The Hashimoto Daiki/Zhang Boheng battle for supremacy/the future begins shortly. With the two separated by only a couple tenths in qualification, the fate of all of humanity rests on who makes the tiny mistake that sees him fall to second place.
Just as interesting should be the completely unpredictably battle for bronze, where I’d say the top contenders for that medal look like Adem Asil, Shi Cong, Angela Lansbury, Ilia Kovtun, Tim Kono, and perhaps Ahmet Onder if he pulls a Leanne Wong and defies our expectations for hitting in a critical situation.
So let’s go.
Withdrawal nation has swept through the men’s field prior to competition. Jossimar Calvo was removed after the positive COVID test that caused qualification competition to be stopped and hosed off after subdivision 5, and Milad Karimi and Ilias Georgiou followed by withdrawing today before the start of the meet. They are replaced by Alexander Benda, Robert Kirmes, and Nikolaos Iliopoulos. Andres Martinez of Colombia has also been removed from the reserves list, so the remaining reserves are #5 Harald Wibye and #6 Yogeshwar Singh.
Intros are underway now. No further withdrawals! It’s a miracle!
Khorkina is sitting right by floor. STAY AWAY DAIKI.
Rotation 1
Kovtun starts us on FX – 3.5 to 1/2, a little awkward landing the 1/2 with the step – 2.5 to front full, very nice, high and stuck – randi, little bounce – double arabian 1/2 out, small hop – 2/1, stuck – 3/1, only a small hop. great after the first pass, where he just did stay in bounds.
14.366
Emard is through pommel horse. He fell in qualification. 12.333 with a 3.8 D score. We enjoy that kind of pommel-protest D score.
Shi – FX – double front pike, pretty, small hop – front 1/1 to front 2/1, small movement, like his twisting form – 2.5 to front 1.5, stuck landing – punch randi is a problem-ish, short landing and a hop forward – 2/1, stuck – 3/1, a little more ragged than his other lovely twisting passes, small step. One trouble pass but otherwise good. He’s your new Sun Wei.
14.466.
Tvorogal also through horse with 13.200
Asil – FX – front lay to double front pike 1/2 out, awesome – front full to double front pike, large lunge forward OOB – double double tuck, good, small hop – double arabian, small hop, good legs together position – 2/1, bounce back – full in final pass, stuck. Some damn amazing passes in there, the OOB lunge will hurt, but not toooo bad.
Onder is also through horse with a hit for 13.700 lots of piking to hurt the E score, but through.
14.400 for Asil, also a strong number for him.
Zhang – FX – front full to double front pike, nailed – double front pike 1/2 out, little hop – 2.5 to front 2/1, small movement, great form – punch randi, little hop – 2/1, small slide – 3/1, some legs, small movement. Hops on everything but all of them only one tenthies. Really good.
Moldauer – SR – good opening maltese -roll up to maltese, down to cross, good horizontal – some handstand hesitation with a little swing – tucks and pikes into cross, this one a liiiiittle low – planche a bit shaky, double double dismount and sits it down. Uh oh.
14.883 for Zhang. Huge number.
Hashimoto – FX – gigantic double double, stuck, amazing – front 1/1 to front 2.5, I mean he stuck but it’s low, he junks out that front 1/1 – 2.5 to front 2/1, little hop – back 1.5 to front 1.5, stuck – 2/1, stuck – 3/1, bounce back. Most stuck passes of the contenders thus far. The double double is a treat.
14.833. Lower D than Zhang but higher E.
Neck and beck after one event, but that’s an advantage for Zhang, who improved a ton on his qualification score.
Meszaros – FX – back 2.5 to front 2/1, takes it too far and lunges OOB – double front 1/2 out, hop back – randi, slightly awkward, hop to the side – 1.5 to front 1.5, little hop – 2/1, stuck – 3/1, step to the side. It’s fine, he just has to go after Zhang and Hashimoto.
13.800 for Meszaros.
After 1
Zhang – 14.883
Hashimoto – 14.833
Shi – 14.466
Asil – 14.400
Kovtun – 14.366
Zhang is up 7 tenths on qualification compared to Hashimoto who is up 1. Shi is up 1.266 because of hitting this time.
We’re getting a replay of Kuavita’s double front vault that he did the triple jump on.
Rotation 2
Shi starts the rotation on horse – he has multiple moments of large leg breaks, bent knees and a straddle but he keeps himself on the apparatus to save the routine. Lots to take though.
13.500, about where he was in qualification.
Niceeee stick for Plata on his rings dismount.
Josh Nathan with a medium step forward on his Kas 1.5 on vault.
Onder on rings, a little crooked on a maltese – he’s having trouble holding a couple strength positions in vertical, like his straddle planche post-saltos – double double tuck is nice, step to the side.
I didn’t see Asil on horse, but it’s a 12.733. Which is sort of…what it’s going to be on horse for him.
Moldauer hit a Kas 1.5 for 14.333
YIKES. Zhang Boheng hits his foot on horse and has to come off. Advantage back to Hashimoto. Big development.
13.466 for him
Best rings dismount I’ve seen this week, coming from Iliopoulos. Stuck double double.
Hashimoto with his turn on horse to seal the advantage with a hit, he gains a little bit of pike as the routine goe……..ahhhh, he got fully ejected from the horse on Russians traveling to the end. Well, they’ve exchanged falls now.They can both afford falls and remain 1-2 though. Looks like Hashimoto also clipped a leg.
14.166 for Hashimoto and he remains in 1st. Yeah, they can afford falls.
Meszaros is like, I KNOW HOW TO HIT HORSE.
13.716 will put him currently in 6th place.
Kovtun has a pause in his handstand travel but is able to push himself back up – works pretty comfortably through his Russian, but you know, Russians – again has to push himself up for his dismount
Solid 14.625 for Emard on rings. He’ll always have a low PH score, but he’s beginning to pick it back up with one of his good events.
Kovtun goes 14.400 on horse, which puts him in 2nd place. You know like you expected?
Ignatyev’s PBars is the final routine of this rotation – very low tippelt but gets it up to handstand – double tuck work is solid – diam to stutz, not bad – double front 1/2 out, lunge back. 13.400
After 2
Hashimoto – 28.999
Kovtun – 28.766
Souza – 28.599
Zhang – 28.349
Shi – 27.966
Just like you thought.
I know Souza is only in 3rd because he has done rings and vault, but let me have this.
Rotation 3
Plata with a Kas 1/1, medium hop back. 14.000
Asil – SR – good flat maltese position – tuck and pikes and rolls up to iron cross, strong – planche position is successfully horizontal – good handstand – double double layout is a bit ragged with a hop forward, but has the D going for him. Strong routine.
Onder has a bit of an adventure on his vault landing, Kas 1.5, large crossover step. 13.966
14.466 for Asil. He’s doing the job he needs to do.
Zhang – SR – opens with a maltese, nice and flat – front pikes up to planche, smooth and high, down into iron cross – these positions are excellent – front tucks up to handstand, some hesitation in these handstands – hop back on dismount, but nice early finish on double double. 14.600 will help him.
Hashimoto – SR – maltese is a bit quick, to cross, higher position – front tuck and pikes, to cross, not quite as flat as the others, coming in a bit low – finishes with a nice stuck double double tuck though. Did what he could do.
13.966 is a big improvement on his qualification score. He moves jussssst ahead of Zhang, which was critical for him after rings. Vault and PBars should be pretty similar, and then Hashimoto has the edge on HB.
Moldauer hits another huge PBars routine for 14.900, which is what he did to get himself into the final on that event. He’s ahead of Asil now…with a fall on rings. But Moldauer still has to do HB.
Meszaros with a lunge back on his double double rings dismount.
Kovtun – SR – his maltese position is pretty archy in the back – front pikes and front tuck to a swing to L sit – pretty large arch in handstands – double double tuck is fine, bounce back. Will be a low score and was always going to be a low score. 12.933
Ignatyev sticks a double double layout on HB.
A look back at Kuavita’s HB on the actual broadcast – excellent Kovacs position – and his tak 1/1 is completely inoffensive – goes for the triple pike dismount and just sticks it.
Shi – SR – a little lax in planche position – maltese is fine – front pikes and front tucks to cross, VERY high position – has to bring the rings together a little to control handstand – double double layout is nice though, hop back. 13.733
After 3
Souza – 43.165
Hashimoto – 42.965
Zhang – 42.949
Abad – 42.265
Shi, Kovtun, Moldauer – 41.699
Not misleading at all. Very much the way it will finish.
Hashimoto is down just shy of 2 tenths on his qualification performance, while Zhang is down around 7 tenths. Advantage Hashimoto.
Rotation 4
It’s Zhang Boheng starting us off with a 14.866 on vault, which is kind of a good score.
Hashimoto follows with his Kas 2/1, which is not nearly a strong as it was in qualification, chest forward and a hop. He still goes 14.800 for it, which…oh dear the controversy will be rife again with that score. Zhang’s was quite a bit better. Though Hashimoto does have the more dynamic vault.
The difference in score is enough to put Zhang ahead of Hashimoto for now.
NICE stick from Kovtun, really pretty vault. 14.300
Onder – PB – … and that’s all I’ve got because my NBC stream died and the apparatus streams in the media center don’t work for PBars. fun fun fun.
Shi – VT – Kas 2/1 from him, a little more ragged in the twisting position than the other top vaulters but fine, lunge back
14.658 for that. He’ll be third behind Zhang and Hashimoto, just a tenth ahead of Onder.
Asil – VT – eeeee really struggles on his piked Dragulescu, short landing and a large lunge forward, I don’t think his knee went down but it was close.
Still 14.700, thanks to difficulty and vault scoring.
Moldauer sticks DLO 1/1 on HB. 13.300.
Shi, Asil, and Onder all bunched together around 3rd place, as expected.
Souza – HB – THE LEADER OF THE COMPETITION IT WILL LAST – Kolamn, hit, leg break – layout tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/1, pretty late, yamawaki, fine – tak 1/2 is fine – DLO 2/1, a little short, hop. Fine job.
14.000 allows him to retain third place.
Robert Kirmes was just like, I shall do this giant is a sheep jump position, but his triple back dismount was fab.
Now, on the All Kirmes All The Time network, to Oskar on floor – double front pike, hop back – front 1/1 to front 2/1, jump to the side – 2.5 to 1/2, nice stick – back 15. to front 1.5, bounce – 2/1, stuck – 3/1 with crazy legs, step to the side.
Stuck double front PBars dismount from Tvorogal.
Nathan – HB – Yam, some piking – Kovacs – tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2, a littel floppy – tak 1/2 – DLO 1/1, piking, lunge back. Hit.
After 4
1. Zhang – 57.815
2. Hashimoto – 57.765
3. Souza – 57.165
4. Shi – 56.367
5. Asil – 56.299
6. Onder – 56.232
7. Kovtun – 55.999
Rotation 5
Moldauer – FX – randi, little hop – double arabian 1/2 out, good stick – front 2/1 to front 1/1, stuck again – 2.5 to 1/2 is uncharacteristically sloppy for him with some leg form – 2/1, nice – 3/1, lean and arm wave to hold the stick, which he does. Better landings than in Q. 14.500
Hashimoto – PB – healy, good – peach 1/2, nice vertical – peach – straddle front 1 1/4, good – bhavsar, such long travel, so quick – tippelt, smooth – stutz, really nice verticals throughout – double front 1/2, lunge back. Solid. Though Zhang will have a chance to gain some ground here.
15.066 for Hashimoto.
Souza – FX – front lay to double front, cowboy, little hop – 1.5 twisting double back, stepOOB – 2.5 to front tuck full, nice stick – 1.5 to front layout full, possible second OOB on the step – 3/1, bounce back. Sadly I fear this medal position might be all gone now. Definitely did go OOB the second time as well.
13.300, 4 tenths for OOB.
Kovtun – PB – opening stutz is a journey, short of handstand and has to press up – he’s really fighting these handstand positions, lots of leaning, which is going to hurt what should be one of his best scores – got it together after those early issues with some really lovely pirouetting – double front, hop forward
14.400, so he’ll stay behind Souza, but Souza has to go to PH.
Shi – PB – misses his hand on a Makuts. Stays on the PBars but a huge deduction. Finishes with a nice stuck double pike though.
Just 13.400 for Shi, he’ll drop behind Souza and Kovtun, just ahead of Moldauer and Abad.
Asil – PB – peach with a large arch and some walking – Makuts, good – healy – front straddle to arms, good – tippelt is low – stutz, secure – dobuel front, hop.
Onder – HB – Yamawaki, some piking – layout tkatchev – layout tkatchev 1/2 – tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/2, medium – double double layout, little hop. He’s keeping himself in it.
13900, he’s within 2 tenths of Kovtun.
Asil got destroyed there for 12.600. I wonder if he sat his tippelt and I just couldn’t tell from this angle.
Ah yes, indeed, that is what happened.
Zhang – PB – peach 1/2, peach, good – front salto, super clean – bhavsar, smooth – tippelt, good height – healy – stuck 1/2 in back out. Yes.
15.366 gives Zhang a lead of .350. Hashimoto won HB in qualification by .467.
BUM BUM BUM.
So it’s going to be Souza in 3rd by less than a tenth over Kovtun, and then Onder right behind. Souza has to do horse, so this thing looks like it is between Onder and Kovtun for bronze.
After 5
1. Zhang – 73.181
2. Hashimoto – 72.831
3. Souza – 70.465
4. Kovtun – 70.399
5. Onder – 70.132
Rotation 6
Nestor Abad is like, guess who didn’t fall on pommel horse once today? This tattoo.
Annnnd Souza is off pommel horse. 12.200. It was never going to be a big number, but now he has dropped even behind Emard and Abad.
Kovtun – HB – layoutk tkatchev to tkatchev 1/2 – yamawaki, pretty good – tkatchev – layout tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/1, not too bad – tak 1/2, a little late – double double layout, small hop. He did what he could do.
14.500 for Kovtun. Bigggg. He’s done on 84.899.
Plata goes 14.133 on floor. He’s now in 2nd.
Shi – HB – Cassina, just caught – Kolman, fine, good swing out of it – stalder rybalko caught under horizontal – like the layout jaeger, just a little pike – but these late pirouettes are killing me – double double lay, short, large lunge
Nathan goes 15.000 on horse to see himself rise up the rankings to a solid position.
Onder – FX – front 1/1 to double front 1/2 out, hop back – 2.5 to front 1.5, a little short, hop – double double, short, hop – 1.5 to 1/2, stuck – 2/1, holds stick but swims and leans – 3/1, a little underrotated.
Well, it’s not going to catch Kovtun, but an impressive 6 hits for someone who…doesn’t usually do that.
14.100 and Onder is currently 2nd behind Kovtun, with Shi in 3rd.
Moldauer is finishing his day on horse, makes it through the one-arm pommel work that spoiled his qualification routine. Really lovely throughout. 14.866. He could have won a medal with a hit on rings.
Asil – HB – yam 1/2 – tak 1/2, legs – layout tkatchev, layout tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/1, pretty late – tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2 – DLO 1/1. A hit, but the damage already done for him.
Moldauer will come in 6 tenths behind Kovtun and in (presumed) 4th place. That will sting.
Here we go.
Zhang – HB – Cassina, huge, great – Kolman, same – Kovacs, love this amplitude and speed – tak 1/1, late – tak 1/2, also fairly late – DLO 2/1, kind of out of control, large lunge back. Some awesome moments at the beginning but the door is open for Hashimoto.
14.800 for Zhang! That’s way higher than I thought. With that dismount?
Hashimoto needs basically his best HB now.
Hashimoto – HB – tak 1/2, nice – Cassina, strong – Kolman, great – layoutk tahtcev to tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/1, better finishing position – yamawaki, some pike – stalder – giant full – DLO 2/1, pretttty deep, hop forward. This will be interesting.
Not enough!
Hashimoto goes 15.133 and will finish .017 behind Zhang.
Well.
Well well well.
I don’t know where I am with this. I feel like Zhang was really overscored on HB, but Hashimoto was (actually this time) overscored on vault in a way that proved significant.
FINAL
1. Zhang – 87.981
2. Hashimoto – 87.964
3. Kovtun – 84.899
4. Moldauer – 84.365
5. Onder – 84.232