Another weekend, another World Challenge Cup! This time, Guimarães in Portugal hosted the event. There was a good mix of gymnasts registered for this meet from all over the world, some of them veterans and others relative newcomers.
Somewhat controversially, Yeo Seojeong of South Korea won the vault final despite a very dicey landing, due to her high D score, which resulted in a two-vault average of 13.675. Poland’s Gabriela Janik won silver with a total of 13.625, while Victoria Mata of Mexico grabbed the bronze, scoring 13.475.
The uneven bars title was claimed by Mexico’s Ahtziri Sandoval with a score of 13.450. Filipa Martins came in second, with a score quite a bit lower than her qualification score meaning she had to settle for the silver medal, with 13.150. Spain’s Helena Bonilla won the bronze medal, with a total of 13.100. The highest qualifier, Isabela Onyshko of Canada, suffered an unfortunate fall, finishing in sixth place, and Switzerland’s Ilaria Kaeslin just missed out on the bronze by a tenth due to a lower difficulty score.
Sunday’s balance beam final brought a few surprises, with the second highest qualifier and home crowd favourite Filipa Martins falling towards the end of her routine, resulting in a fourth place finish. Canada’s Isabela Onyshko also fell, still managing to snag the bronze medal with a score of 12.600. Her teammate Laurie Denommee delivered a good routine to claim the silver, with the same score, but going ahead on execution. Maisie Methuen, the British beam champion, came from fifth in qualifications to win the beam title, with a confident and beautiful routine free of major errors, scoring a 12.850.
Maisie Methuen also claimed the floor title, with a score of 13.100, her E score of 8.300, the highest in the final, reflecting her lovely choreography which was perfectly balanced with some excellent, clean tumbling. Isabela Onyshko also scored 13.100, her lower execution score of 8.100 putting her in silver medal position, with her Canadian teammate Laurie Denommee just a tenth behind, winning the bronze. Emily Thomas was the highest qualifier for this final, but with the top 3 gymnasts improving on their qualification scores, she ended up in fourth place with a total of 13.000.
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