All-Japan Apparatus Finals 2023: Hashimoto Daiki comes up short on pommel horse, going all in on signature horizontal bar
Fighting exhaustion, the two-time Olympic champion fails to reach the final in an unexpectedly tight race as Japan's top gymnasts slug it out for the last tickets to the world championships.
Artistic Gymnastics
Hashimoto Daiki is human after all.
With his body aching and running on fumes, Hashimoto failed to qualify for the pommel horse final at gymnastics' All-Japan Apparatus Finals 2023 in Tokyo on Saturday (10 June).
The Olympic champion was 11th in qualifying on 14.300, outside the top eight who advanced to Sunday’s final. Tsumura Ryota led all finalists with 14.900.
Hashimoto also skipped the horizontal bar preliminaries, exercising his right to a bye as a medallist at last year’s world championships.
The 21-year-old has competed this spring with an unhealed fractured lower back he was diagnosed with in January, which in turn led to other minor injuries here and there.
While he managed to defend his titles at the All-Japan All Around Championships and NHK Trophy in April and May, respectively, even the superhuman Hashimoto might finally have nothing left in the tank.
“It would have been nice to get to the final in the pommel horse so it’s a little frustrating,” Hashimoto said. “I felt like I’ve improved compared to last year.
“I thought a 14.200 would be good enough to get me through but everyone today was very good. It’s tough to accept. My D score wasn’t what I had planned either but I haven’t been able to put in the work.
“I was hoping to perform well enough to build on this for the next competition and being honest, I’m not happy about it.”
Hashimoto hopes he can squeeze out a couple more drops to win the horizontal bar.
“It’s really tough right now for me physically. I just want to give it everything I have with one shot in the final,” he said.
“I hope to go through with the routine I couldn’t do in the NHK Trophy and All-Japans, and finish strong.”
On top of the separate event titles, the last Japanese tickets to the world championships in Antwerp in September will also be issued on Sunday, two men and one woman.
Hashimoto, Kaya Kazuma, and Miwa Teppei have already qualified for the men.
Miyata Shoko - who has reached the vault, balance beam, and floor finals while competing with a still fractured right heel - Kishi Rina, Fukazawa Kokoro, and Watanabe Hazuki have made the women’s team.