PARIS -- As the final floor performer of the night, Beth Tweddle managed to stay on her feet -- and in first place -- during the qualifying round at the 2010 French International Saturday.
Tweddle, the reigning World floor champion, underrotated her final tumbling pass, a 2.5 twist to immediate layout front full and had to struggle not to fall on her backside. She won the battle, and probably some respect from the judges, who awarded her a 14.3 (6.2 D-score, 8.1 E-score).
There were no such problems for Tweddle on uneven bars, where she swung cleanly through a routine packed with difficulty (15.625, 6.8, 8.825).
Chinese newcomer Jiang Tong demonstrated excellent tumbling skills, including a triple full, 2.5 to front layout and double pike to qualify second. (13.775), ahead of tiny Luisa Galiulina of Uzebekistan (5.3, 8.25).
World and Olympic bars champion He Kexin qualified to the bar final in second place (15.45, 7.4, 8.025) after struggling and putting her hand down on her full-twisting double back dismount. China's Wu Liufang hit her routine, including Shaposhnikova transition, Jaeger and double layout dismount, to qualify in third place (15.15, 6.4, 8.75).
Wu finished first on beam after demonstrating extreme control on all her elements (14.725, 6.1, 8.625), ahead of Galiulina (14.525, 6.0, 8.525). Russia's Aliya Mustafina, the last competitor to perform on any apparatus on this first day, finished third (14.25, 5.6, 8.65).
France's Youna Dufournet, the reigning World bronze medalist on vault, stood up a Yurchenko 1.5 and a nice layout Podkopayeva to lead qualifying on that discipline (14.41 (5.3, 8.95 and 5.6, 8.975) ahead of Tong, who performed the same first vault and tossed a piked Podkopayeva as an encore (5.3, 8.975 and 5.2, 8.85). Spain's Melodi Pulgarin was third (5.0, 8.775 and 5.2, 8.375).
Australian Emily Little, one of only two competitors to throw a double-twisting Yurchenko, qualified fourth after sitting down her handspring pike front second vault (5.8, 9.075 and 4.6, 7.65).
France's Samir Ait Said and Cyril Tomassone thrilled the French fans in the stands by qualifying first on still rings and pommel horse, respectively. Ait Said scored 15.45 (6.8, 8.65), ahead of Kazakhstan's Timur Kurbanbayev (6.5, 8.7) and Uzbekistan's Anton Fokin (6.3, 8.8). World champion Kohei Uchimura was fourth (15.05, 6.4, 8.65), followed by Jonathan Horton of the U.S., who stuck his double twisting double tuck dismount (15.05, 6.7, 8.35).
Tomassone hit his difficulty-packed routine to finish on top on pommel horse (15.425, 6.4, 9.025), ahead of Croatia's Robert Seligman (6.2, 9.0) and Saso Bertoncelj of Slovenia (15.05, 5.9, 9.15).
On floor, two time World champion Diego Hypolito showed difficult tumbling and good form but did not throw any of his signature "Hypolito" moves, of which there are now three. Nonetheless, Hypolito was deemed the class of the field (15.625, 6.5, 9.125), chased by World bronze medalist Alexander Shatilov of Israel (15.25, 6.5, 8.75) and Greece's Eleftherios Kosmidis (15.2, 6.5, 8.7).
Kazakhstan's Stanislav Valeiev threw a pretty effortless looking Dragulescu (handspring double front half out) and followed up with a nearly stuck Tsukahara double back (16.075, 7.0, 9.35 and 6.6, 9.2) to lead World vault finalist Isaac Botella (15.775, 6.6, 9.225 and 6.6, 9.125). Hypolito qualified third (15.738, 6.6, 9.3 and 6.4, 9.175).
Uchmura ended his day successfully on high bar, where he leads going into Sunday's final (15.375, 6.7, 8.675). Horton caught three double backs over the bar -- one with a full twist -- and stuck his full twisting double layout dismount to finish second (6.7, 8.475), ahead of Spain's Rafael Martinez (15.05, 6.6, 8.45).
On parallel bars, former World parallel bars champion Anton Fokin scored 15.5 (6.5, 9.0) to lead going into the final round. Japan's Takuya Nakase was second (15.325, 6.5, 8.825), followed by Vasileios Tsolakidis of Greece, who demonstrated excellent form on this event (15.275, 6.0, 9.275).
Related: Qualifiers to Sunday's finals (full results can be seen here):
WOMEN'S VAULT:
1. Youna Dufournet, FRA
2. Jiang Tong, CHN
3. Melodi Pulgarin, ESP
4. Emily Little, AUS
5. Brittany Rogers, CAN
6. Niamh Rippin, GBR
7. Nastassia Zaitsava, BLR
8. Gabriela Janik, POL
UNEVEN BARS:
1. Beth Tweddle, GBR
2. He Kexin, CHN
3. Wu Liufang, CHN
4. Youna Dufournet, FRA
5. Aliya Mustafina, RUS
6. Pauline Morel, FRA
7. Jessica Lopez, VEN
8. Vasiliki Millousi, GRE
BALANCE BEAM:
1. Wu Liufang, CHN
2. Luisa Galiulina, UZE
3. Aliya Mustafina, RUS
4. Vasiliki Millousi, GRE
5. Ana Maria Izurieta, ESP
6. Jessica Lopez, VEN
7. Pauline Morel, FRA
8. Jiang Tong, CHN
FLOOR EXERCISE:
1. Beth Tweddle, GBR
2. Jiang Tong, CHN
3. Luisa Galiulina, UZE
4. Wu Liufang, CHN
5. Marine Brevet, FRA
6. Jessica Lopez, VEN
7. Ramilya Musina, RUS
8. Niamh Rippin, GBR
MEN'S FLOOR EXERCISE:
1. Diego Hypolito, BRA
2. Alexander Shatilov, ISR
3. Eleftherios Kosmidis, GRE
4. Tomislav Markovic, CRO
5. Du Wei, CHN
6. Gael da Silva, FRA
7. Isaac Botella, ESP
8. Jeffrey Wammes, NED
POMMEL HORSE:
1. Cyril Tommasone, FRA
2. Robert Seligman, CRO
3. Saso Bertoncelj, SLO
4. Donna Donny Truyens, BEL
5. Andrey Perevoznikov, RUS
6. Zoltan Kallai, HUN
7. Pavel Russinyak, RUS
8. Yann Rayepin, FRA
STILL RINGS:
1. Samir Ait Said, FRA
2. Timur Kurbanbayev, KAZ
3. Anton Fokin, UZB
4. Kohei Uchimura, JPN
5. Jonathan Horton, USA
6. Gustavo Palma Simoes, POR
7. Arthur Zanetti, BRA
8. Ihar Kazlou, BLR
VAULT:
1. Stanislav Valeiev, KAZ
2. Isaac Botella, ESP
3. Diego Hypolito, BRA
4. Jeffrey Wammes, NED
5. Sergio Sasaki Junior, BRA
6. Wai Hung Shek, HKG
7. Luis Araujo, POR
8. Yann Rayepin, FRA
PARALLEL BARS:
1. Anton Fokin, UZB
2. Takuya Nakase, JPN
3. Vasileios Tsolakidis, GRE
4. Yann Cucherat, FRA
5. Roman Kulesza, POL
6. Guo Weiyang, CHN
7. Alexander Tsarevich, BLR
8. Hamilton Sabot, FRA
HIGH BAR:
1. Kohei Uchimura, JPN
2. Jonathan Horton, USA
3. Rafael Martinez, ESP
4. Epke Zonderland, NED
5. Aljaz Pegan, SLO
6. Yann Cucherat, FRA
7. Samuel Piasecky, SVK
8. Roman Kulesza, POL
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