Yao Jinnan and Liu Rongbing won the all-around titles at the 2013 Chinese National Championships, which concluded Sunday in Dalian, Liaoning Province.
The competition is also a qualification and testing event for the quadrennial National Games this fall, a multisport event featuring all Olympic sports. All the top 12 teams and individual finalists have earned their berths to the Games.
2013 Chinese champion Yao Jinnan
Yao, China's youngest London Olympian, finally managed to claim a national all-around title on her third shot despite a fall on beam, after major misses in the previous two years.
"It was so hard to recover from it," admits the 18-year-old Yao, referring to the thigh injury during the 2012 Olympics last year that cost her a berth in the all-around final. "I'm only at 70-80 percent right now, but I will be better this fall as my immediate goal is the National Games instead of the Rio Olympics."
All the other 2012 Olympians, though, are in their 20s and plan to retire and go to school after the fall Games. Olympic beam gold medalist Deng Linlin has committed to Beijing University and silver medalist Sui Lu to Shanghai Jiaotong University. Huang Qiushuang and He Kexin have not set a certain college to go to yet but are definitely retiring. Currently the oldest member of the women's National Team, 2008 Olympian and London alternate Jiang Yuyuan, 22, is already in her third year of sports management studies at Zhejiang University.
The top 12 of women's all-around final was dominated by youngsters except Huang Qiushuang and 2011 University Games all-around champion Xiao Kangjun. Second on the podium was 17-year-old Shang Chunsong, who told the media her dream is to win an Olympic all-around title, "because no Chinese woman has ever done that before." She also admits that she needs to clean up her routines, add some difficulty, and especially manage to ready her double-twisting Yurchenko vault for competition. She went on to win beam and floor titles at the championships. She threw an aggressive uneven bars routine that included a piked Hindorff into Pak and a Tkatchev into Gienger.
Surprising everyone, including herself, 14-year-old Yuan Xiaoyang of Zhejiang won the vault final with her piked barani (5.0 Difficulty) and Tsukahara full (5.2 D). While a thrilling achievement for Yuan herself, the low difficulty level reveals the problem the Chinese women are facing on vault.
"Coach Huang Yubin from the men's team has been leading us to find a way out of this situation, and we may select national coaches based on their abilities to teach vault," said Wang Qunce, coach of Yao, Yuan, Sui and Huang – all the women's gold medalists at the championships except Shang Chunsong.
Youngsters dominated the podium on the men's side as well. Liu Rongbing, 22, captured the all-around title by hitting all six of his routines. Four of the 2012 Olympians – Guo Weiyang, Feng Zhe, Zhang Chenglong and Zou Kai did compete in the prelims, but withdrew in the finals after having secured (or lost) team berths to the National Games for their teams.
Chen Yibing is the only 2012 Olympian who did not show up due to injuries and lack of readiness. The London Olympic alternates, Yan Mingyong and Teng Haibin, did qualify to some apparatus finals, and Yan won rings.
Teng — who crashed his team final routines in the Athens Olympics to cost the Chinese team a medal and won the pommel horse title at the same games at the age of 18 — waited eight years to be selected to the London Olympic again, only to be pulled off after the podium training because of an arm injury. However, now a recovered Teng is happily living with his girlfriend, fellow Athens Olympian and women's all-around bronze medalist Zhang Nan, an preparing to get married after the fall Games.
The National Games will be held Sept. 1-8 at the very same arena in Dalian.
World and Olympic vault champion Yang Hak-Seon attempted a new vault at South Korea's national trials.
World and Olympic vault gold medalist Yang Hak-Seon won his best event with 15.700 at the South Korean National Trials, held Saturday at the Taeneung National Training Center in Seoul.
The competition serves as the first qualifier for this fall's world championships in Antwerp, Belgium, and determines the team to July's University Games in Kazan, Russia.
Yang landed his namesake vault (triple-twisting handspring front layout, 6.4 Difficulty) with just one step, but fell on an extremely difficult second vault of Tsukahara with 3.5 twists. The vault is not yet in the Code of Points, but a Tsukahara with a triple twist (Lopez) without the extra half twist is worth 6.0 points in the current Code.
The 21-year-old Yang is hoping to have this new vault named after him as "Yang 2" at the 2013 Worlds, en route to another vault gold. He told the media that his biggest competition comes from Ri Se Gwang, the 28-year-old North Korean who vaults a piked Dragulescu (front double pike with a half twist) and a Tsukahara full-in, both with 6.4 values.
Kim Hee Hoon (82.270) and Park Minsoo (81.634) took first and second in all-around, respectively, while Yang (81.334) placed third. Names of other Universiade qualifiers were not yet available.
Women’s Universiade qualifiers are Eum Eunhui (49.625), Heo Seon Mi (49.225), Park Ji Yeon (45.025), Moon Eun Mee (44.325) and Park Do Eun (43.975).
Natsumi Sasada and Kohei Uchimura scored victories at the 67th Japanese Gymnastics Championships, held Saturday and Sunday in Tokyo.
Natsumi Sasada won her first title while Kohei Uchimura took his sixth at the 67th Japanese Gymnastics Championships, held Saturday and Sunday in Tokyo.
Sasada had her top scores of 14.050 on uneven bars and 14.000 on balance beam (nailed beam mount of round-off, layout full). She scored 13.800 for a Yurchenko full vault and 13.650 on floor exercise (triple twist; 1 1/2 front full; 2 1/2; double pike).
Sasada, a 2010 Youth Olympian, previously had trained under Viktor Razumovsky and Irina Razumovskaya, who returned to their native Russia in 2012. She now training under her mother, Yayoi Kano Sasada, herself a former national champion and a five-time world team member for Japan. An injury in 2012 kept her from challenging for a spot on Japan's Olympic team in London.
2012 Olympian Yu Minobe finished second, with the the top score on balance beam (14.350). Former junior sensation Mai Murakami was third, with highs of 15.100 for her double-twisting Yurchenko vault and 14.500 for a spectacular floor exercise (double layout; double-double to stag jump; 1 1/2 to front full; quad turn; triple twist; 6.2 Difficulty). An 11.800 on balance beam, however, cost her the overall title.
Asuka Teramoto, who won the Tokyo World Cup last month, was fourth after a 12.300 on floor. She had the high mark on uneven bars with 14.900 (inside Stalder-full to Gienger between the bars; inside Stalder blind to Jaeger; double front).
Defending women's champion Rie Tanaka reportedly was out of the competition with a back injury.
Uchimura, the world and Olympic all-around champion, claimed his sixth overall title in the men's competition, which was held over two days. Uchimura showed no signs of the ankle and shoulder injuries that have plagued him since London, hitting 11 of 12 routines. His only scores below 15 were a 14.900 on still rings on Saturday and 13.800 for a missed pommel horse routine on Sunday. His top score came Sunday with a 15.900 on high bar (Cassina; half-Tak to Kolman; layout double-double; 7.0 D). He mounted with a 3 1/2 twist on floor exercise and vaulted a near perfect Yurchenko 2 1/2 (small hop).
Uchimura, who was married last fall, announced last week that he and his wife welcomed a baby daughter born in April.
2012 Olympian Ryohei Kato, who was second at the Tokyo World Cup, finished second again, 3.5 points behind Uchimura. Another Olympian, Yusuke Tanaka, was third.
The competition also served as Japan's trials for this summer's University Games in Kazan, Russia. The women's team will be Minobe, Mizuhi Nagai, Noda Sakura, Arisa Tominaga, Shizkuka Tozawa and Otaki Chinami. The men will be represented by Kato, Tanaka, Shogo Nonomura, Chihiro Yoshioka and Daiki Ishikawa.
Canadian Ellie Black and American Paul Ruggeri each won two titles Sunday as the Ljubljana World Challenge Cup drew to a close in Slovenia.
Black, who won the women's vault title on Saturday, grabbed gold on balance beam and floor exercise Sunday. She shared the floor title with Hungarian hope Noémi Makra, who was second on balance beam.
Bronze medals went to Lisa Ecker (Austria) on balance beam and Ana Filipa Martins (Portugal) on floor exercise.
Ruggeri claimed the men's vault title (Yurchenko half-on, front double-twisting layout off; Yurchenko 2 1/2) and the high bar gold medal. Poland's Marek Lyszczarz, the top qualifier on vault, won the silver over former European champion Tomi Tuuha (Finland).
Vietnamese Olympian Pham Phuoc Hung won men's parallel bars with a spectacular 15.700 (6.8 Difficulty). Top qualifier Mitja Petkovšek (Slovenia) fell to sixth.
On high bar, Ruggeri tied with Pan American Games all-around champion Jossimar Calvo (Colombia). Croatia's Marijo Možnik finished a close third, .05 behind.
This weekend's competition is the ninth consecutive FIG event Slovenia has organized. Previous events were held in Maribor, but this year's competition took place in the capital to kick off the organization for a national gymnastics training center. The center will be named after Petkovšek and his fellow Slovenian greats, Aljaž Pegan and Miroslav Cerar. Pegan was honored this weekend as he officially marked his retirement.
The next FIG event takes place June 21-23 in Anadia, Portugal, with a World Cup Challenge for apparatus.
2013 Ljubljana World Challenge Cup April 28, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Pictured: Women's floor exercise champion Daria Mikhailova (Candidate for Master of Sport division) is pictured with her coach, Viktor Razumovsky, and medal presenter Aliya Mustafina. Varvara Batalova won the silver medal over Seda Tutkhalyan.
Four gymnasts were double winners in apparatus finals at the Russian junior championships held Saturday and Sunday in Penza.
Held at Penza's Burtasy Sports Palace, the competition roster included 55 female gymnasts (born 1998-2000) and 64 male gymnasts (born 1994-1997) from 50 regions of Russia. The competition included two divisions: Master of Sport and Candidate for Master of Sport.
Thirteen-year-old Maria Bondareva, the all-around champion in the Master of Sport category, won gold medals on balance beam (14.675) and floor exercise (14.075). Bondareva, who is eligible for senior competition in 2015, is already a favorite for this summer's European Youth Olympic Festival and the 2014 Junior European Championships.
All-around silver medalist Viktoria Kuzmina won uneven bars (piked double front dismount) and took second on balance beam. All-around bronze medalist Yevgenia Zhukova won vault.
In the Candidate for Master of Sports category, all-around champion Seda Tutkhalyan was a double winner on uneven bars and floor exercise. The Armenian-born Tutkhalyan, 14, comes from an athletic family. Her father, Gurgen, was a four-time world champion in wrestling, and her older brother, Vae, currently competes for Belarus in sambo wrestling.
Anastasia Dmitriyeva won balance beam (14.625) while Daria Mikhailova claimed floor exercise. Mikhailova is currently training with legendary coaches Viktor Razumovsky and Irina Razumovskaya, who are now coaching Anastasia Grishina.
In the men's Master of Sport division, all-around champion Vladislav Polyashov, 18, picked up two more titles on pommel horse and parallel bars. Andrei Lagutov, who will be 17 in October, won floor exercise and high bar.
Candidate for Master of Sport champion Ivan Stretovich, 16, won pommel horse. Moscow's Artur Dalaloyan, who turned 17 on Friday, won floor exercise and parallel bars.
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