Qualifying men

Very interesting subdivision as several favourites competed. Maxim Devyatovskiy (89.425) takes the lead ahead of the Englishmen Daniel Purvis (89.300), who passes in the morning subdivision, and the Ukrainian Mykola Kuksenkov (88.675).
 
The Men's qualification ended with two German gymnasts in the top two ranks. A real success for Philipp Boy who tops the level of 90 points (90.375) and for Marcel Nguyen (89.725). Third rank for Maxim Devyatovskiy RUS with 89.425 and 4th rank for Daniel Purvis GBR (89.300).

3rd Subdivision
Last round before definitively knowing all qualifiers for the individual finale and the apparatus finales. The competing gymnasts represent the following countries: GBR, GER, ITA, BLR, NED, ESP, FRA, SUI, GRE, IRL, POR, BLR, BUL, BEL, SLO. A total of 64 gymnasts made the complete all-round competition.

At the official drawing of lots, the places for the countries were decided. Each federation disposes of a maximum of 6 gymnasts and it is up to the coach to define the starting order, but with a maximum of two gymnasts per apparatus.
The German coach had chosen to keep his two best elements for the evening session, which made the end of the competition very thrilling. Philipp Boy, vice World Champion and big favourite, led the competition from the beginning to the end with a splendid last routine on high bar (15.700, diff.7.10). He garnered at the same time the first position at the apparatus as well as the one of the general ranking. The German outscored the Russian Devyatovski by 0.675 points.   

Marcel Nguyen, number 2 of the Germans, also finishes his round with a beautiful routine on high bar (15.250, diff.7.10) and outscores the Russian by 0.30 points. We can expect a fantastic individual final, as we also have to count with the forth of the tight ranking, Daniel Purvis GBR. The British Kristian Thomas presented a very regular competition (88.150). Third best competitor of the evening, he climbs up to the 7th final rank. The other gymnasts of this subdivision will not manage to reach the top ten positions.  

Nice presentation of the Russians on rings with a 15.575 for Konstantin Pluzhnikov and 15.525 for Aleksandr Balandin. They take the top positions of the qualifications. Anton Golotsutskov on his side realizes a 15.325 on floor, the second result at this apparatus. On vault, D. Kaspiarovich BLR 16.375 and the French Ait Said Samir 16.250 finished 2nd and 3rd. On bars Mitja Petkovsek SLO, triple European Champion, shows that he is still here despite his 34 years of age and settles for the first rank (15.600).
 
Unlucky evening for the Greek Vlasios Maras, 28 years old, who was five times European Champion and twice World Champion on high bar. He falls twice and must abandon any hope for the final.

However, the public admired as always the high bar routine of Epke Zonderland NED (15.500), which was a bit less precise than the routine of Boy.    
 
2nd Subdivision
The following countries are represented in the second subdivision: ARM, TUR, LUX, POR, LTU, CZE, ITA, BUL, ISL, ROU, CYP, DEN, ISR, UKR, CRO, FRA, AZE, MIN, ESP, SUI, AUT, SWE, RUS, FIN.

First scores over 16.000 for the world champion Thomas Bouhail FRA who presents a perfect "Jeo" for his first vault (16.550) and a "Dragulescu" for the second vault (16.325).
 
The six best gymnasts are the ones who started their competition on vault, thus it doesn't yet give any real indications on how the general ranking could look like.

After two rotations, the ranking is led by the Ukrainian Mykola Kuksenkov with 30.825 (15.600 on vault and 15.225 on parallel bars). He is followed by Flavius Koczi ROU 30.450 (14.325 on rings and 16.125 on vault), Cyril Tommasone FRA with 30.325 (15.325 on vault, 15.000 on bars) and Maxim Devyatovskiy RUS with 29.825 (14.900 on horizontal bar, 14.925 on floor).
The Armenian H. Merdinyan shines on pommel horse and takes the lead of the competition with 14.900 (diff.6.40). In the same group, we find the two Icelandic brothers, who are already known on the international level for a long time: Viktor (born in 1984) and Robert Kristmannsson (born in 1987). Excellent exercise on the horizontal bars of the Croatian Marijo Moznik (24 years old), in the circuit since a long time too, but without any major successes. He obtains the same score as Kuksenkov before him, thanks to a very good execution.

The top of the ranking remains unchanged with the following order:  Kuksenkov UKR 46.000, Koczi ROU 45.125, Tommasone FRA 44.925, Martinez ESP 44.300, Ude CRO 44.050, Capelli SUI 43.875, Devyatovskiy 43.575. This later is one of the pretenders to the title and can climb up again after the vault routine.

In the fourth rotation, the Russian Nikita Ignatyev shows a perfectly executed ring routine (14.975), thus qualifying in first place on this apparatus. Another nice presentation from Alexander Shatilov (ISR) on floor with a 15.450 (diff. 650 !).

In the intermediate ranking, Kuksenkov kept the top position with 60.700. Tommasone FRA, 59.300, outscored Koczi ROU, 59.125 who showed a poor performance on high bar. Devyatovskiy, 58.350, is climbing back up again thanks to a 14.775 on rings. He is one of the title pretenders and can come back to the top after his vault exercise. A bit further behind in the ranking come Ude CRO, Martinez ESP and Capelli SUI.
Fifth rotation

Splendid programme of Cyril Tommasone who shines on pommel horse with elegance and assurance, despite the great difficulty level (6.40). With 15.400 he takes the lead on pommel horse as well as of the general ranking, sharing the rank with Kuksenkov who obtains only 14.000 on the same apparatus. The total of the two leaders 74.700. They will finish their round at the rings. For the positions 3 and 4 it is also very tight between Devyatovskiy 74.175 (14.900 on high bar) and Koczi 74.150 (15.125 on floor). More than two points behind comes Pozzo ITA 71.900, Ude 71.900, Martinez 71.650 and Capelli 71.525.

Sixth and last rotation
Nice performance from the French Pinheiroi-Rodrigues who clearly showed the best performance on rings 15.375 (diff. 6.80). At the top of the ranking, the situation is settled. Devyatovskiy ends with a wonderful routine on bars (9.250 of execution and 6.00 points for difficulty).  With this he takes the lead of the general ranking with 89.425 and is the only one to outscore Daniel Purvis GBR, top qualifier since the morning (89.300). The rest of the ranking after the second subdivision :

3. Kuksenkov 88.675 ; 4. Koczi 88.325 ; 5.Tommasone 88.100; 6. Capelli 87.475; 7. Martinez 86.850. 8. Pozzo ITA 86.675.

The best gymnasts per apparatus:

Floor: Andrey Shatilov ISR 15.450 (diff. 650)
Pommel Horse: Cyril Tommasone FRA 15.400 (diff. 6.40)
Rings: Pinheiro-Rodrigues FRA 15.375 (diff.5.80)
Vault: Thomas Bouhaik FRA 16.550 (diff. 7.00)
Bars: Maxim Devyatovskiy RUS 15.250 (diff.6.00)
High Bar: Marijo Moznik CRO (6.60) and M. Kuksenkov UKR (6.80), 15.175

After the first subdivision, British Daniel Purvis (89.300) and Samuel Hunter (86.050) took the lead of the qualifications followed by the Byelorussian Dzmitry Savitski. The level between the 34 classified gymnasts is rather uneven.

It's the men's turn to begin their European Championships 2011 with the qualifications today. The gymnasts compete in the all-around competition (6 apparatus), even if not everyone is doing the complete program, as this depends of everyone's personal objective (individual finale or apparatus finales). The following countries are represented in the first subdivision: BLR, BEL, GBR, GRE, NED, NOR, ROU, ISL, IRL, GER, UKR, HUN, AUT, ISR, CZE, TUR, SLO, ISR. The other athletes, among them most of the favourites, will be present in particular in the third subdivision.
 
In the men's category, it is always difficult to establish the classification during the course of the rotations, because every athlete has to pass on vault first, because is the discipline where the score is higher. We know that the FIG thinks about this problem and tries to find a solution to have more equalized scores amongst the different apparatus. This will be for after the Olympic Games in London.
 
In the middle of this subdivision, Daniel Purvis GBR (43.575) is classified in 1st position with a 43.575. Purvis, 5th at the World Championships in Rotterdam, successfully performed his first part of the competition with 14.400 on horizontal bar, 15.225 on floor and 14.525 on rings. He is followed by the Greek Christos Lympanovnos (42.900) and the Byelorussian Dzmitry Savitski (41.900) and the Englishman Samuel Hunter (41.675). After the fourth rotation, Purvis solidly remains in the leading position (58.100). He still outscores the Greek Lympanovnos (56.525), the Dutchman Bart Deurloo (20 years old, who participated in the World Championships in Rotterdam and London - 55.725), and Samuel Hunter, who has the same total.

In the fifth rotation, we especially regretted the fall of the two Germans Robert Weber and Brian Gladow on the horizontal bar. This last one came back to competition after a long injury. Their hopes of a qualification for the horizontal bar finale faded away. Samuel Hunter realizes a 15.600 on vault, which allows him to climb back to the second provisional rank (71.325), just behind Purvis who keeps the first rank with 74.300. Among the best, only Savitski, current 5th, has not yet passed on vault, which should give him the possibility to climb up one or two ranks.  

This was what effectively happened. The Byelorussian comes back to the third rank, but still 4.525 points behind the top qualifier Daniel Purvis (89.30). His last scores: vault 16.200, parallel bars 15.000, horizontal bar 14.400. Sam Hunter keeps his second place (86.050).

The best gymnasts per apparatus:

• Floor: Daniel Purvis GBR 15.225, difficulty 6.40
• Pommel Horse: Sebastian Krimmer GER 14.725, difficulty 6.20
• Rings: Thomas Taranu, GER, 14.950, difficulty 6.60
• Vault: Daniel Purvis GBR (diff. 6.60) and Igor Radivilov UKR 16.200
• Parallel bars: Dzmitry Savitski BLR 15.125, difficulty 6.20
• Horizontal bar: Daniel Purvis GBR 14.400, difficulty 6.10

D.Duchoud/UEG