Lausanne, Nov 02: When the DTB Pokal, a FIG Artistic Gymnastics All-around World Cup, takes place in Stuttgart (GER) for the 30th time early in December, an Olympic breeze will fill the Porsche Arena.
On Sunday, December 2, local hero Marcel Nguyen, London 2012 Olympic All-around runner-up, will encounter Olympic Champion Kohei Uchimura (JPN) and Danell Leyva (USA), the London 2012 Bronze medallist, for the first time in a post-London competition. The Men’s line-up showcases five more top ten finishers of the recent Games hailing from Russia, Brazil, Spain, Japan and Great Britain.
Tournament director Valeri Belenki said: “These eight gymnasts are utterly world class.”
Organisers of the Schwäbischer Turnerbund are delighted to present such a strong field to fans and are especially proud of Uchimura’s appearance.
“Uchimura rarely competes outside Asia and we are proud that he is in this time. This proves the special significance of the DTB Cup in Stuttgart,” said Belenki.
Nguyen, who trains in Stuttgart, is in great shape and looks forward to the tournament at home.
“In London, I showed that I can be at the forefront in the All-around and, of course, I would like to be at the very top for once,” the 25 year old said.
Although the Women’s event on Saturday, December 1, boasts six London 2012 Olympians, the real big names will be missing. Former World Champion Vanessa Ferrari and reigning European Champion Larisa Iordache of Romania headline a field that also includes Germany’s Elisabeth Seitz and Kim Bui, who anxiously await the event.
Moreover, Canada’s Victoria Moors, Great Britain’s Rebecca Tunney and Elizabeth Price of the USA are registered, with an additional, as of yet unannounced gymnast to complete the line-up.
Check out the complete roster and connect at http://www.dtbpokal.de/ for further information on the tournament. Live commentary on the competition will be available at www.dtb-liveticker.de in German and the DBT TV crew will produce 5-minutes highlight video clips of both competition days.
The 2012 / 2013 World Cup circuit continues on December 8 with a similar line-up in Glasgow (GBR).
About 2012 / 2013 FIG Artistic Gymnastics All-around World Cup Series
The 2012 / 2013 FIG All-around World Cup Series in Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics includes five World Cups over the period of two years.
With stopovers on three continents, World Cup competitions are slated for March 3 in New York (USA), December 1 – 2 in Stuttgart (GER) and December 8 in Glasgow (GBR) for 2012, before turning to Worcester (USA) on March 2, 2013, and concluding in Tokyo (JPN) on April 6 – 7, 2013.
The All-around World Cups feature a single final round. Invitation is based on the CII rankings from the previous World Championships / Olympic Games and limited to eight gymnasts plus one wild card from the organising member federation, with a maximum of two entries per country.
World Ranking lists will be established for men and women, with the best four results per gymnast counting for the total ranking. The top scorers will be crowned the winners of the overall series at the ultimate event of the series. —- FIG
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.