World Gymnastics Championships 2015: Results and Reaction from Monday
Oleg Verniaiev fell just short of knocking Japan's Kohei Uchimura out of the top spot during Monday's men's World Gymnastics Championships 2015 qualifiers in Glasgow, Scotland, while the USA failed to impress with a fifth-placed finish in the team classification.
Verniaiev, the defending European champion, finished less than half a point behind Uchimura, the favourite to repeat as men's all-round champion. In the team category, the top three saw no changes, meaning hosts Great Britain have qualified for the 2016 Olympics, with Dan Purvis and Max Whitlock also qualifying for the all-round final.
Here's a look at the final team standings, with the top eight qualifying for the Olympics:
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| 1 | Japan | 358.884 |
| 2 | China | 357.027 |
| 3 | GB | 354.417 |
| 4 | Russia | 352.692 |
| 5 | USA | 350.332 |
| 6 | Switzerland | 350.127 |
| 7 | Brazil | 349.057 |
| 8 | Korea Republic | 346.166 |
Here are the teams who have qualified for the men's Test Event, per the FIG's official Twitter account:
The individual standings:
| 1 | Kohei Uchimura (JPN) | 90.564 |
| 2 | Oleg Verniaiev (UKR) | 90.131 |
| 3 | Daniel Purvis (GBR) | 88.956 |
| 4 | Danell Leyva (USA) | 88.898 |
| 5 | Shudi Deng (CHN) | 88.832 |
| 6 | Xiao Ruoteng (CHN) | 88.698 |
| 7 | Manrique Larduet (CUB) | 88.656 |
| 8 | Kazuma Kaya (JPN) | 88.431 |
The full schedule for the competition can be found on the event's official website. For the full team and individual results visit the FIG's official website.
Recap
Verniaiev once again showed why he's considered the world's best on the parallel bars, scoring a fantastic 16.1 to keep pace with Uchimura, but struggles during his floor and high bar routine saw him lose ground on the Japanese superstar, who finished qualifiers in first place despite a heavy fall during his floor routine on Sunday.
The Ukrainian challenger's final score of 90.131 came agonisingly close to Uchimura's 90.564 and was just shy of his total of 90.332 at the European Games, meaning there's still room for improvement for Verniaiev.
Beating Uchimura during the final seems unlikely, however. The 26-year-old seemed to struggle slightly after his fall during his floor routine, but as a 16-time medalist at the World Championships, he's expected to improve on his score by some margin.
Danell Leyva was the USA's top scorer with 88.898, which was good enough for fourth place behind Purvis. As shared by USA Today's Roxanna Scott, the Americans' chances of qualifying directly for the Olympics may have been gone if it weren't for his strong performance:
Leyva took top marks out of all the athletes on the high bars, a strong reason for his fourth-placed finish and the team's total of 350.332 points, which saw them qualify behind Japan, China, Great Britain and Russia. The team's set was plagued by frequent mistakes, but fortunately, those didn't come back to haunt them.
As reported by USA Today's Rachel Axon, national team coordinator Kevin Mazeika acknowledged Leyva played a massive role for Team USA on Monday: "It was definitely an up-and-down day, and there was some big sets that he came through with—on parallel bars and high bars. It was exciting and fun. It was great. He did a great job and through the all-around as well. He really stepped up."
Without the injured Sam Mikulak, the Americans were always going to struggle to get in the medals during this year's World Championships, particularly given the fantastic form of Japan and China. Hosts Great Britain have also looked spectacular so far, and the battle for bronze will likely come down to those two nations along with Russia.
Further down the standings, the Netherlands caused a minor shock by qualifying for the Test Event, which will see eight teams go head-to-head for four more tickets to the Olympics.
Per the FIG's official Twitter account, making the Test Event marks a major improvement for the Dutch team:
Looking at the individual rankings, no fewer than three Olympic champions will be absent from the finals. Epke Zonderland tried his hand at a difficult high bar routine and came just short, Krisztian Berki had a poor dismount on the pommel horse and Arthur Zanetti struggled for balance on the rings.
The World Championships will continue with the women's team final on Tuesday.
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