FIG ART Individual Apparatus World Cup concludes in Doha
Published: 24 Mar 2019 - 07:58 am | Last Updated: 28 Dec 2021 - 11:39 am
Chinese teenager Li Qi celebrates with her gold medal after winning the Balance Beam yesterday.
Dubbed as the ‘star of future’, China’s Li Qi stunned a strong field to claim her maiden gold medal at the FIG ART Individual Apparatus World Cup in Doha, yesterday.
The final day’s action at Aspire Dome also saw American star Jade Carey clinching her second gold medal in the four-day event to become the best individual gymnast of the 12th edition of FIG ART Individual Apparatus World Cup in Doha.
However, the day belonged to the 16-year-old Li Qi, who wowed a packed house at Aspire Dome with her spectacular performance in balance beam final to overcome Belgium’s Nina Derwael.
Li Qi collected 14.333 points for her first-ever World Cup gold, denying Derwael her second title in the event.
“I was very nervous before the final as I was competing against the best gymnasts,” Li Qi said after her victory.
“It’s my first gold medal in World Cup and I am very happy to achieve the title. We have a tough competition in China and this win will give me a lot of confidence,” she said.
Derwael, who had to content with a silver medal, was satisfied with her overall performance in Doha, which also includes an uneven bars gold.
“Li Qi was better and I am not surprised with her victory. Overall, I am happy. Coming to Doha always excites me as I have achieved a lot here. My next targets this year will be the European and the World Championships,” said the Belgian.
Frenchwoman Marine Boyer claimed bronze medal in the event with 13.333 points.
Carey, meanwhile, will return home with two gold medals after she won the floor exercise final. The American amassed 14.466, winning the final with a clear margin of over one point.
“It feels pretty good… great to win two gold medals in Doha,” said Carey, who also won vault gold on Friday.
“There was definitely some pressure (in the floor final) since we all competed together last week so I knew it was going to be a good competition here in Doha as well. I was just focused on not getting nervous,” she added.
Italy’s Lara Mori (13.433) and Vanessa Ferrari (13.300) bagged silver and bronze in the event.
Srbic reigns as Zonderland falls in horizontal bar
There was a huge surprise in horizontal bar final, when three-time world champion Epke Zonderland fell to miss the podium, with Croatia’s Tin Srbic claiming the gold with a tally of 14.400 points.
“I am really excited and happy because it’s always hard to go last in the finals,” said Srbic, who also topped the qualifying round of the event.
“I always like to be in Doha, I won last year and was second year before. I love competing here and really wanted to win again. I am glad I could do that.
“I did a harder routine than the one I did in the qualifications. But I can do even harder, so I have train a bit more and compete to get better. There is still a room to improve,” said the Croat.
Japan’s Hidetaka Miyachi (14.300) and Cuba’s Randy Leru (14.000) secured silver and bronze medals.
Zonderland was disappointed with his 7th finish of the event.
“My first release was itself a mistake because I was too close to the bar and then the second was that you have to throw yourself over the bar and again I was too close thereby I couldn’t hold on to the bar properly and I fell down. I made a technical mistake and it’s highly disappointing,” said the Dutchman.
Meanwhile, Jingyuan Zou clinched victory in parallel bars, making China the most successful nation in the 57-team event with three gold medals. Russia’s Vladislav Poliashov (15.066) and Australia’s Mitchell Morgans (14.566) took silver and bronze medals respectively.
In vault final, South Korea’s Hakseon Yang emerged as the winner with a score of 15.266 followed by Ukraine’s Igor Radivilov (14.916) and Armenia’s Artur Davityan (14.695).
The four-day event, which Qatar hosted for the 12th consecutive year, witnessed a total of 128 male and 60 female gymnasts from 57 countries in action.
The top-ranking gymnasts on each apparatus at the conclusion of the World Cup series will earn a spot at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Doha marks the halfway point of the eight-competition series, which also concludes in the Qatari capital in March 2020.
