Doha, 23 March 2019 – The 12th Artistic Gymnastics World Cup concluded at the Aspire Dome with five finals on the last day of the four-day competition. The spectators proved their love for the sport, by filling the arena once again and the world class gymnasts returned their love with impeccable performances.

In the highly anticipated Horizontal Bar Croatia’s Tin Srbic managed to beat his nerves by competing last, after waiting patiently for the other seven gymnasts to finish their programs. The 2017 Horizonal Bar world champion raised the highest score (14.400) to defeat by small margin, Japan’s Hidetaka Miyachi (14.300).

“It was a tough final in Doha, because it was like it was like a World Championships final with all these great competitors. It is always hard for me to go last, because I see everything and all the rivals competing before me. The scores were lower than I expected. I saw on the board that I needed over 14.3 to get the gold. I did the best I could, I know I can do a lot better. For now I am satisfied with what I did”, were the winner’s quotes.

Miyachi presented a powerful program but he came just short. Cuba’s Randy Leru was third (14.000). World Champion on this event and fan favorite, Epke Zonderland fell from the bar and managed only seventh position.

Earlier the 2012 Olympics gold medalist Hakseon Yang earned his second World Cup victory of the season on the Vault. The Korean was awarded with 15.266 points from the judges, including a 15.466 score for his first vault. The winner of the first World Cup in Melbourne, Igor Radilov (Ukraine) with 14.916 points was second again to Yang after the 1-2 at the previous World Cup in Baku. “It is a long season, I am happy with my results so far. Next year

everything will be clearer, regarding the Olympic qualification”, Radilov said after the final. Armenian Artur Davtyan was third with 14.695, having suffered a fall in his second effort.

China’s Jingyan Zou put on an impressive performance on the Parallel Bars and took the victory with a great margin (15.700). Second in the final was Russia’s Vladislav Polyasov (15.066) and Australian Mitchell Morgans third (14.566).

Surprise on the beam, high energy one the floor

Newcomer Qi Li (China) was the winner on the Balance Beam. The 17-year-old gymnast claimed her first victory in the women’s category, by placing first with 14.333 points. Last time around Li was fifth in Baku. The smiling Li said after the victory ceremony” that “I am very happy, I was very nervous, so I made a lot of mistakes. I hope that in the next competition I will be better. My dream is to be included in the Chinese team for the World Championships in Stuttgart”.

Belgium’s Nina Derwael added another medal to her bag. After the gold on the Uneven Bars, Derwael was second on the Balance Beam with 13.633. France’s Marine Boyer completed the podium with a score of 13.333

Jade Carey (USA) achieved a second double. After her victory on the Vault on Saturday, the 19-year-old American took first place on the Floor as well with 14.466 points. Carey had already achieved such a success in the World Cup in Baku. “It feels really good just to be able to hit my routines this weekend and do well enough to win”, were the words Carey used to describe her performance in Doha.

The Italian duo of Lara Mori (13.433) and Vanessa Ferrari (13.300) finished in second and third place respectively.

Organizing success

The President of Qatar Gymnastics Federation and FIG executive member Mr.Ali Al-Hitmi expressed his satisfaction for the success of the 12th Artistic Gymnastics World Cup and his gratitude for all those that have participated for this year’s record breaking event.

“This World Cup was a great success for us. We faced the challenge of maintaining the high level of the organization of this event with a lower budget this year. We succeeded. We managed to provide our guests the same services, so we are very pleased. I would like to thank all of those who contributed for another great event, our faithful volunteers, our staff, they make me and our Qatar Gymnastics federation very proud. The feedback we get from the International Gymnastics federation is excellent and that means for me that the sport in Qatar is going well under the umbrella of the Qatar Olympic Committee”.

Here are the final results:

MEN

Vault

1.Hakseon Yang (Korea) 15.266
2.Igor Radilov (Ukraine) 14.916
3.Artur Davtyan (Armenia) 14.695
4.Giarnni Regini-Moran (Great Britain) 14.650
5.Loris Frasca (France) 14.633
6.Jorge Vega Lopez (Guatemala) 14.149
7.Wei-Sheng Tseng (Chinese Taipei) 13.883
8.Marian Dragulescu (Romania) 13.866

Parallel Bars
1.Jingyuan Zou (China) 15.700
2.Vladislav Polyashov (Russia) 15.066
3.Mitchell Morgans (Australia) 14.566
4.Vasili Mikhalitsyn (Belarus) 14.383
5.Andrei Likhovitskiy (Belarus) 14.366
6.Ferhat Arican (Turkey) 13.900
7.Phuong Thanh Dinh (Vietnam) 13.633
8.Matteo Levantesi (Italy) 12.866

Horizontal Bar
1.Tin Srbic (Croatia) 14.400
2.Hidetaka Miyachi (Japan) 14.300
3.Randy Leru (Cuba) 14.000
4.Carlo Macchini (Italy) 13.300
5.Alexey Rostov (Russia) 13.291
6.Shudi Deng (China) 13.066
7.Epke Zonderland (Netherlands) 12.966
8.Milad Karimi (Kazakhstan) 12.566

WOMEN

Balance Beam
1.Qi Li (China) 14.333
2.Nina Derwael (Belgium) 13.633
3.Marine Boyer (France) 13.333
4.Adela Sajn (Slovenia) 12.833
5.Aneta Holasova (Czech Republic) 12.800
6.Hua-Tien Ting (Chinese Taipei) 12.400
7.Yumika Nakamura (Japan) 11.800
8.Soyoka Hanawa (Japan) 11.466

Floor
1.Jade Carey 14.466
2.Lara Mori (Italy) 13.433
3.Vanessa Ferrari (Italy) 13.300
4.Marta Pihan-Kulesza (Poland) 13.233
5.Marine Boyer (France) 13.200
6.Varvara Zubova (Russia) 13.100
7.Kim Bui (Germany) 13.033
8.Coline Devillard (France) 12.400