Team China Wins Big At Cottbus World Cup
Team China Wins Big At Cottbus World Cup
China won seven medals at the 2019 FIG Turnier der Meister Cottbus Apparatus World Cup, including two women's titles and two men's events.
China made a big statement in the final World Cup of 2019, winning seven medals across both the men's and women's apparatus in Cottbus, including two golds on both sides. Ukraine came away with five total medals. Oleg Verniaiev won two events while Anastasia Bachynska was victorious on one. Japan also had a good showing with four medals, including two men's titles and one women's.
The first day of finals on Nov. 23 saw competition on men's floor, pommel horse, still rings, women's vault, and uneven bars.
The men's floor final had good representation from various nations, and gymnasts from three different countries made the podium. It was one of the few finals of the competition that didn't have any Chinese qualifiers. Kazuki Minami of Japan won the gold with a 15.100 and the highest difficulty (6.6) of the final. Spanish floor star Rayderley Zapata earned some valuable Olympic qualification points by finishing with a 14.800 for the silver. British newcomer Hayden Skinner came in third with a 14.533 for the bronze. FULL MEN'S FLOOR RESULTS
A good variety of countries was also present in the pommel horse final where China took its first title. Weng Hao scored an even 15.000 for the gold, while Japan's Kaito Imbayashi wasn't far behind with a 14.966 for the silver. Verniaiev's 14.866 took bronze. FULL POMMEL HORSE RESULTS
Things were close on rings as well, where China also won. Liu Yang had the highest difficulty (6.4) and the highest overall score to win the title with a 15.133. The second- and sixth-place finishers were separated by only 0.2. Greek rings king Eleftherios Petrounias won silver with a 14.866, and trailing behind was Armenia's Artur Avetisyan with a 14.333 for the bronze. China's You Hao also earned a 14.833 but had the lower execution, bumping him to fourth place. FULL RINGS RESULTS
Eight different countries were represented in the women's vault final, demonstrating the stellar vaulting abilities of female gymnasts around the world. Although the final saw some familiar names like Slovenia's Teja Belak and Russia's Maria Paseka, it was China's Yu Linmin who took the gold with a 14.649. Belak earned silver with a 14.216 and had a great Amanar for her second vault. Cuba's Yesenia Ferrera took third with a 14.199. FULL WOMEN'S VAULT RESULTS
China and Russia dominated the uneven bars final with China winning gold and bronze and Russia taking home silver. Fan Yilin hit a beautiful set to win the title with a 14.800. An equally difficult routine earned Anastasia Agafanova a 14.733 and second place. Yin Sisi rounded out the podium with a 14.566. FULL UNEVEN BARS RESULTS
Day two of the finals included men's vault, parallel bars, high bar, balance beam, and women's floor.
Like the women's vault final, the men's final had gymnasts from eight different countries. And with no score below 13.783, it was a successful final full of good vaulting. Ukraine's Igor Radivilov won with a 14.849 while Audrys Nin Reyes of the Dominican Republic had a great showing for his country with a 14.754 for the silver. Belarus saw its first and only medal of the competition on men's vault as Yahor Sharamkou won bronze with a 14.749. FULL MEN'S VAULT RESULTS.
The parallel bars final was one of the highest scoring of the entire competition and was full of excellence. No routine scored below a 14.200. Verniaiev excelled on his signature event and scored a big 15.400 with a 6.7 difficulty score to win the title. You also scored a 15.400 and actually had a higher difficulty than Verniaiev with a 6.9, but the Chinese gymnast had the lower execution score, giving him the silver. Russia's Vladislav Poliashov wasn't far behind the World Championship medalists with a 15.366 for bronze. FULL PARALLEL BARS RESULTS
For the gymnasts, the high bar final was hit or miss. Half of them hit and scored well while the other half did not and scored in the 11.000 or 12.000 range, making the podium not hard for the judges to figure out. Japan's Hidetaka Miyachi won with a great routine, scoring a 14.933, by far the best routine of the final. Cypress' Ilias Georgiou won his country its only medal of the Cottbus World Cup with a 14.166 for the silver. Russia's Alexey Rostov also scored a 14.166 but lost the tiebreak due to his lower execution score. FULL HIGH BAR RESULTS
The Japanese women saw their first medal in the balance beam final as Urara Ashikawa scored a 13.700 for the gold. Ukraine's Diana Varinska earned silver with a 13.533, while, despite having the highest difficulty, China's Qi Li won bronze with a 13.400. FULL BEAM RESULTS
Closing out the women's competition was the floor final where the Ukrainian women earned their second medal. Bachynska won with a 13.533, but Germany's Kim Bui was close behind with a 13.500 for the silver. And Italy's Lara Mori was just 0.1 behind with a 13.400 for bronze. FULL WOMEN'S FLOOR RESULTS.
Full live results from the 2019 Cottbus World Cup can be found here.