FIG Artistic Gymnastics Challenge Cup
Doha (QAT), March 28-30, 2012
LAUSANNE (SUI), FIG Office, April 2, 2012: 2004 Olympic Champion Catalina Ponor of Romania and China’s men took the titles on day two of the Finals at the Challenge Cup that concluded in Doha (QAT) on Friday.
In Men’s, all top-qualifiers prevailed in the Finals, with China’s Du Wei taking the title on Vault, Guo Weiyang on Parallel Bars and Zou Kai on Horizontal Bar. France’s Yann Cucherat improved his qualifying scores garnering Silver on Parallel Bars and Horizontal Bar. Armenia’s Artur Davtyan confirmed a solid performance during Qualifications to finish second on Vault.
Men’s Vault
1- DU Wei CHN 16.012
2- DAVTYAN Artur ARM 15.725
3- LYSZCZARZ Marek POL 15.550
Parallel Bars
1- GUO Weiyang CHN 15.275
2- CUCHERAT Yann FRA 15.200
3- CAPELLI Claudio SUI 14.900
Horizontal Bar
1- ZOU Kai CHN 16.075
2- CUCHERAT Yann FRA 15.275
3- GUO Weiyang CHN 14.900
On the Women’s side, triple 2004 Olympic Gold medallist Catalina Ponor won both titles on Friday, leaving the rest of the field in her wake on Balance Beam and Floor Exercise. The 24 year old gymnast, who had announced her retirement from the sport in 2007, made a successful comeback at the 2011 Romanian National Championships. She said: “I want to do the same thing that I did in 2004. It was hard to make a comeback, but all the time I was thinking that I could do it. I will not relax till I reach my goal.”
Balance Beam
1- PONOR Catalina ROU 15.300
2- BRENNAN Ashleigh AUS 14.325
3- PIHAN-KULESZA Marta POL 13.900
Floor Exercise
1- PONOR Catalina ROU 15.275
2- BULIMAR Diana Laura ROU 14.725
3- JIANG Yuyuan CHN 14.000
Detailed results
The FIG Challenge Cup continues this weekend in Zibo City (CHN).
About 2012 FIG Individual Apparatus Artistic Gymnastics World Cup and Challenge Cup Series
The 2012 FIG Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics series for Individual Apparatus includes one World Cup (category A) and six Challenge Cup (category B) competitions.
Zibo City (CHN) on April 7 - 8 will host the 2012 Individual Apparatus World Cups, while 2012 Challenge Cups will take place on March 22 – 25 in Cottbus (GER), March 28 – 30 in Doha (QAT), April 20 – 22 in Maribor (SLO), April 27 – 29 in Osijek (CRO), June 9 – 10 in Ghent and November 23 – 24 in Ostrava (CZE).
Separate World Ranking lists will be established for CIII, six for men and four for women, with the Individual Apparatus rankings including combined lists for World Cups and Challenge Cups.
Invitation to the Individual Apparatus World Cup is based on the CIII rankings from the 2011 World Championships, the 2011 World Cup Ranking List for Individual Apparatus and the 2011 Challenge Cup Ranking List, and is limited to twelve gymnasts with a maximum of two entries per country on each apparatus. Moreover, the organising member federation can grant wild cards to a maximum of one man and one woman on one apparatus. The competitions include Qualifications and Finals with the best four gymnasts per apparatus proceeding to the final round. An additional one wild card per Men’s and Women’s competition is allowed in the event that the host federation fails to qualify for the Finals.
The Challenge Cup series is an open category featuring qualifying and final rounds, with participation limited to two gymnasts per country and apparatus. The best eight gymnasts per apparatus advance to the Final. An extra one wild card per Men’s and Women’s competition is allowed in the event that the host federation fails to qualify for the Finals.
The winners of the 2012 Individual Apparatus World Cup and Challenge Cup Series are those gymnasts with the highest number of points for each apparatus and the best four results counting after the last event in Ostrava, where special award ceremonies will be held and the winners will receive a cup.
