Ghent World Cup: Izbasa, Barbosa, Wu, Guo, Smith, van Gelder and more

Let the World Championship warmup meets begin.

The Ghent World Cup, which gets underway tomorrow, is likely to be the best indicator of athlete fitness going into next month's World Championships in Rotterdam. And since it's in Belgium, it's as close to competing in the Netherlands as most of these athletes will get before Worlds.

One of the biggest storylines of this meet could be the participation of one Lambertus van Gelder, (as he's listed on one of the rosters) who I'm assuming is 2005 World rings champion Yuri van Gelder. Van Gelder, 27, is returning to competition after a one-year suspension for testing positive for cocaine at the 2009 Dutch Championships.

Although van Gelder is ineligible to compete at the 2012 Olympic Games, he will be able to represent the Netherlands at the World Championships in his home country next month. In Ghent, van Gelder is slated to compete on rings and vault.

Here's a look at some of the other top competitors from the nominative roster:

Men's gymnasts:

• China: Tong Yingjie, Guo Weiyang, Cao Yulong, Liao Junlin, Dong Zhendong, Chen Xuezhang. For the latter four, particularly new Chinese champion Guo, this is a chance to impress internationally. Tong is probably just looking to rebound after poor performances at World Cup events this spring.

• Spain: Fabian Gonzalez, Isaac Botella. Gonzalez is a junior-turned-senior hotshot from this oft-underrated gymnastics country. Botella has excellent tumbling and vaulting abilities and a few World Cup medals to show for it.

• Finland: Reigning European vault champion Tomi Tuuha will be looking for another medal in Belgium.

• Great Britain: Theo Seager, Daniel Purvis, Louis Smith. Olympic bronze medalist Smith, who was upstaged by teammate Daniel Keatings on his specialty at the Euorpean Championships, will be looking to gain traction going into Rotterdam. All three gymnasts have been named to Britain's World team, which is a medal threat, so all will be looking to leave a very good impression.

• Greece: Eleftherios Kosmidis, Vlasios Maras. Kosmidis is a man who seems to have springs in his legs on floor and vault. Maras is the reigning European champion on high bar.

• Jordan: Ali Al Asi. Jordan's best on rings performs a superdifficult routine that includes a Victorian. He made a splash by winning World Cup gold on rings earlier this year. It was a big win for Jordan, a country trying to establish itself in gymnastics.

• Netherlands: Yuri van Gelder, Epke Zonderland. A big meet for both men, but particulalry van Gelder, who is returning after a yearlong suspension for testing positive for cocaine at the 2009 Dutch nationals. Zonderland, always a medal threat on parallel bars and high bar, will be one to watch on those events.

• Israel: Alexander Shatilov. Shatilov is returning from a torn maniscus sustained at the French International just five months ago.

• Italy: Alberto Busnari. This 32-year-old doesn't get the respect he deserves on pommel horse.

• Slovenia: Pommel horse specialist Saso Bertoncelj.

• Venezuela: Jose Fuentes, Regulo Carmona. Both scored medals in event finals at last weekend's Pan American Championships. Carmona is especially good on rings, where he carries the same start value as reigning World Champion Yang Mingyong.

• Chile: Enrique Gonzalez. Another strong vault/floor specialist, Gonzalez made event finals on floor at the 2009 World Championship and won vault at the Pan American Championships.

Women's gymnasts:

• Belgium: Olympian Gaelle Mys, back from a brief hiatus, and current Belgian champion Julie Croket, a first-year senior, will look to make an impact by making some event finals.

• Brazil: Jade Barbosa. Brazil's comeback kid is going international again. Watch for her on vault and floor. -- Correction: Strike that. Barbosa is not on the most updated roster. --

• China: Jiang Tong, Yang Yilin, Wu Liufang. Three gymnasts, three different goals. The talented Wu should be at the top of her game on beam and bars, where she excels. If things go right, she'll be in the hunt for medals -- if not the titles -- on both. Yang is looking to recapture her game after a growth spurt and finishing out of the top three at competitions in China earlier this year. Jiang, who now has some World Cup experience, is just looking to continue making a name for herself. If she does well here, she could end up on China's World team.

• Colombia: Floor specialist Jessica Gil.

• Greece: Vasiliki Millousi. Like Venezuela's Jessica Lopez, Millousi is in her mid-20s and still improving. She was sharp at the European Championships in 2009 and looked great at the French International in 2010. The Icelandic volcano mess prevented her from attending this year's Europeans.

• Hungary: Dorina Boczogo, Renata Toth. It's a new day for Hungarian gymnastics, and the new Hungarian national champion and new senior, respectively, will be looking to advance from qualifications and make a new name for their country.

• Romania: Amelia Racea, Sandra Izbasa, Diana Chelaru, Ana Porgras. All if healthy are likely to represent Romania in Rotterdam. Everybody will be watching Izbasa to see how her comeback from Achilles surgery is progressing. Likewise Porgras, one of the darlings of last year's World Championships, who was diagnosed with a crack in her right fibula after this year's Europeans.

• Switzerland: Ariella Kaeslin. After a somewhat disappointing European Championships, Kaeslin, the reigning World silver medalist on vault, is probably looking for better results here. Given the field, she should have no problem making a couple of finals. The big question will be whether she's fixed her bent legs at the end of her Yurchenko 1.5.

• Uzebekistan: Luisa Galiulina. Galiulina's gymnastics reminds me of her former countrywoman Oksana Chusovitina's early work. She's not as powerful on floor, but there's a no-nonsense quality to her moves that is vintage Chuso and makes me believe young Luisa has spent some hours watching Chusovitina on Youtube.

• Venezuela: Jessica Lopez. One of the biggest stars in South American gymnastics has been getting better year after year. This could be the one she makes a World final.

Related: Complete rosters, Ghent World Cup

More dress rehersals: The Couch Gymnast has the roster of the Netherlands-Sweden-Russia-Spain quad meet in Waalwijk, the Netherlands the weekend after next.

Follow Gymnastics Examiner Blythe Lawrence on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GymExaminer or click the "Subscribe" button above to receive the latest gymnastics news and results via e-mail.