Japanese newcomer Yuya Kamoto leads men's qualifying at Youth Olympic Games

Japanese youngster Yuya Kamoto topped qualifying in the men's competition, held Sunday night in Singapore. Kamoto scored 87.2 all-around, his highest scores of the night coming on vault (15.75) and parallel bars (14.85), also the highest score on that event.

Kamoto, like all male gymnasts at this first-ever Youth Olympic Games, was born between 1993 and 1994 (women's gymnasts must have been born in 1995). He showed impressive control on all his routines, particularly rings, where he threw a double front layout swinging element in combination with a double front tuck. Double pikes in combination with double tucks have been the norm up to this point.

Great Britain's Sam Oldham, winner of the 2010 junior European titles in the all-around and on high bar, finished second (86.85) in the qualifying competition. His top score was a 14.45 on high bar, where he leads qualification for the event final. Oldham also tallied 14.35 on floor exercise and 14.3 on pommel horse.

Ukraine's Oleg Stepko, third, scored 14.55 on pommel horse, the top score on that event. Zhu Xiaodong of China finished fourth (86.1) with the highest scores on floor (14.6) and vault (15.9). He is followed by Russia's Daniil Kazachkov (85.4). Andrei Muntean of Romania, fifth (83.8), scored a whopping 13.7 on rings but had the third lowest score of the entire competition on high bar (11.4).

The U.S.'s Jesse Glenn had rough routines on pommel horse (11.75) and parallel bars (12.3) and finished in 20th place. The top 18 men qualified for Wednesday's men's all-around final. Glenn is the second reserve.

Results: Men's qualification at the Youth Olympic Games

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Japan's Yuya Kamoto on rings during men's qualifying at the Youth Olympic Games: