Japan leads after first day of men's qualifying at World Championships
The squad is seeking its first world team title since 2015
Artistic Gymnastics
Team Japan is one step closer to claiming its first team title since 2015 at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Saturday (30 September 2023) after leading the field after four of six men's qualifying sessions.
They earned a 258.228, holding off Team USA, which earnd 254.628. Great Britain is third at 254.193. Defending champions China sits fifth (248.163), competing without 2021 world all-around champion Zhang Boheng, last year's all-around runner-up, who opted to participate at the Asian Games earlier this week.
Japan's day was not without drama as reigning world and Olympic all-around champion Hashimoto Daiki finished third overall and third among his Japanese squad. Only two per nation can advance to the all-around final; however, a country is free to select another athlete who would have qualified to the final without the country limitation.
Coach Sato Hiroaki confirmed they would do just that after competition.
"We already had a meeting because we decided to compete three gymnasts in the all around, so these kinds of things might happen," Hiroaki said. "So we predicted it. If Hashimoto didn't win, like, top three, then, we can just change that."
Hiroaki added later that the team was in agreement with the decision.
World debutant Chiba Kenta posted the top score in the second of six qualifying sessions, a 85.799. Kaya Kazuma was second at 85.598, followed by Hashimoto's 85.432.
Qualifying competition continues Sunday (1 October) two more men's subdivisions. Then, the women take centre stage with seven-time Olympic medallist Simone Biles set to return to the global stage for the first time since the Tokyo 2020 Games.
U.S. on verge of podium return
The Americans looked on track to challenge the Japanese, besting their totals in each of their first three rotations.
But, on the horizontal bar, the squad had three scores of 12.233 or lower. Paul Juda managed the salvage the rotation with a 14.133, but the damage was done.
The squad, a mix of veterans like Tokyo Olympian Yul Moldauer and newcomers like Juda, Fred Richard and Khoi Young, rebounded in their final rotation on the floor exercise to squeak past Team GB.
"I thought we were off to a great start, found a rhythm, getting comfortable, and then, felt like maybe a little too comfortable," said head coach and U.S. high performance director Brett McClure, a 2004 Olympic silver medallist. "And, then, we had to find a way to bring it back on floor. But overall, I think mission accomplished."
The last time the U.S. men landed on the team podium at the worlds was 2014 when they took bronze in Nanning, China.
Whitlock soars to pommel horse lead
The day's opening session saw full teams from Great Britain, Türkiye, Brazil and Kazakhstan competing. GB earned a 254.193 to win the group by just over six-and-a-half points, despite issues on several events including suffering three falls on the vault.
"I'm overall pretty pleased. I think we all are," said Max Whitlock, a three-time Olympic gold medallist. "I think, you know, qualifications, as we all know, is probably the hardest one, most nerve wracking one is the first time going out there, and I think as a team, we've done really really good. There's definitely a little bits... we all know that we can work on, which I think at this stage is a good thing. We can learn from those."
Whitlock closed out the session on the pommel horse, where is the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 champion, with a massive 15.266, the top score on the event all day. The event is 30-year-old's first major international in two years.
"Tokyo feels like ages and ages ago," said Whitlock afterward. "This is my first proper major since since the Olympics. I was pretty nervous, but I was really pleased."
Turkey's Adem Asil: "Individual dreams are done for this competition."
Türkiye finds itself in good position to obtain a full five-member team quota spot to Paris 2024, a first at the Olympics for the nation, but not everything went according to plan Saturday.
After a long wait in the fifth rotation to deal with an equipment issue on the parallel bars, both Ahmet Onder, the 2019 world silver medallist on the event, and Ferhat Arican, who took Olympic parallel bronze in Tokyo, had major errors.
Onder went the wrong way on an element mind routine and jumped off, then, Arican rolled backward on his double front half dismount. Arican, 30, looked stunned by the error and could not hold back his emotions as he came off the podium.
"They didn't check [the parallel bars] so good. That's it. We had to wait and you know, our [parallel bars] is really good and strong," said teammate Adem Asil. "Individual dreams are done for this competition."
Despite the disappointment, Asil remained focused on his squad's overall performance.
"We are happy actually. It's okay," he said. "This time, let's make it for the team."