APPARATUS FINALS
Determined to prove himself worthy of gold,
Koczi quickly shifted his focus to the apparatus
finals that took place Saturday and Sunday, April
9-10. “I think I’m lucky, but my enjoyment will
be this weekend on floor and vault, because I
want to win a medal,” he said. In the floor final,
he achieved his goal with a routine devoid of
double somersaults but one with an abundance
of twisting elements. He narrowly defeated top
qualifier Alexander Shatilov of Israel for the title.
Specialists reigned on the next two events, as
Hungary’s Krisztian Berki easily won pommel
horse and Russia’s Konstantin Pluzhnikov
claimed rings.
“I feel so good,” said Berki, the reigning world
champion on pommel horse. “I slept well and
didn’t wake up early. The warm-up went well. I
had a not-so-good exercise, but this time was my
time, and it’s OK.” Berki said that he is adding
vault and high bar to his training regimen, to
improve his chances of qualifying for the London
Olympics. “It’s going to be very hard training in
the future,” he admitted. “Maybe I will make it to
London.”
Pluzhnikov had the highest E-score ( 9. 15)
among the rings finalists, which made up for the
0.10 D-score deficit he conceded to three of the
other finalists. Both he and silver medal-winning
teammate Alexander Balandin competed only on
rings in Berlin, giving Russia the first of three 1-
2 finishes by one country in the men’s and
women’s competitions.
Performing identical vaults in reverse order,
Thomas Bouhail and Samir Ait Said took gold
and silver for France in the vault final. A tenth of
a point separated Bouhail, who landed his
Tsukahara double pike solidly and took a large
step backward on his Dragulescu, from Ait Said,
who hopped on his Dragulescu and Tsukahara
double pike. Third was Russia’s Anton
Golotsutskov, the 2007 champion. “If every-
thing goes well, I can always win medals,” said
Bouhail, who also won the event at the ’09
Europeans and ’ 10 worlds. “I wasn’t surprised
that I won, but I’m thrilled.”
Nguyen made the most of the two finals in
which he competed, swinging to gold on parallel
bars and bronze on high bar. “I thought, ‘All or
nothing,’” said Nguyen of his parallel bars set,
which featured a full-twisting double back dis-
mount. With a 6. 7 D-score that was 0.50 higher
than the rest of the field, Nguyen defeated silver
medalist Epke Zonderland of the Netherlands
and bronze medalist Vasileios Tsolakidis of
Greece. (Tsolakidis, whose routine included a
high and tight piked front 13⁄ 4, won the event in
’02 and placed in ’ 10.) Four-time champion
Runner-up in 2010, and also second at the last
two world championships, high bar champion
Epke Zonderland received applause from
Germans Boy(left) and Nguyen.
Mitja Petkovsek of Slovenia slipped off the bars
on a peach-half early in his routine to place
eighth.
Like Nguyen on parallel bars, Zonderland had
a 0.50 advantage over the rest of the finalists on
high bar with his 7. 7 D-score, and out-risked
Boy and Nguyen, who finished second and third,
respectively. “I’m seeing things in a positive
light,” said Zonderland, despite failing to connect
his Cassina and Kolman as intended. Boy too
improvised in his routine, performing a giant
between his usually-connected Takemoto and
Yamawaki.
With 2009 European champion Fabian
Hambüchen still recuperating from a torn
Achilles’ tendon, a power shift may be taking
place. After his silver at worlds last October and
European title in April, Philipp Boy is definitely
hitting his competitive stride. For Germany, at
least, he could be the new man. IG
IG contributor John Crumlish, who has covered numerous world events, lives in Los Angeles.
