Worlds 2018 – Event Finals Day 2

It’s the last day!

It would be wistful, if I weren’t so tired.

Today’s action starts with the leg-explosion that is the man vault.

MAN VAULT: Cunningham, Shek, Nagornyy, Ri, Davtyan, Souza, Shirai, Dalaloyan

WOMAN BEAM: Biles, Black, Zhang, Derwael, Padurariu, Eaker, Wevers, Liu

MAN BAR (PARALLEL TYPE): Mikulak, Lin, Calvo, Belyavskiy, Verniaiev, Zou, Dauser, Dalaloyan

WOMAN FLOOR: De Jesus Dos Santos, Saraiva, Moors, Murakami, Melnikova, Biles, Hurd, Akhaimova

MAN BAR (HIGH TYPE): Tang, Zonderland, Mikulak, Xiao, Srbic, Deng, Uchimura, Dalaloyan

Man vault

Cunningham – VT 1 – ro 1/2 on front 2/1 – very strong, medium hop forward – legs on the block, good direction. 14.533

Cunningham – VT 2 – TTY, gets it around, good direction, step back, solid form in the air. 14.800

14.666 average

Shek – VT 1 – Dragulescu successfully completed, goooood form in tuck shape, lands a little knee-explosiony but not too bad, hop to the side in popping out of the ball shape. 14.733

Shek – VT 2 – Kas 2/1 – not much control in the landing this time, large lunge back and then another medium step after that – good height and form, though. 14.000

14.366 average, takes him below Cunningham because of the landing of the second one

Nagornyy – VT 1 -Fab Dragulescu again, just a small hop back – super secure and powerful – 14.800

Nagornyy – VT 2 – Kas 2/1 – that was a bit of an ouchie landing as he didn’t complete the twist and was still twisting into the ground – step forward

14.650 average

Ri – VT 1 – gets around his piked Dragulescu – well “piked”, fully straddled, pretty much tucked – doesn’t die, so that’s good – large stagger to the side – fairly deep – 14.933

Ri – VT 2 – Tsuk full in – better because it’s supposed to be tucked, insane – step back – actually three steps back as he turns drunk on his landing

14.933 average

How did those two vaults get the same E score?

Davtyan – VT 1 – extremely deep landing on his Dragulescu, knees well down, landing in a ball shape, but pops back up with a hop forward – 14.433

Davtyan – VT 2 – Kas 2/1 attempt, massive lunge back and has to put his hand down as he spin backward into the next country. 8 million steps.

13.933 average

Souza – VT 1 – Kas 2/1, pretty strong in the air, comfortably around, a little bit of direction – larger lunge back and to the side

Souza – VT 2 – Dragulescu, nope. Comes in too short (not face-first, but kind of close) and lands it to his knees

Kenzo – VT 1 – TTY actually comes in a little short this time with a step forward – still super form, but chest very low and the little step. 14.750

Kenzo – VT 2 – Stuck a Kas 1.5, surprised himself a little with that stick, off to the side a little – not going for his big difficulty – great form

14.675 average, puts him just ahead of Cunningham by the smallest margin, who is just ahead of Nagornyy by the smallest margin

Some controversy that Kenzo did not get deducted for OOB even though he went out.

Dalaloyan – VT 1 – TTY, also comes in a little short but not as chest deep as Kenzo, larger hop forward and some more form, though. 14.866

Dalaloyan – VT 2 – double front pike, super open, large lunge forward. He’ll get a medal and knock Dom out.

14.883 average, actually got close to Ri.

FINAL
Ri – 14.933
Dalaloyan – 14.883
Shirai – 14.675
Cunningham – 14.666
Nagornyy – 14.650
Shek – 14.366
Davtyan – 13.933
Souza – 14.833

Nobody died!


BEAM FINAL

Simone introduced. Now the rest. The trio is like, “alright, enough of that racket let’s talk about Simone more.”

Biles – BB – wolf triple, super controlled all week – barani, large leg-up break but stays on this time – THAT DAMN BARANI – bhs loso loso, sublime – switch, wobble – switch 1/2, wobble – back pike, no CV there – front pike, another wobble – aerial to split – full-in, pretty large bounce back.

Not a great beam for Simone but will still be a nice score. But she won’t get near her intended difficulty and had wobbles on most acro elements

Just 13.600. There are several in this final who can beat that. Like most of them.

Black – BB – switch mount to switch, check – to switch 1/2 – double turn with a check – bhs layout, 2 feet, nice – side somi, arm wave to avoid a wobble – double pike, little hop

13.033. Just a 4.8 D score. I’m guessing she did not get a leap series with the check in the early series.

Zhang – BB – switch ring to korbut, lovely skills, a little low on connection – bhs bhs layout to 2 feet, falls but did it super acrobatically so that’s a win? – aerial to split to split ring jump, excellent – switch to sheep, falls again, that was a weird fall because it looked like she could save that one with a check – side jump, fine – 3/1, deep landing and a little short, has to hop,

Ellie Black inquiring her D score

Derwael – BB – loso mount, excellent – bhs loso, check – aerial, small adjustments – side somi, large leg-up wobble and another check as she rebalances – switch to split ring, no credit on split ring leap? – hit wolf triple – wolf double – gainer full dismount, hop forward

13.466, behind Simone. More wobbly than her qualification routine for 13.7

Padurariu – BB – back dive mount – wolf triple, no problem – switch ring, nice – side aerial loso loso with a lean correction, not too much – switch 1/2, a bit short – aerialt o split to bhs, great series – switch, pause – wolf to sissone – double pike, hop back

Nice hit!

14.100 and into 1st.

Eaker – BB – switch mount with a huge break and falls. Oh Kara. ARMINE’S DUNGEON FOR YOU – split ring leap – Y spin, rushing now – aerial to split ring jump, a check – side aerial loso loso, check – split leap to side somi – switch ring to bhs – switch 1/2 to korbut, gorgeous all – switch to switch side, good – 2.5, small hop, overtime

So, 12.833 for Eaker.

Medal for Padurariu.

Wevers – BB – bhs mount, good – double L with a huge leg-up break, saves it – side aerial to bhs and falls, never close to getting that on the beam. MY GOD – aerial to split, nice – Kochetkova, hit – L turn to full turn to double turn to split leap, gorgeous – gainer full, stuck. OH SANNE.

12.666

Liu TT – BB – back dive mount – fhs front tuck, check – switch to split ring leap, hit – switch ring to bhs – aerial to split ring to Korbut, awesome – split leap to side aerial to split – 2/1 dismount, hop back

AND THE TINGTING WILL SAVE US

14.533. Beam champion.

FINAL
Liu 14.533
Padurariu – 14.100
Biles – 13.600
Derwael – 13.466
Black – 13.033
Eaker – 12.833
Wevers – 12.666
Zhang – 11.500

You know, the podium you predicted.


Medal ceremonies now, starting with man vault. Alright let’s move it along.

SIMONE GIVING PODIUM WALKING INSTRUCTIONS TO PADURARIU

Alright, let’s get a move on here people

Mikulak – PB – good piro down – peach 1/2 with some walking – tuck 1/2 – goof – front straddle to swing – bhavsar, hit – tippelt – stutz, perfect – double front 1/2 out, nailed – an issue on the peach 1/2 but not much else.

15.233

Lin – PB – double back, a little low but fine – peach 1/2 to peach – good diam – front straddle to swing – bhavsar, smooth – tippelt – double pike, smallest slide back. Also excellent.

15.200

We expect Zou and Oleg to medal, but the other spot should be up for grabs.

Calvo – PB – peach to one and healy down – well done – diam with a little arch – awesome bhavsar – long swing diam to tippelt, nice – double front 1/2 out, stuck. Really good. Some arches.

15.033

Belyavskiy – PB – a little late on diam – if he struggles it’s usually at the beginning there with some archiness – a couple moments of walking on handstands – but nice stutz to one and regular stutz at the end – double front 1/2 out, hop back. Just too many adjustments.

14.633

Oleg – PB – peach 1/2, great – peach to one, healy, awesome – Makuts pause but fine – nice high Tippelt – super amplitude on bhavsar – stutz to one – double front 1/2 out, small step. Excellent.

15.591 and into 1st

Zou – PB – Makuts work, super clean, great handstand – diam right up to vertical – peach 1/2, small adjustment – front straddle to swing, perfect – bhavsar – tippelt, super nice hs – double front 1/2 out – stuck, and he can out out of it. Awesome.

16.433 with a 7.0 D.

Dauser – PB – peach 1/2 – peach – good diam – stutz a little elbow bend – really struggles in Makuts has to pause/rest with bent elbows – double front 1/2, hop back. Still good, but won’t be a huge number

13.700

Dalaloyan – PB – no trouble on mount now or ever again – diam – stutz, small issue – tippelt – bhavsar, hit – front straddle to arms – healy – stutz – double front 1/2, a little short with a hop. I thought Mikulak was cleaner with better amplitude, but we’ll see…

Ooooh, 15.366 and into 3rd, pushing Mikulak to 4th.


WOMEN’S FLOOR

Simone yawns as the camera pans past her backstage. I think it’s an H element.

MDJDS – FX – DLO 1/1, takes it too far and lands OOB, we’ll see if it was one or both – full in, nice, chest up, small slide – switch 1/1 – wolf double – front loso to double tuck, little hop – double pike, comes in kind of short and does well to hold the landing, if a tad deep

It was three tenths.

13.433

Saraiva – FX – whip to full in and a lunge back OOB – switch full, nice and high – DLO, nailed that landing – switch ring – split 1.5 – 1.5 to front full, short witha  lunge back – single Y – lovely split ring – double pike, short and dances out of it

13.766

Moors – FX – front layout to double front – super deep and had to lurch back to save it, almost sat down, noooo- Pod is much better, good open, small hop back – nearly a triple attitude, just dips at the end – switch ring – Ferrari – split jump full to double stag, lovely – 2.5 to front full, kind of under on the front full with a lunge to the side

13.066. Actually much closer to the others than I expected. Moors things.

Murakami – FX – falls out of that quad turn attempt again, will get three – double double tuck, a little forward but good control – DLO, strong, small slide – 2.5 to front full, small hop – switch ring – split 1.5, around – just does get through her double L – double pike, small hop. Should still get her into first.

13.866

Melnikova – FX – double L to single turn – DLO 1/1, nailed today, excellent – switch ring 1/2, as per all of them – DLO, small hop – pulls around triple wolf with some interpretive arms – front tuck through to double tuck, nailed it – drops early on the double Y this time, wouldn’t give it – double pike, short but hit with a hop

13.833, behind Murakami. Interesting. Thought she would be ahead based on those early landings, but she didn’t get all the turn value she needed to get her D score up

Biles – FX – Moors, step back but keeps it in bounds this time – Biles to stag, strong – switch to split leap 1.5 – front full to full in, took that one too far and steps OOB – switch full – double double, small hop forward.

14.933

Hurd – FX – double double tucked, good, bounce back and then another small step – DLO, small bounce, a little pike – switch ring and split 1.5, good positions – front lay to front full with an NCAA dance out – Ferrari – split jump 1/1 – double pike, small hop. Good.

13.933 and into 2nd place.

Akhaimova – FX – super short on the DLO 1/1 with a lunge forward – also short on DLO, a step – heel struggles on the double L – double arabian, solid, step forward – great full in to finish, best part of the routine.

A casual six medals for Simone at this worlds.

FINAL
Biles – 14.933
Hurd – 13.933
Murakami – 13.866
Melnikova – 13.833
Saraiva – 13.766
DJDS – 13.433
Akhaimova – 13.366
Moors – 13.066

So many Melnikova tears. It was that double Y that got her.


One left.

HIGH BAR

Tang – HB – ZLM – nice high Yam – Kolman catches  alittle close – layout tkatchev to tkatchev to tkatchev 1/2 all well done – tak 1/1, late – tak 1/2 was better – DLO 1/1, stuck…..until it wasn’t. Step back.

14.266

Epke – HB – Cassina to Kovacs, excellent – Kolamn to Gaylor, all excellent – super late full twist obviously – double double layout, holds the stick with a lean – great one (actually didn’t hold the stick, little step)

15.100. Whew.

Mikulak – HB – Cassina, hit – Kolman, good – layout tkatchev – tkatchev to tatchev 1/2, no trouble – tak 1/2 – double double layout – small hop forward. Still one of his good ones.

14.533.

Xiao – HB – hits Liukin well – layout tkatchev, a touch close – tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2 – take 1/1 suppppppeeer late – Yam – tak 1/2, also fairly short – double double layout, good stick.

13.900.

Srbic – HB – stalder tkatchev to tkatchev to layout tkatchev to tkatchev 1/2, excellent – tak 1/2 – layout tkatchev 1/2 – some final positions in these full twists – DLO 1/1, step back

14.500. Oooooh, just behind Mikulak.

Deng – HB – layout tkatchev to layout tkatchev 1/2, good – tak 1/2, excellent – tkatchev to tkatchev 1/2, sall hesitation full pirouettes are looking a little late – Yam – double double layout dismount, leans and can’t hold the stick with a hop forward. Too many late verticals in there.

14.066.

Uchimura – HB – piked kovacs amazing – Cassina, hit – Kolman, excellent, just a touch close – Rybalko is finished at rybalko height – but some Uchi assumption so that you just assume it’s finished perfectly – double double layout, stuck. Exceptional routine.

14.800

Dalaloyan – HB – exceleltn layout Kovacs and regular Kovacs – layout tkatchev – repeats layout tkatchev and falls – resumes with a nice 1/2 turn finishing positions – Yam – stalder – DLO 1/1, hop forward

FINAL
Zonderland – 15.100
Uchimura – 14.800
Mikulak – 14.533
Srbic – 14.500
Tang – 14.266
Deng – 14.066
Xiao – 13.900
Dalaloyan – 12.666

So we can stop talking about Sam not having individual medals

It;s over!

104 thoughts on “Worlds 2018 – Event Finals Day 2”

  1. Am I the only one who thinks Kenzo should not have averaged more than Cunningham?

    1. Nah, I thought the same thing. Especially because Kenzo didn’t get the OOB deduction that he should have. Love Kenzo but he really seems to be struggling on the Taishan equipment. Not that he’s alone in that.

      1. I heard somewhere that for the men, it only counts as OOB on vault if you land out, not if you land in and then hop out. That may or may not be true though…

  2. Simone leading the women to say good luck to each of the competitors! Jessica must be jumping out of her chair yelling world peace!

    1. She took out all of her front saltos after she was always falling or putting her hands down on them. So it’s a short routine that she can hit.

  3. Canada! That should be good enough for the podium at this point. I would think only Kara and Sanne could pass her.

  4. Oh god, Simone is still going to medal after all. This feels like Rio all over again, unless Tingting pulls out a miracle.

    Everyone is wobbly today (except Anne-Marie).

  5. Gage gymnasts are absolutely stunning, but the coaches seem unbearable. I love that the Canadian coach seemed to say something encouraging to Kara because Armine seemed like a total b*!#%.

      1. But she wasn’t left alone. Armine never looked at her in the eyes after the routine but hugged her while saying something that seemed not too great. Then when they showed them again Armine was talking to her and Kara started getting tears in her eyes.

        Gage coaches have a not so pleasant history. I’m surprised that they haven’t received more criticism in the current climate.

    1. There’s a lot of assumption going in your post. Kara didn’t really seem to want the Canadian coach to talk to her either. And we don’t have any idea what Armine said to her. Let’s not make assumptions.

    2. For anyone who is concerned over whether or not gage coaches are upset at Kara, please go check out Al Fong’s instagram. He posted an entire video about how proud he/the gym is of Kara, her accomplishments, and her growth. I know gage has a history, but people do change and learn and it does seem like the gage coaches have evolved as coaching has evolved.

  6. And another one bites the dust! Poor Sanne! Has someone checked if this beam is level today?

  7. I really hope Tingting just stays on, the only way to somewhat redeem this horrible final (along with Padurariu’s hit).

  8. Okay, that was really lovely and will win, but I was hoping for a Canadian gold.

    1. To be fair, he also said she deserved the gold medal. I’m not a Tim fan, but he was merely pointing out that the dismount wasn’t as difficult as other routines and he also talked about her high difficulty level during the routine.

  9. Wow, that was hard to watch but I’m so excited about Tingting and Padurariu!

  10. Simone still alive for the Shushunova (aka medals in all events) after all. Would not have expected that after her score.

  11. Yay for Tingting! Fab result too for Padurariu, major props to her for hitting on such a rubbish day, but Tingting has really had a rough couple of years, missing the Olympics, injured at the last Worlds, etc – makes it extra sweet to see her finally come out on top here.

    1. Padurariu has had a pretty rubbish year herself – hasn’t been through as much as Tingting but she was injured at her first senior competition early in the year and went from being a sure thing for the team to being uncertain whether she would even make the team. And I’m sure she would have loved to be competing AA rather than limited to bars and beam. Plus after missing both of her events in team finals, I’m sure this had to feel extra good.

      In any event, I love both of them and am happy for both and I bet they are both happy with their medals.

  12. I feel like Simone is going to come back next year and just demolish beam. She’s going to be so pissed about that event that she’s going to put everything into beam over the next year.

  13. Well deserved gold for Tingting. She killed what been the Cursed Beam. Lovely routine.

  14. I think it’s time to address Simone’s beam composition, though. Honestly I’d downgrade slightly, taking off THAT DAMN FRONT PIKE/TUCK and replacing it with something else. And the barani… I mean it’s clear now that those two elements mess up her mind. She’s become inconsistent on the event and that’s something the Landis need to take care of.

  15. Okay, Olympic channel, this was not the Simone All-Around performance that I needed to see over and over again. Isn’t there a medal ceremony or something that you could be showing now instead?

  16. Awww…..ting ting! Saved the beam final and got herself a gold medal. This was a gut wrenching final. Thank God it ended with a hit.

  17. When I have a kidney stone, it’s a miracle if I can stand up without major assistance. Biles is getting world championship medals with a kidney stone. Un-freaking-believable.

    1. You know how sometimes they let you keep the kidney stone after you pass it? Simone should put this one in her trophy case.

      1. Actually she should auction off the kidney stone on Ebay and use the money to hire a proper USAG president who will listen to the athletes, clean house and make the changes to benefit the athletes and the sport.

    1. They never show the medal ceremony. It had nothing to do with North Korea.

      Gym fans are looking for controversy everywhere these days.

  18. How is that that Dalaloyan is the last to go on every apparatus final he competed in? Event finals’ start list is based on nothing right? Just coincidence?

    1. Yes it’s a random draw. Artur Dalaloyan is my new favorite. His front double pike is so beautiful.

      1. Do they announce the draw before or after qualifications? I hope it’s before (like NCAAs) — much more transparent.

  19. Did Tim say there had been 3 ties earlier? I can only think of two (Dalaloyan/Xiao and Xiao/Whitlock).

  20. Sam collects one fourth place after the other.. DAMN Sam, grab yourself a medal finally 😀

    But wow, that gold pbars routine was INCREDIBLE! Execution on point.

  21. Mikulak gets completely hosed by the judges. He should have been third. Dalaloyan’s dismount had form issues, a low chest on the landing, and a hop, yet his execution score is higher than Sam’s, who went completely clean? The judges still love their Russians. Just to be clear, I’m not a Dalaloyan hater at all. I think he legitimately won the AA. But this was just wrong.

  22. excited to finally get to see Brooklyn’s floor routine after not seeing it broadcasted in TF or AA

    1. She is absolutely gorgeous to watch in her choreo and dance elements so wish she’d get her tumbling cleaned up!!

  23. Let’s talk about how Simone took out her layout to 2 feet in 2013 after falling on it once (ONCE) in competition but keeps that front tuck/pike after mistakes on it in 2015, 2016, and 2018…normally I agree with her routines & skills but this is the epitome of bad decision making. That blind landing isn’t happening for you. Switch to a back full or something, damn.

    1. Agreed. Especially for an athlete like Simone who has so many skills she can do instead.

  24. damn i really thought melnikova would be ahead of murakami. i know she f’ed up some of the dance, but i thought it would be 14+ since it was better than quals

    1. Same, Melnikova and sam in 4th these last two finals are my biggest injustices of these worlds!!

  25. Yeah, I would have had Melnikove in 2nd. Really surprised to see her in 4th and off the podium. I would have gone Simone, Melnikova, Murakami.

    1. Hurd was handily cleaner today than Mai or Geyla who both struggled with their spins and Hurd successfully completed more difficulty…… I don’t know how anyone can question her second-place finish.

      1. Morgan was credited with 5.5 D. Mai and Melnikova both competed a 5.7. Morgan had a higher E score than both. I find that a little questionable.

  26. OK I adore Morgan but she was overscored on FX. Mai was a little underscored, Gelya too. First the wrong Sam/Dalaloyan placement on PBs, now this. Don’t know if it’s the code or the judges but this is just deeply unfair.

    1. All of the routines you mentioned were extremely close. You could make a logical argument for Hurd/Murakami/Melnikova and Sam/Dalaloyan in any order. Calling it deeply unfair is a bit of a stretch. They all had hit routines that were close. People could argue that Hurd should be fourth, but acting like her second place is unfair or blatantly wrong is an overreaction.

  27. Justice for Melnikova! I love Mai, but I really think Melnikova should’ve been bronze there 🙁

  28. I think melnikova is such a nice girl , she’s friends with the other girls and is obviously happy for the winners but devastated for herself . Overall she had a good meet! No falls!!

  29. Melnikova basically fell out of the double Y and that wasn’t her only problem with a dance move. After years of Mustafina not getting the deductions she deserves for her lousy multiple ‘turns’ on floor, I’m glad to see some change in the judging of floor dance elements. To compare Melnikova’s fourth with Mikulak’s is HEINOUS; Mikulak got hosed; Melnikova was fairly, if strictly, scored.

    1. Melnikova made up for the spin errors with her landings. The two should have more or less cancelled each other out. Not a heinous comparison.

  30. Nope. Mikulak was considerably cleaner with a clear advantage in amplitude; Melnikova had a couple of superior landings and a couple of hops comparable to Hurd’s and Murakami’s landings. Not even a remotely reasonable comparison.

    1. Nope. Morgan overscored by a fair bit. How was that routine, with all the hops, better than her routine in AA final, where she stuck almost everything? Not even a remotely unreasonable comparison.

      Agree to disagree on this one. It was close in both cases.

      1. Different judging panels though, which is why scores tend to be higher or lower across the board on event finals. Maybe the AA final judging was a bit looser?!?! She wasn’t overscored “a fair bit” — people are acting like she didn’t deserve a medal because she had tiny hops on landings yet clean beautiful dance elements.

      2. For Morgan this was her cleanest routine for form in the air, I think. Her main deductions were landing deductions. Since landing deductions are the most obvious, those are the ones everyone flips out about, but all she had were hops. Her chest was high and her air form was cleaner. She doesn’t have a lot of dance element deduction either. If you do a lot of spins, you risk D-score and E-score deductions which got to both Mai and Gelya today. I would have had Gelya in 3rd though.

      3. The only thing I agree with you about is that we violently disagree. Tiny hops are usually taken as deductions in most women’s floor routines most of the time; falls and complete loss of balance in dance elements are now, finally, beginning to be taken. Deal with it.

      4. @tempus

        “Violently disagree” and “deal with it”???

        This blog used to be awesome now commentors are just be rude for no reason.

    2. Good lord, this is aggressive. There are only a few things in gymnastics that I feel “violently” about and they have to do with Larry Nassar.

      OK, let’s put out the fires here. While she had a very good routine, I thought Morgan was a bit overscored relative to the others. I’d have had her in fourth place, maaybe third, in such a close final. Shrug. It doesn’t matter that much in the end – I love all these gymnasts, so congrats to them. As for Melnikova, her day will surely come – she improves more with every meet, and has won a lot of new fans at these Worlds. Next time, Gelya!

Comments are closed.