And qualification is only halfway done!

We start day 2 with the featured subdivision from all of men’s qualification, subdivision #6, featuring both the US and Japan. The US begins on vault, and Japan starts on the boring one. (The boring one is rings.)

Since both nations are putting up just 2 AAers, we won’t have any Russia-style, 2-per drama in this session regarding the AA final, but Japan being Japan, we might still have some intra-team 2-per drama regarding event finals.

The number to beat is Russia’s 258.402. Expectations aren’t quite as GOLD GOLD GOLD for Japan this year, the limitations to Uchimura only exacerbating that, so the comparison to Russia’s score will be telling.

Minimum acceptable performance for the US will be beating the 245.663 of the Netherlands that currently has them in second place (!). Really, the US wants to be right there close to Russia and Japan. The US will also be hoping to get Mikulak into the HB and PB finals, Yoder into the PH final, and Moldauer back to the FX final if the landings go well.

Japan has a 2-3 split between carrying the jacket and wearing the jacket. Polls within the margin of error.

All US wearing the jacket. Bower walks out with the team. Nice. First alternate I’ve seen march out with the other five.

Modi’s ankle well-mummified, as it was in PT.

SUBDIVISION 6

ROTATION 1

Modi – VT – Kas 1.5 – pretty solid, hop forward, good distance and direction. Useful start. 14.233.

Moldauer – VT – deeper landing on his Kas 1.5, hop back and to the side. OK, but not his best. 14.266. He’ll have been given the advantage over Modi because the form is so much stronger.

Kenzo 13.733 on rings.

Van Wicklen – VT – Dragulescu is NICE, one of his best ones, much stronger than PT. Small hop back, secure landing. 14.600.

Van Wicklen – VT 2 – Kas 1.5 second vault – and a fall. Sat it. Well short, never had a chance to save. He put up a good score for the team counting vault though.

Mikulak – VT – Kas 1.5, solid, medium-sized bound forward – he can stick or come close to it sometimes – but should be a perfectly fine number.

43.199 for the US on vault. That’s the #2 vault number so far, behind Russia, so that’s exactly the track the US would have been looking for.

13.966 on rings for Kaya. Followed by a 13.900 for Uchimura.

Tanigawa – SR – roll up to maltese, good – next maltese, also well held – good position on cross – small hesitation up to handstand – tucks and pikes to cross – straddle planche, hips a little high – bigger struggle in final handstand, loses vertical and has to muscle it for a while – double double tuck with a hop – 14.000. Still a good enough number.

41.866 on rings for Japan. Fine, but not blowing the house down.

YEOUCH. 9.466 for Jossimar Calvo on PH. That’s…not good.

Everyone’s just waiting for the terror of these Colombian horse scores now. It’s not going to be pretty.

Another 10 for Martinez on PH. Erick Vargas will finish the rotation that currently has two 10s and a 9. He was fighting from the beginning but made it a fair way until flopping off.

And now we rotate.

The audio is so bad I can barely tell which horrific rotation song it is this time.

It’s just 30.899 for Colombia. Ahead of only Romania and Jamaica on pommel horse among teams that have competed so far.

ROTATION 2

Crossover backward step for Kaya on his Kas 1.5 on vault, but not a large one. 14.200.

Kenzo goes 14.733 for his TTY.

Modi – PB – peach – peach 1/2 very short of vertical and has to straddle a giant after that – Tippelt and piro down is fine – diam and stutz, hit – double tuck full dismount with small step. The final 2/3 of the routine were good, but the peach 1/2 and subsequent form breaks will not be kind to his E score.

Hmmmm. Kenzo is 5th on vault.

Just a 12.900 for Modi. They’ll want to drop that.

Yoder – PB – peach – giant – diam, nice, one small arm shuffle – diam to one and then extra 1/4 turn – front straddle is big – stutz – double pike, nearly holds stick with a swim but has to hop. A simpler routine than the others but clean. Should be usable.

Looks like Tanaka is not vaulting for Japan and they will take the first three?

Moldauer – PB – lovely front straddle as always – peach – peach 1/2, holds vertical well – diam and long swing diam, controls it – tuck 1/2, and again from uprise, good – double front 1/2 out, holds the stick. Quite a good one.

14.500 currently puts him 8th (overall, not taking into account 2 per).

Another fall for Colombia. Martinez on his rings dismount.

Mikulak – PB – healy down – peach 1/2 to peach – nice high tuck 1/2 and front straddle to swing – bhavsar, solid – tippelt, comfortable, stutz – double front 1/2 out, lands it short and has to take a significant bound forward, but that was the only major thing. Just that a vertical position or two.

It’s 15.033 for Mikulak. That will put him tied with Belyavskiy for 3rd.

After a struggle routine from Modi, the US will be pleased with the final three up, and the overall score. That’s the #3 PB score so far, behind Russia and Ukraine.

The nemesis to come.

Japan went 43.533 on vault.

ROTATION 3

Moldauer – HB – Yam, OK – ZLM – ooooooh, hesitation and has to rest against the bar before casting out – nice Kovacs as always – DLO 1/1, could have stuck, small hop back. That swing problem toward the beginning will ensure the US won’t want to use this score.

12.433.

Van Wicklen – HB – nice high Yam, but feet in most things – layout tkatchev is good – tkatchev to tkatchev to mixed, solid – tak 1/2 – stalder – DLO 1/1, hop forward. Went for the safe routine, the correct choice, and got a hit in there for the US.

14.466 for Kenzo on PB.

Kaya – PB – nice peach 1/2 – peach – front staddle to arms is good – bhavsar, no trouble – a little wonky catching his tippelt, got up to handstand but a little low in catch – double front 1/2 out with legs but good control

13.200 for Van Wicklen.

Modi – HB – tkatchev – layout tkatchev to tkatchev to mixed, caught all of them – layout tkatchev to mixed – pretty nice good, some late pirouette at the end – DLO double twist, small hop. Good. There will be form nasties on the E score as always, but he got through with a hit as needed.

13.166.

Next up is Tanigawa for Japan on PB – following Kaya with 14.391.

Mikulak – HB – Cassina is good – Kolman is good – layout tkatchev and tkatchev and tkatchev 1/2 are all caught – tka 1/2 finishes well – hop full – stalder – DLO double twist, small hop forward. A hit! A very palpable hit!

14.566 puts Mikulak in first on HB, ahead of Zonderland.

Tanaka finishes up for Japan on PB, sticking a double pike. Some iffy verticals there toward the end.

40.932 for the US on HB. It could have been worse. Japan breaks 44 on PB.

Mikulak having a very good day through his first three pieces.

Meanwhile, it was a 14.833 for Tanaka on PB, so whatever he did that I thought was a mistake probably wasn’t a mistake. Live and learn.

ROTATION 4

Yoder – FX – double double tucked, lunge back – front 1/1 to front 2/1, a little hoppy to the side on that one – 2.5 to 1/2, overcooked that 2.5 and just barely got the 1/2 around with a step OOB – small hop on next pass – V sit to press handstand – 2/1, stuck – 3/1, short with a bound forward. Got through, but they’ll want to drop the score.

12.666 for Yoder.

Kaya goes 13.300 on HB to lead off.

Van WIcklen – FX – double front pike 1/2 out, a little short with a step – front 2/1 to front full, small hop – 2.5 to 1/2, short again with a hop – 2/1, stuck – next pass solid – double arabian, hop to the side. Useful hit. Kind of nickle and dimed himself on those landings.

13.933 for Van Wicklen. That’s 15th so far.

13.133 for Kenzo on HB.

Moldauer – FX – front 2.5, perfect – doubel arabian 1/2 out, stuck – front 2/1 to front full, small shuffle – flare work is confident and quick – 2.5 to 1/2, stuck – 2/1, stuck – 3/1, large lunge back, the only issue in the routine. A lovely one as it typically is with some real standout landings.

14.433 is 4th place so far. Behind only the two Russians and Yulo.

Mikulak – FX – 2.5 to double front, hop forward – frotn 2/1 to tuck front full, small hop – back 1.5 to frotn 2/1, stuck, so good on front 2/1 – 2/1 with a hop (Sam…) – 3/1, small bounce. Not his best landings but another good set.

Uchi with an amazing piked Kovacs and Cassina on HB – Kolman great – rybalko was a rybalko – Yam – tak 1/2, great – DLO double twist, hop forward. We haven’t seen a lot of Uchi today, but that was Uchi. Now why is he walking off the mat so weird?

Jossimar Calvo goes 15.100 on PB. That’s second to only Oleg so far. It will drop Mikulak and Belyavskiy to equal 4th.

Mikulak 14.333, into 6th.

Uchimura 14.600 on HB. He’s now 1st, Mikulak 2nd, Zonderland 3rd, and Srbic 4th. Bart is 7th. Uh oh, light the candles.

42.699 for the US on floor. They are seven tenths behind Japan.

ROTATION 5

Modi – PH – has a small early leg break but seemed to be working well out of it – can’t control his second leg break and falls. US! You’re supposed to be good at this now!

It’s just 12.000 for Modi. So there’s that.

Moldauer – PH – excellent spindle falre and flare travel work as always – but then absolutely loses his rhythm toward the end when brushing against the pommel and nearly stops on the horse, – well done to keep going and finish with an extra circle then to the dismount, but…eep/

So confused by Moldauer’s PH that I almost didn’t realize Kenzo was floor.

Anyway, he’s perfect. The final quad twist is preposterously easy looking as always.

11.500 for Moldauer. They did not like that ending.

Yoder – PH – was going fine on his one pommel work and now he’s off – ?????? – not sure what happened there. Real shame for him – He resumes and the rest is strong, but…

More or less three misses in the first three sets for the US.

12.700 for Yoder. This rotation is basically bye bye, but Mikulak can still keep his big day going.

Mikulak – PH – his trademark scissors look good – great spindle flares – Russians – Magyar and Sivado comfortable (I’m using the words!) and he sticks the dismount.

Mikulak the only bright spot for the US on horse, but it was bright. 14.133 puts him third. He has a hit day going with only rings remaining.

Japan would need a preposterous number on PH to catch Russia at this point. The US will be in third at the end of this session unless something ridiculous happens in the final rotation.

Also looks like Mikulak will make three event finals and will be second AA behind Nagornyy. But still must hit rings.

ROTATION 6

Modi – solid work in early holds – L sit – comfortable handstand positions – double double tuck, stuck landing. Good for him.

Uchimura has fallen on horse!

13.766 for Modi. Still 12.966 for Uchimura.

Tanigawa also struggles on a handstand following him and has to come off.

Yoder – SR – planche lower to maltese is secure – good hold legnth – straddle hit up to straddle planche, maybe a little short – slight wobble in first handstand, more of a correction in second – double double tuck, stuck. Good one overall

13.500 for Yoder.

Jossimar is up on floor – 3.5 twist with step back – front 2/1, twisting into the ground but covered it – an OOB on next pass

Moldauer – SR – nice style as always – I like the way he arches his back a little on his inverted handstand, I know a lot do that, but his is better and nicer #Moldauer – tucks and pikes to cross – awkward moments here, a hand readjustment and a little hesitation – generating swing in this straddle planche – some adjustment needed in handstand – third straight stuck double double tuck –

Third straight fall for Japan on horse. Tanigawa got 11.000.

13.233 for Moldauer. He goes 80.365 in AA.

Mikulak – SR – up to first maltese, lowers to cross, quite good – planche, solid – second cross starts a little high but he lowers into it – a little struggle in final handstand – fourth stuck dismount in a row –

12.425 for Kaya on PH, which will have to count.

14.200 for Mikulak. 86.598, and indeed into second place in the AA.

Kenzo goes 12.966, tied with Uchimura for the highest Japan PH score. So that’s not ideal.

JAPAN – 253.312
US – 250.362

They are in 2nd and 3rd. Russia with a big margin over Japan, which will please them.

As for the US, some highlights, mostly named Mikulak. He had probably the best day we’ve seen from him at a world championship. The trick will be doing it again. That’s always been a bit of a problem.

Pommel horse was bad, but none of the other events were bad. Most of them just had the one blech routine that won’t go in TF and was able to be dropped anyway, so that’s fine. Mikulak is going to be in a bunch of finals, and Moldauer can make floor. This is a team that is unlikely to medal without several gift baskets being handed over—we knew that coming in—but that can get a solid 4th with a good day in TF.

Join me again for the GB subdivision later on.

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SUBDIVISION 9

Update – Rhys fell twice on pommel horse, so the meet is off. Sorry. You can all go home.

Somehow, Petrounias is winning rings while needing shoulder surgery.

Germany was not able to pass Ukraine, so Ukraine lives to fight another subdivision.

Now, it’s Great Britain. Interested to see how these scores compare to the US, currently in 3rd. GB is starting on floor.

Rotation 1

NBC stream started a little late, but we’re going now. 3/1 final pass, nearly stuck, a little ragged but fine.

14.333 puts him currently 10th.

Oh Brinn. I always forget about your insane back tattoo…and then don’t anymore.

Bevan – FX – front double pike, significantly OOB – DLO, stuck – double front pike 1/2 out, good, lunge back – holds stick on piked double arabian, well done because he came in a little short – front 2/1 to 1/2 – 3/1, small hop back.

Only 4 events will be going most of the time because Denmark is competing few events, and the other group is entirely empty.

M Georgiou – HB – tak 1/2 – Cassina, nice – layout Kovacs, good – Kolman, hit – Kovacs, also solid – good routine

Whitlock – FX – rudi – double double tucked, small shuffle – a hop back on next pass – 2.5 to rudi, another minor hop – air flares quite good as always (almost) – 3/1, hop back. 13.966.

Edalli off on PH.

Cunningham – FX – double double layout, hit, small shuffle, some legs – sticks double arabian 1/2 out – solid third pass – double double tucked is a little short, hop forward – 2.5 to 1/2 with another little hop. 3/1 to finish, step back, little shuffle.

GB will take that rotation, dropping Bevan’s score. Everyone had some little hops and shuffles, but nothing major.

Macchini gets through PH with a hit.

14.116 for Cunningham. 42.415 for the team. No floor finals for the Brits.

Long wait for Dang Nam on rings, but they’re finally ready for him in his only event of the day. Hit routine. Strong and secure hold positions throughout. Had to pike down his dismount rather significantly. I also notice that on some of his holds, he’ll do the Daggett favorite, opening his hands, but not on others. By not doing it on some, it telegraphs that he’s struggling more with those.

14.133 puts him 12th.

GB’s floor score is two tenths below the US.

Rotation 2

Hall begins for GB – scissors up to handstand, good – some pike in his circling but a smooth rhythm throughout, legs together – has to push up to handstand on his dismount but he got there.

Denmark is starting on HB. Nice stuck DLO 1/1 dismount from Winther.

13.033 for Hall. That’s a good score for today. Puts him in 11th.

Bevan – does well to work through a potential hesitation coming down from his handstand circles into flares, keeps it going. Not the most flexibility in his flares. Hit. Another solid one.

Really smooth rings from Lodadio, great transitions from one hold position to another. Step back on double double tucked.

14.666 puts Lodadio into 5th.

LONNNNNG wait on the score for Bevan.

Also long wait on second vault score for Le.

Because it’s taking SOOOO long, on two separate events, I’m wondering if this is a technical issue?

It’s 12.600 for Bevan after all.

Fraser gets to go after 80 minutes of standing around – has a hand placement adjustment on a scissor up to handstand – was working well until a major form break and leg separation that he saved somehow right toward the end. Thought for sure he would come off. Are we saying that dismount went up to handstand? Close enough?

Pham from Vietnam just vaulted to his face.

11.983 for Fraser.

Whitlock does Whitlock on pommel horse. Very nice set. He seems only vaguely annoyed by it, so that’s good sign. 14.966 and into first place.

Rotation 3

Cunningham on rings gets through comfortably enough. A little hesitation on a straddle planche – good secure position on handstands – double double tuck is short with a medium-sized lunge diagonally.

Nice stuck double pike from Phan on PB.

13.466 for Cunningham

Fraser on rings – a little more secure than Cunningham on his holds – lunge back on double double tucked dismount. They don’t have the big difficulty here, but they’re not giving away unnecessary tenths (except on dismount)

13.700.

Bevan very similar composition to the first two, and they’re increasing in hold time and smoothness as we go through the lineup. Smallest hop on his double double, little hop forward. Lower difficulty than the first two by a couple tenths. 13.600.

Dinh had a good one going on PB but took a big lunge back on a staggered dismount stumble.

Small step forward for Hall on his double double off rings, clearly the most difficult set of the rotation for GB. It’s not going to be a super showy score for GB on rings, but they all did their routines as expected. 14.100.

GB very close with the US on floor and rings, well ahead on PH.

Rotation 4

Fraser – VT – Kas 1.5 – very awkward vault – legs all over the place, landing way off to the side with a lunge back.

You know there were issues when the first rings score comes up before the first vault score.

Didn’t get difficulty credit for it. 4.8 and a 12.266. Will need to drop that.

Hall – VT – stronger Kas 1.5 to be sure, but did come in a little deep with a hop to the side. Good distance. 14.366 is a little charitable there.

Bevan – VT – Tsuk double pike, large lunge back but keeps it to his feet well and controls the step. Should score well overall.

14.600.

Cunningham VT 1 – the Biles (yep…), good, small hop forward. 14.466.

Cunningham – VT 2 – TTY, quite nice! Just a small landing adjustment.

14.766 for his second, he’s into 4th place on vault.

GB goes 43.432 on vault, pretty close to what Russia and Japan put up.

Edalli finishes up for Italy on PB – one struggle up to handstand early, but otherwise clean – Double pike with lunge back.

Rotation 5

Dinh of Vietnam just attempted a V sit on floor and then bailed out of it and just sat there for a second. SAME.

Hall – PB – peach – tuck 1/2 to arms, good – same from uprise – stutz to one – front straddle to arms, slight struggle hesitation – stutz, good – double front 1/2 out, stuck in a TCT stagger.

14.466. great start.

Bevan – PB – peach 1/2, nice – peach – front straddle, secure – tippelt, smooth up to handstand – really confident vertical positions – double front dismount, nearly stuck, hop back

14.525. Another big score.

Fraser – PB – giant to one, archs a little but saves it – back tuck is nice – a little short on a stutz – double front 1/2 out with a lunge. Nice composition, don’t see him having nearly the E score of the first two.

13.900.

Nice Kolman and Kovacs for Macchini – goes over the wrong way just after that.

13.866 for Cunningham.

So now, Great Britain needs to score 39.626 on high bar to pass the US. Should be very doable, but requires, you know, hitting. Could really use a Nile right about now.

Rotation 6

Fraser – HB – Yam – Cassina is hit – Kolman is hit – tak full quite late – DLO double twist, stuck, very late initiation of twist. That’ll work. 13.466.

Bevan – HB – Tak 1/2 pretty late – Kovacs, quite good – Kolman just does catch it but does – 1.5 piro – OOF. full piro and didn’t quite get his hands right, had to add an extra swing to get on track for his dismount, which he had to pike down a little and hop. It was going so well, but those late adjustments will take the score well down. 12.233.

Hall – HB – Solid Cassina – and Kovacs – and Kolman – and then can’t catch his Gaylord and falls. Oh GB. You had it…

12,900 for Hall.

They’ll need 13.2-13.3 from Cunningham now.

Cunningham – HB – tak 1/2 is good – layout tkatchev – tkatchev – stalder 1/2, late – tak 1/1 – Yam with some elbows swinging out of it – DLO 1/1, stuck. Got in with a hit there. But does he have enough D?

12.733. Not quite.

GB will be into 4th for the moment, presumably 5th after China goes.

Vietnam is having a TIME on horse.

Italy is into 12th place.

In AA land, Hall is 5th and Bevan is 8th (removing Belyavskiy because of 2-per)

After a bit of a PH disaster, Vietnam is in 24th so will not advance to 2019.

We know China is going to knock Germany out of TF, so the next subdivision will come down to whether Brazil can knock out Ukraine.

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SUBDIVISION 10

It’s time for China. We’re expecting China to beat Russia and move into first place, but Russia put up an impressive score yesterday.

Brazil has Ukraine to beat to try to get into the TF. We also have the borderline teams, Belarus and Australia, currently sitting 21 and 22, who will be watching the lower-ranked teams here with great interest.

Argentina is doing a little thing with its intro, starting with their backs turned. It’s no Netherlands, but I appreciate the effort.

Meanwhile China’s like, “THIS IS NOT A GAME.”

Rotation 1

Brazil has to start on horse, so that should be interesting. Souza tries to work through a series of increasingly severe leg breaks but ultimately smashes his leg against the horse and falls to his death hilariously

Why is vault taking so long to start? Deng ain’t got time for this!

Deng – VT – Kas 2/1, lands in a ball shape with a medium-sized hop to the side, but will get rewarded for the difficulty. 14.666

Sun Wei’s Kas 2/1 is far better than Deng’s nice height and leg form, step back. I think they went too high for Deng because men’s vault, so let’s see what they do with Sun. 14.700. Not different enough.

Second fall in two PH routines for Brazil.

Lin – VT – Kas 2/1, step back, some legs, some arched position on landing, but good overall. 14.600.

Xiao – VT – Kas 2/1, nearly stuck, best of the bunch, small step.

A ton of difficulty for China on vault with all those 5.6s starts, and they all completed their vaults successfully, so the result is 44.299. Not as fun to watch, but well-suited to score well. The Chinese MAG way.

Barretto hits horse from Brazil, following an 11.1 and a 10.7. 13.500 helps a lot.

Vecsernyes is going on HB – nice layout tkatchev and a little crazy on a Kolman – tkatchev 1/2 is good, Yam – hop back on dismount.

We see a happy Nory on PH, so I think that one must have gone well too. 12.300. They’ll take it at this point.

13.766 is only good enough for 18th for Vecsernyes.

Brazil 36.966 on horse.

Ryan Sheppard is up on floor – double front, 2.5 to front full tucked – front 2/1 to front pike with large stumble, just does stay to his feet. Deep double arabian but stayed on his feet there too.

Rotation 2

Sun – PB – nice double back, tight shape – peach 1/2 – peach – front straddle – Tippelt – double front 1/2 out, stuck, excellent. And that’s the leadoff. Lineup strategy putting zou, the gold medal favorite, up second after him?

14.733.

Zou – PB – 3/4 and 1/4 down, perfect – Diam – peach 1/2, small adjustment – giant front straddle to swing – great height on bhavsar – tippelt, very precise – double front 1/2 out, small hop. His routine is just so crisp and precise.

A casual 15.800.

So yeah, he’s in first.

Zanetti is up on rings now – looking like a ringsy – such a flat body position in all these holds – hop forward on landing.

Xiao – PB – stutz – double tuck, nice – some archy struggle in a handstand, pulls it back well – good front straddle to arms – tippelt – double pike, hop back. Solid. Not as crisply executed as the previous 2, but his difficulty makes up for it. 15.000.

15.033 for Zanetti puts him into second on rings behind Petrounias. Very good rings rotation for Brazil.

Lin – PB – double tuck – peach 1/2 – peach – nice one-arm pirouette and from straddle to swing – hits bhavsar – tippelt – double pike, deep but holds the stick. Super clean again. Stronger in execution than Xiao to my eye.

15.266. Good god, China.

46.066 for China on PBars.

China is ahead of Russia’s pace on vault and PBars by 1.5

Meanwhile, Brazil’s 42.299 on rings is the #4 rings total of the competition to this point.

Rotation 3

Clean Kas 1.5 from Nory, small hop forward.

Deng – HB – layout tkatchev to tkatchev 1/2 – Tak 1/2 right on top – tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/1 with legs and a pretty late position – Yam – double double layout with hop.

Bitencourt barely pulled around a Kas 1.5 on vault and still got an E score of 9.

14.300 for Deng puts him 5th on HB. OK, but settle down a little now, scores.

Hit PH for Kardos

Sun – HB – tak 1/1, pretty good – layout tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/2 very late – layout tkatchev 1/2 – yam caught rather close with bent elbows – hop forward on dismount.

Hit Dragulescu from Souza.

14.000 for Sun. That also seems rather high for that routine.

Xiao – HB – Liukin – hit – layout tkatchev, good – tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2, hit – nice full piro finishing position – Tak 1/2 is OK – double double layout, perfect and stuck.

14.433 for Xiao puts him in 3rd. Ahead of Zonderland.

Lin – HB – Cassina, hit – Kolman also hit – full – layout tkatchev 1/2 – yeah, China is going to destroy everyone in this competition you guys – struggled on dismount, though – largeeeeee lunge forward.

13.966 for Lin.

Rotation 4

Sun – FX – front double pike, short with a lunge back – front 2/1 to layout, super rise on layout – 2.5 to 1/2, stuck but very low on 1/2, crazy that he got it around even – double double tuck, hop back – punch rudi, stuck – 3/1, step back

Clean work from Nory on Pbars, shuffle back on double pike. No one is more pleased to hit a routine.

Deng – FX – sticks his front double pike – nice front 2.5 – 2.5 to rudi, stuck – front 2/1, hop. super quick Russians – 2/1, stuck – 3/1, a little short, hops it around. 14.166.

Xiao – FX – 3.5 to 1/2, stuck – 2.5 to front 2/1 with hop forward – DLO, stuck – struggles on a punch rudi with an awkward bounce up – 2/1, stuck, lean – 3/1, legs, small hop. 14.200.

It nearly got weird for Barretto on a double pike off PBars, but he fixed it with a hop back.

Lin – FX – super short on front double pike, somehow didn’t sit it down but a large stumble backward – double double tuck is solid, small slide – 2.5 to front rudi, legs – 2/1, hop back – 3/1, super crunched on landing and crossed legs. Didn’t fall, but not a good one.

12.933.

41.566 for China. Their first bad event, but it won’t matter quite yet (in terms of finishing ahead of Russia) because the lead was so large going in.

That score also opens up the possibility that Lin could get 2-perred depending on how the next two pieces go.

Rotation 5

Zou starts China on horse – very quick work – sometimes too quick with a hand adjustment on a handstand on one pommel and then also smacks himself into oblivion on the side of the horse and comes off. A theme today.

Potential that things could be coming off the rails a little for China, but they have 3 PH routines left to right things.

Long wait for Zou’s score. You know, because of the body slam.

Brazil opens on HB with 11.400. Nory recovers with 13.466.

Really lovely height from Simao Almeida on a Tippelt. As we still wait for Zou’s score.

After all that 12.366 for Zou. Could have been worse.

Sun – PH – large arch on scissor up to handstand and has to add a hand placement to save it – not a great sign – really nice height on his russian travels once he gets going – a hit. He’ll take it.

13.800 for Souza on HB.

13.441 for Sun on PH. Not bad the way things have been going.

Lin – PH – oooooooooof – no one can scissor up to handstand – can’t get up to handstand, sits on horse, and comes off. Sun’s hopes of the AA final are alive again.

14.000 for Barretto on HB puts Brazil on very good pace to make the TF with just floor remaining.

12.866 for Lin. These scores are not bad for having falls in them.

Xiao will try to resolve things in his anchor routine – which he does. That was more like it.

14.633 for Xiao puts him second on horse, but with China’s struggles it looks like Lee Chih-kai will sneak into the final after all.

Sun has about a four-tenth lead on Lin going to rings.

Rotation 6

China needs 42.799 to pass Russia. Brazil well in control to make TF.

Deng starts on rings – a little higher in his cross position than you’d like, second one was better, but nice maltese work – not parallel in that planche – drops a little on a handstand and has to muscle it back up – somehow kind of holds the stick on dismount after coming in spherically

Nory FX – front double pike with a hop forward and OOB – lovely second pass – controlled landings all, after that first one – a little hop on a 2/1 – full in, step back

It’s 14.166 for Deng.

Now it’s Sun – a critical routine for him personally since the AA is within reach – some swing generated in here but nice hold positions overall – hop forward on dismount.

13.966 for Nory.

Argentina on pommels. AHHH. The first two scores are in the 4s.

13.933 for Sun. 84.007 overall.

Lin on rings – stuck dismount. Good routine. Let’s watch how this score plays out. It’s just 13.833, and he will not pass Sun Wei, who will make the AA final.

Xiao will finish the day for China on rings.

Brazil is officially up to 6th will a routine still remaining.

Xiao gets 14.133, so after things looked excellent to start the day, China finishes behind Russia after all following weak floor and horse rotations. It just got interesting.

Argentina just finishing up its disastrous PH rotation, but that’s the only event still running.

So so so

TEAM FINAL QUALIFIERS
Russia
China
Japan
USA
Great Britain
Brazil
Netherlands
Switzerland

Hungary, Norway, Finland, and Belarus make the top 24. Australia, Greece, and Vietnam do not.

The top AA qualifying group is Xiao, Nagornyy, Mikulak, Dalaloyan, Sun, and Shirai.

Marios Georgiou just holds on to get the final spot in the AA final!

For the US, Sam Mikulak has made four (count ’em four) event finals and qualified in third place to the AA final. Moldauer made it back to the floor final and qualified to the AA final as well.