DOHA: 2019 world champion Carlos Yulo of the Philippines won the gold in men's floor exercise at the 9th Senior Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships here at the Aspire Dome on Friday. 

The 22-year-old collected 14.933 points to overcame the challenges from his Chinese, Japanese and Korean competitors. 

South Korea's Kim Hansol and China's Jiaxing Yang finished second and third respectively.   

The feat earned Yulo a spot, his third after his second-place finish in All-Around on Thursday and fourth in rings today, in FIG Artistic World Championships in Liverpool from October 29 to November 6. 

Yulo's was confidence personified on the floor and his performance was an exemplary one given the presence of gymnasts from traditional heavyweights like China, Japan and South Korea.   

“The current gymnastics competition is one of the best that Qatar has organized and hosted in recent years with the presence of Asia’s best gymnasts,” said Essa Al Hitmi, Qatar Gymnastics Federation board member. 

Seojong wins vault gold, Oksana finishes fifth

Uzbekistan's record eight-time Olympian Oksana Chusovitina was under the spotlight and glare in the women's vault final. 

But the 46-year-old finished fifth in the apparatus which was won by South Korea's Seojong Yeo (14.084) while Japan's Shoko Miyata took silver (13.884) and India's Pranati Nayak finished third (13.367). 

Jordan's Ahmad seals World Championships berth

Jordan's Ahmed Abu Al Soud shocked some of continent's well-known pommel horse exponents including Iran's Saeedreza Keikha to claim the title.  

The 26-year-old was ahead of his rivals particularly included Keikha, who became the first Iranian gymnast to have a skill named for him in the Code of Points in 2018. 

Al Soud collected 15.233 points followed by Kazakhstan's Nariman Kurbanov (14.800) and China's Dehang Yin (14.600). 

All the podium-finishers together with fourth and fifth-placers will qualify for the world meet as well.

On Thursday, 21-one-year-old Cong Shi took the men’s All-Around gold to contribute to China’s domination in the Asian meet with 83.33 points, ahead of Yulo, a two-time world champion, who came second with 83.867 points.

Defending champions China swept men’s and women’s Team and All-Around titles on Thursday. 

Other Results:

Uneven Bars (WAG)

Xiaoyuan Xei CHN 14,767

Xijing Tang CHN 14,700

Yunseo Lee KOR 14,433 

Rings (MAG)

Xingyu Lan KOR 14,500 

Mahdi Ahmad Koha IRI 14,433

Guan-Yi Lin TPE 14,200

DOHA: Favourites China claimed MAG and WAG Team and All-Around titles at the 9th Senior Artistic Gymnastics Asian Championships at the Aspire Dome tonight. 

At the end of two day's qualification-cum-finals, China wrapped up the proceedings with four gold, one silver and a bronze medal.       

In the MAG team competition, Japan came second followed by Chinese Taipei while Cong Shi took the All-Around gold to maintain China's domination in the Asian competition. 

Philippines' two-time world champion Carlos Yulo came second followed by Jiaxing Yang (CHN). 

Earlier, Yulo topped the qualifying in the floor with 14.800 points and received the nod of the judges on rings with a 14.100 that translated to an all-around performance of 41.833, but Cong overtook him for the top honour in the late stages. 

The Chinese women also left an indelible impression of their inherent talent. They topped the podium followed by South Korea and Japan.      

Jin Zhang claimed the gold in the WAG All-Around followed by compatriot Xijing Tang and Japan's Yunseo Lee.   

All the podium finishers along with fourth and fifth-placed teams qualified for the FIG Artistic World Championships scheduled to be held in Liverpool (United Kingdom) from 29 October to 6 November. 

The Apparatus finals (MAG & WAG) will be held on Saturday and Sunday.    

Mohammad Amin 

DOHA: The 9th Senior Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships got underway with team and All-Around competitions at the Aspire Dome on Wednesday.

The competition was officially launched by Qatar Gymnastics Federation (QGF) president Mr Ali Ahmed Al Hitmi.   

"We welcome you all to Qatar. We hope you'll have a great stay in Doha and wish you success," said Al Hitmi, who is also a First Vice-President at International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).  

Some of the world's and Asia's top gymnasts will be looking to seal a berth for the 2022 FIG World Artistic Championships during the next three days. 

A total of 137 competitors from 21 countries are vying for top honours at the Asian event, which is being held in the Qatari capital after 2008. 

Day one featured men's floor exercise, pommel horse and rings plus women's vault and uneven bars take place in the all-around competitions. The men's vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar and women's balance beam and floor exercise events will unfold tomorrow (Thursday).

The Team and All-Around finals will also serve as qualifications for the apparatus finals, which will be held on days three and four.

Five Asian teams of four gymnasts (MAG) including six from the All-Around competitions while four women teams of four gymnasts besides eight from All-Around events will be hoping to book a berth for the Worlds, scheduled to be held in Liverpool (United Kingdom) from 29 October to 6 November. 

According to FIG regulations for the Worlds, a total of 24 teams of five gymnasts for both MAG & WAG besides 40 individual MAG gymnasts from All-Around competitions and 49 for WAG will be eligible to qualify from the continental competitions.    

The outcome of the top teams (MAG and WAG) will be known after Thursday's events. 

Reigning champions China along with Japan, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, central Asians Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Iran, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia are among the 21 countries who are taking part in the competition. 

China, one of the powerhouses in world gymnastics, had dominated the medals table in the 2019 edition in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) with 18 podium finishes, including 10 gold medals followed by Japan.

DOHA: The 9th Senior Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships will get under way with the qualifying rounds here at the Aspire Dome today. 

The opening ceremony will take place at 5.50PM local time while the finals will be held on Friday and Saturday respectively 

The event being a qualifying event for 2022 FIG World Artistic Championships, a fierce competition is expected between some of the world's and Asia's top gymnasts.

A total of 24 teams of five gymnasts for both MAG & WAG besides 40 individual MAG gymnasts from All-Around competitions and 49 for WAG will be eligible to qualify for the Worlds in Liverpool (United Kingdom) from 29 October to 6 November. 

The men’s competition include Floor, Pommel Horse, Rings, Vault, Parallel Bars, and Horizontal Bar categories while the women gymnasts will compete in Vault, Uneven Bars, Balance Beam and Floor categories. 

Qatar Gymnastics Federation president Ali Al Hitmi, who is also the chairman of the tournament’s Organizing Committee, said the stage is set to welcome the world’s and Asia’s best gymnasts.

“The competition halls are decked up to welcome the gymnasts,” said Al Hitmi. 

We’re thankful to QOC, other stakeholders: Al Hitmi

Al Hitmi thanked the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), Asian Gymnastics Union, Aspire Zone Foundation and Aspire Academy for their unstinted support in organizing the Asian competition. 

“We are always thankful to QOC. QGF also takes this opportunity to thank the other stakeholders who have contributed immensely,” said Al Hitmi, who is also a First Vice-President at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). 

QGF Secretary General Abeer Al Buainain hoped that the Asian Championships would be another success story of Qatar in terms of its exceptional organizational capabilities in hosting a top international sports event.  

“The event management will be at the highest level. We hope to achieve our goal to reaffirm Qatar’s position in the world as a top-notch hosts of major sports championships,” said Al Buanian, who will be one of the WAG judges during the competition. 

On Qatari gymnasts’ chances in the championships, Al Buainain said, “We look forward to achieving the desired results from our gymnasts.”

Qatar will field Rakan Al Harith (MAG) in the competition. 

“I’m happy to participate in this championship. It will be an opportunity to compete with the best and gain some valuable experience. I’ll do my best to qualify for the final,” said Al Harith. “I also want to thank QGF and Mr Ali Al Hitmi for their valuable support and encouragement.” 

46-year-old Oksana still challenges juniors 

Uzbekistan’s 46-year-old Oksana Chusovitina will be one of the star performers among others. 

A record eight-time Olympian, the Uzbek legend still has enough firepower to overcome the new generation gymnasts. 

She will be competing in her favourite pet event, vault.

In MAG, Kazakhstan’s Milad Karimi, who won silver (floor) and a bronze in (vault) and Iran’s well-known pommel horse expert Saeedreza Keikha will be eyeing for a World Championship berth.