LAUSANNE (SUI), April 4, 2012: The first and only Artistic Gymnastics Individual Apparatus category A Word Cup in 2012 will be held on April 7 – 8 in Zibo City (CHN). Organisers of the Chinese Gymnastics Association will welcome some fifty gymnasts representing 23 nations to the Zibo Sports Center Gymnasium in the coastal province of Shandong in East China for the occasion.
The impressive international Men’s line-up includes world and Olympic medallists Alexander Shatilov (ISR), Kriszian Berki (HUN), Eleftherios Kosmidis (GRE), Louis Smith (GBR), Cyril Tommasone (FRA), Lambertus van Gelder (NED), Flavius Koczi (ROU), Mitja Petkovsek (SLO), Steven Legendre (USA), Alexander Naddour (USA) and Danell Leyva (USA).
Host China registered Huang Yuguo (FX), 2004 Olympic Champion Teng Haibin (PH), reigning World and Olympic Champion Chen Yibing, Liao Junlin (both on SR), Feng Zhe (PB) and World runner-up Zhang Chenglong (PB, HB).
Stars such as Lauren Mitchell (AUS), Jade Fernandes (BRA), Jessica Lopez (VEN) and Thi Ha Thanh Phan (VIE) spice up the international Women’s field, while China enters the competition with Beijing Bronze medallist and former World Champion on Vault Cheng Fei (VT, FX), Yao Jinnan (UB, BB) and Huang Qiushuang (UB, BB, FX), both of whom brought home Bronze medals from the 2011 Tokyo worlds. First year senior Huang Huidan is listed as a horse concours gymnast.
About 2012 FIG Individual Apparatus Artistic Gymnastics World Cup and Challenge Cup Series
The 2012 FIG Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics series for Individual Apparatus includes one World Cup (category A) and six Challenge Cup (category B) competitions.
Zibo City (CHN) on April 7 – 8 will host the 2012 Individual Apparatus World Cups, while 2012 Challenge Cups will take place on March 22 – 25 in Cottbus (GER), March 28 – 30 in Doha (QAT), April 20 – 22 in Maribor (SLO), April 27 – 29 in Osijek (CRO), June 9 – 10 in Ghent and November 23 – 24 in Ostrava (CZE).
Separate World Ranking lists will be established for CIII, six for men and four for women, with the Individual Apparatus rankings including combined lists for World Cups and Challenge Cups.
Invitation to the Individual Apparatus World Cup is based on the CIII rankings from the 2011 World Championships, the 2011 World Cup Ranking List for Individual Apparatus and the 2011 Challenge Cup Ranking List, and is limited to twelve gymnasts with a maximum of two entries per country on each apparatus. Moreover, the organising member federation can grant wild cards to a maximum of one man and one woman on one apparatus. The competitions include Qualifications and Finals with the best four gymnasts per apparatus proceeding to the final round. An additional one wild card per Men’s and Women’s competition is allowed in the event that the host federation fails to qualify for the Finals.
The Challenge Cup series is an open category featuring qualifying and final rounds, with participation limited to two gymnasts per country and apparatus. The best eight gymnasts per apparatus advance to the Final. An extra one wild card per Men’s and Women’s competition is allowed in the event that the host federation fails to qualify for the Finals.
The winners of the 2012 Individual Apparatus World Cup and Challenge Cup Series are those gymnasts with the highest number of points for each apparatus and the best four results counting after the last event in Ostrava, where special award ceremonies will be held and the winners will receive a cup.
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