Today is the last day of the Artistic Gymnastics and boy are we going to be in for a treat! Both the Parallel Bars and the High Bar finals are packed full of some of the top specialists on these apparatus including: Feng Zhe, Marcel Nguyen and Zhang Chenglong on the Pbars, and Epke Zonderland, Zou Kai and Zhang Chenglong on the spectacular High Bar. My top tips for today are Feng Zhe on the Pbars and Epke Zonderland on the High Bar.
PARALLEL BARS:
1. First up was the current World Silver medallist Zhang Chenglong, who started with some massive skills but unfortunately a wrong hand placement on one of his under bar elements forced Zhang to part with the apparatus, scoring him a 13.808.
2. Next up was the Frenchman Hamilton Sabot, and a good result here would be a medal for the whole team as the French squad has suffered from so many injuries this year when they should have been challenging for at least four medals. Well, Hamilton got off to a flying start with a routine packed full of difficulty, and his execution was also very high, except for a couple of minor errors which meant he posted a score of 15.666.
3. Next up was my top tip, Feng Zhe, and boy he did not fail to impress! With possibly the most difficult routine of the championships, Feng executed it perfectly scoring a massive 15.966 - a score that will be almost impossible to beat.
4. Marcel Nguyen was up next and if any one knows how execute a Pbar routine then Marcel is your man. With a routine packed with difficulty, Marcel didn't let us down, executing his skills to perfection which scored him a massive 15.800 and placed him in second place.
5. Firth up was Daniel Corral Barron, a very talented All Around gymnast from Mexico who executed a difficult routine but lost a little bit of form mid-routine, scoring him 15.333.
6. Sixth up was Tsolakidis from Greece, who suffered a little on difficulty and execution and scored 15.300.
7. The next two gymnasts are the Japanese brothers Kazuhito and Yusuke Tanaka. Both are serious challengers for a medal and both have routines packed with difficulty, but unfortunately on this occasion neither executed to perfection, resulting in them scoring 15.500 and 15.100 respectively.
8. The last gymnast was the young Russian Emin Garibov who was always down a little on difficulty, but executed it very well scoring 15.300.
The final results were:
• Gold – Feng Zhe
• Silver – Marcel Nguyen
• Bronze – Hamilton Sabot
HIGH BAR:
The last apparatus in any championships is always the high octane High Bar; a real crowd pleaser that never fails to impress.
1. First up was the talented Danell Leyva, who under immense pressure from being first performed an excellent routine with some massive release and catch moves that left the crowd gasping, and scored himself a huge 15.833, forcing all the other gymnasts to perform their best routines.
2. Next was Zhang Chenglong looking to put his disappointment from the Pbar final behind him. He executed a routine that could just be the most difficult, posting a score of 16.266.
3. Third up was the young Russian Emin Garibov. In his 2nd final today but, as in the Pbar final, Emin was lacking a little difficulty and execution, so posted a score of 15.333. That said, he is certainly a name for the future.
4. If anyone could challenge Chenglong then it is the next gymnast and reigning Olympic Champion Zou Kai, who performed a routine with even more difficulty but lacked a little in execution. But he still scored a massive 16.366, pushing him to the top of the leader board. HOW COULD ANYONE BEAT THAT!
5. Step up Fabian Hambuchen from Germany, a real high bar specialist who has been suffering from a series of injuries since the Worlds in 2009, so it was really nice to see him back competing to his full potential and boy, did he impress! Even though his routine lacked a little in difficulty his execution was faultless, scoring him a massive 16.400 which propelled him to the top of the leader board with massive cheers from the crowd.
6. Next up was Epke Zonderland who really does have the most difficult routine in the world but as yet has failed to win a major championship due to his execution. NOT ON THIS OCCASION. If there is one routine you watch on YouTube then watch Epke's High Bar - it is truly unbelievable and gravity defying! Epke scored a massive 16.533 which should win him the Gold, I think!
7. Seventh up was Jonathon Horton who never fails to please the crowd with his great execution, but his routine is now just lacking too much difficulty, so he scored 15.466.
8. The final gymnast was Jihoon Kim who was always going to struggle challenging the leader board as his routine also lacked a little difficulty. He scored 15.133.
The medals went to:
• Gold – Epke Zonderland
• Silver – Fabian Hambuchen
• Bronze – Zou Kai
And that brings an end to these championships, and what a championship! With success for the GB team and some of the best apparatus finals I have ever watched, I still believe that from my results posted this year then I would have definitely been challenging for four medals myself.
I can’t wait to get back into competition, bring on the European Championships!
Cheers, Dan
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