FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup gets underway
Doha, March 22, 2018-All eyes were on Kohei Uchimura, Japan's six-time all-around world and reigning Olympic champion.
But the 28-year-old had a disappointing outing at the Aspire Dome on Wednesday evening when he failed to qualify in the men's pommel horse and rings of the 11th FIG Artistic Individual Apparatus World Cup.
A disappointing 19th-place finish wasn't the kind of performance he was looking for in the Doha-leg of FIG World Cup Series, but the legend just couldn't live up to his billing.
Uchimura accumulated 13.233 on the list, which was topped by Chinese Taipei's Lee Chih Kai (15.200) followed by China's Zou Jingyuan (15.066) and Ireland's Rhys McClenaghan (14.700).
Eight top qualifiers would contest in the finals on Friday and Saturday.
Uchimura, who was on the verge of winning seven consecutive world all-around titles in Montreal, Canada, due to injury, performed a shade better on the rings where he finished 10th with 14.366 points.
“My landing was good, but somehow I couldn't perform to my ability. Last year's injury scare played on my mind. I was a bit cautious," said Uchimura, who will be seen in action on the horizontal bar qualifiers on Thursday.
Ukraine's Igor Radivilov (15.066), China's Zou Jingyuan (14.866), Romania's Andrei Muntean (14.766), Turkey's Ibrahim Colak (14.766), Italy's Marco Lodadio (14.633), Belgium's Dennis Goossens (14.533), Japan's Yuya Kamoto (14.466) and USA's Marvin Kimble (14.466) qualified for the finals.
In the men's floor exercise, Takumi Sato (Japan), Dmitri Lankin (Russia), Chih Kai Lee (Chinese Taipei) and five others made it to the finals.
In the women's competition, Uzbekistan's 42-year-old Oksana Chusovitina was at her level best on the vault when she finished ahead of ahead of her seven young qualifiers.
Chusovitina, who is targeting her eighth Olympics in 2020 Tokyo Games, will be a firm favourite to retain the title she won here last year.
Nina Derwael, bronze medallist at the Montreal Worlds, lived up to her reputation by topping the uneven bar list with 15.233 points.
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