2019 World Championships- Quals Subdivision 4 Impressions

Subdivision 1 // Subdivision 2 // Subdivision 3

With three significant teams in this subdivision hoping to qualify, it was always going to be a dramatic subdivision and boy did it deliver. We’ll start with Brazil who had a very rough start despite starting on HB, one of their best events usually. Depite Arthur Nory flying into 2nd place there with a 14.6, the rest of the team struggled for a sub-40 total. They fought back very hard though, and despite looking for a moment like they could be in trouble ended the day in 3rd place with a score of 247.236. Their other significant individual scores of course include Arthur Zanetti on rings, where he currently sits in 2nd place with 14.7, going ahead of the two other 14.7ers through tiebreak. Caio Souza delivered on PB with a 14.633, and currently sits in 6th there although I doubt it will hold for a final. One final he probably will be in is the AA final, as he’s currently in 9th (8th after 2 per country) with 81.897.

Host nation Germany also started on what should have been a strong event for them with PB, however they ended up having to count a fall there. Lukas Dauser was the highlight of the rotation, hitting a beautiful routine and zooming into first in the PB standing with a 15.033! Overall Germany did pretty good, and significantly counting three rough but hit PH routines, but they did have a bit of a bumpy time on their final event, vault. Another significant score for this team was Nick Klessing’s 14.566 on rings, and he sits in 7th on that event right now. It’s going to be close for Germany. They are currently sitting in 5th (4th in terms of Olympic qualifying) and by my estimates there are 7 teams with the potential go ahead of them, which would push them out of qualifying. But that’s just potential, the teams have to actually perform, so it’s going to be close. They will have a representative in the AA final though, as Andreas Toba scored 82.781 to put him in 5th at the end of day 1.

Slotting in right between Brazil and Germany for 4th is Spain, who had an amazing day. Spain scored 246.727 which has them barely 0.2 ahead of Germany- a small margin which could make all the difference. Spain’s MVP was probably Nicolau Mir, who brought in a 14.433 on PB as well as a very significant 14.533 on floor. He is currently sitting in 4th place on floor. Despite a fall on HB Nestor Abad was also a very significant factor in Spain’s success, and his 81.932 AA score has him in 7th (6th after 2 per cuontry rule) right now. Overall I was really impressed with how Spain did, as I wasn’t sure how much of a factor they would play in the Olympic qualification story. Similar to Germany, it’s probably going to be a close call for them, but they have the luxury of being one spot ahead of Germany and 3rd in terms of Olympic qualification right now.

The most significant individuals in this subdivision were Federico Molinari and Ali Zahran, both rings guys. Molinari went 14.5 and sits in 8th, while Zahran did not have his best routine and scored 14.4, putting him in 10th and out of finals contention.

So that’s that for day one. At the halfway mark the leaders on each event are:

• Team- Russia
• AA- Nikita Nagornyy
• Floor- Artem Dolgopyat
• Pommel Horse- Rhys McCleneghan
• Rings- Ibrahim Colak
• Vault- Artur Dalaloyan
• Parallel Bars- Lukas Dauser
• High Bar- Tang Chia-Hung