any mistakes, this qualifying top 3 should carry over to the podium. Shoutout to the Aussies for putting up solid performances on home soil and qualifying both their bars workers to finals!