Podium winners of the Men’s Horizontal Bars, Tin Srbic (CRO), Marvin Kimble (USA) and Deng Shudi (CHN) pose for a photograph with officials during the presentation ceremony at the Aspire Dome yesterday. Pictures: Wasfi Aboushoush
DOHA: Promising Chinese gymnast Zou Jingyuan stunned compatriot Xiao Ruoteng to bag his second gold medal at the FIG Artistic Individual World Cup which concluded with thrilling finals in Doha yesterday.
World champion Ruoteng was hardly expecting such a performance from his younger team-mate Jingyuan, who performed brilliantly in the star-studded parallel bars final in front of a packed crowd at Aspire Dome.
Jingyuan, 20, won the pommel horse gold and a bronze in rings on Friday and he looked even better on the bars yesterday, collecting 16.200 points after a flawless show. He overcame Ruoteng by a huge margin had to content with a silver medal with 15.166 points.
“It’s amazing to win this gold. I am very happy with my performance,” a jubilant Jingyuan said after his triumph.
“I am very happy with my overall performance in the championship and it will give me a lot of confidence for my next assignments.”
The Chinese sensation made his debut at World Championships last year and he said he was itching to come back to Doha for this year’s edition for the mega event.
“Performing well at the World Championships is my main target and I am looking forward to come back here and win more medals on a bigger stage.”
Turkish star Arican Ferhat also added colours to the parallel bars final with a stylish performance and took back bronze with 15.166 points.
While Jingyuan ended the event on a high note, it was an equally important day for Ukrainian star Igor Radilov who also notched up his second gold of the four-day championship with a win in vault final.
China’s World Champion Xiao Ruoteng in action.
Radilov, who won rings final on Friday, edged out Qu Ruiyang of China after a close competition for his second gold. The Ukrainian accumulated 14.599 points with the Chinese, taking 14.566 points for silver. Arican took third spot for his second bronze of the day.
Another highlight of the day was the women’s floor exercise final that saw Belgium’s Axelle Klinckaert, Italy’s Elisa Meneghini and North Korea’s Kim Su Jong tied for gold after identical performances of 13.333 each.
Meanwhile, French women dominated the balance beam final with teenager De Jesus dos Santos Melanie collecting the gold with 13.933 points, eclipsing team-mate Boyer Marine (13.466 points) who took a silver medal.
Over 360 gymnasts from as many as 39 countries took part in the four-day annual event which was dubbed as the dress rehearsal for World Championships, also to be hosted in Doha in October-November.
Qatar Gymnastics Federation President Ali Al Hitmi hoped his body will deliver one of the best editions of the Worlds.
“We are ready to host the World Championships,” he said.
“We have been hosting the World Cups since a long time and will leave no stone unturned to make the World Championships a huge success,” he added.
