Gymnastics British Championships 2023: Max Whitlock suffers shock pommel horse defeat

Max Whitlock suffered a rare mishap on the pommel horse at the Gymnastics British Championships in Liverpool on Sunday (26 March).

The 30-year-old also qualified for the finals of the parallel bars and horizontal bar, but opted to only contest the event in which he is the reigning two-time Olympic champion.

But things did not go to plan as Whitlock came off while performing circles early in his routine. He remounted the apparatus, but came off again and then failed to make a handstand before dismounting.

Whitlock gave a wry smile as he bowed to the crowd, and he will hope to be back on song at next month's European Championships in Türkiye.

His score of 10.450 was only good enough for seventh place with Joshua Nathan (14.250) taking victory.

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Whitlock's South Essex team had a one-two on rings with world bronze medallist Courtney Tulloch (14.650) beating Pavel Karnejenko (14.000).

Tulloch's difficulty quotient of 6.2 was by far the biggest in the field, and solid execution secured him the title.

European champion Jake Jarman was a cut above in the vault with a stunning second attempt scoring him 15.550 for a two-vault average of 15.175.

The Huntingdon Olympic club gymnast also took victory on parallel bars with a mark of 14.700 to beat Saturday's all-around champion Adam Tobin (14.300).

The placings were reversed on the horizontal bar as Tobin won with 13.650 to Jarman's 13.500.

Jessica Gadirova second on beam as Becky Downie takes uneven bars

Becky Downie took victory in the first women's apparatus final of the day, the uneven bars.

Having qualified first, Downie scored 14.350 to come out on top with Georgia-Mae Fenton (14.300) second and Jessica Gadirova (14.200) placed third.

But newly-crowned British all-around champion Alice Kinsella - who was originally given a score of 14.050 - had two-tenths added to her mark which saw her displace Gadirova from third.

Despite missing the podium, Gadirova showed she has improved on uneven bars with a score of almost a point more than her effort in taking world all-around bronze last year.

And the 18-year-old took second in the balance beam final with 13.650 behind all-around runner-up Ondine Achampong (13.800).

Kinsella was third again with a score of 13.100.

That concluded Gadirova's weekend after she decided not to take part in qualification on floor, the apparatus in which she is the reigning world champion.

In her absence, Kinsella took the floor title with 13.900.

Results from apparatus finals at 2023 Gymnastics British Championships:

Men's Floor

1. Luke Whitehouse 14.550
2. Jake Jarman 14.400
3. Harry Hepworth 13.550

Men's Pommel Horse

1. Joshua Nathan 14.250
2. Jamie Lewis 14.000
3. Jack Stanley 12.900

Men's Rings

1. Courtney Tulloch 14.650
2. Pavel Karnejenko 14.000
3. Adam Tobin 13.950

Women's Vault

1. Ruby Evans 13.275 (13.900; 12.650)
2. Emily Roper 12.975 (13.450; 12.500)
3. Keira Thornton 12.975 (13.400; 12.550)

Men's Vault

1. Jake Jarman 15.175 (14.800; 15.550)
2. Harry Hepworth 14.825 (14.600; 15.050)
3. Luke Whitehouse 14.375 (14.550; 14.200)

Women's Uneven Bars

1. Rebecca Downie 14.350
2. Georgia-Mae Fenton 14.300
3. Alice Kinsella 14.250

Men's Parallel Bars

1. Jake Jarman 14.700
2. Adam Tobin 14.300
3. Joshua Nathan 13.950

Women's Balance Beam

1. Ondine Achampong 13.800
2. Jessica Gadirova 13.650
3. Alice Kinsella 13.100

Men's Horizontal Bar

1. Adam Tobin 13.650
2. Jake Jarman 13.500
3. Joe Cemlyn-Jones 13.300

Women's Floor

1. Alice Kinsella 13.900
2. Poppy-Grace Stickler 13.750
3. Georgia-Mae Fenton 13.500

For full results, click here.