
This past weekend, Japan hosted the 2014 Toyota International Gymnastics Tournament at the Sky Hall in Aichi.
Though it wasn’t very well-attended by international competitors, all of Japan’s superstars were in attendance, including the entire women’s 2014 World Championship team as well as the legendary Kohei Uchimura on the men’s side.
The women competed on vault and bars on Saturday, followed by beam and floor on Sunday. Mai Murakami won the vault title after competing a solid DTY followed by a tsuk full for a 14.35. She also took home gold on floor, earning a 13.55 for a hit routine to edge out Natsumi Sasada, who brought home the silver with a 13.5.
On bars, Wakana Inoue earned the title with a 13.2. Teammate Azumi Ishikura won silver here with a 13.15, a score matched by Asuka Teramoto, though Teramoto didn’t place because she performed her routine as a sort of exhibition, as the competition only allowed two competitors per country to stand in the rankings.
There was a similar situation on beam. Teramoto won the gold with a 14.5 for her impeccable routine, but the other ‘official’ competitor, Yu Minobe, fell and placed just off the podium. Sasada, performing an exhibition routine, earned a 14.1, which would have been good enough for silver had she been on the ‘official’ roster, and then Ishikura, another exhibition performer, earned a 13.4 for her ‘unofficial’ routine. Instead, silver went to Canada’s Madison Copiak, who earned a 13.25, while bronze went to South Korea’s Kim Chaeyeon.
On the men’s side, King Kohei competed just on high bar, but it was worth the wait – he nailed his routine for a massive 15.925 to a roaring home crowd.
Full results are below.
Vault Final
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | D | E | ND | Score | Total |
| 1 | Mai Murakami | Japan | 5.8 | 8.900 | 14.700 | 14.325 | |
| 5.2 | 8.750 | 13.950 | |||||
| 2 | Angel Wong Hiu Ying | Hong Kong | 5.2 | 8.500 | 13.700 | 13.700 | |
| 5.0 | 8.700 | 13.700 | |||||
| 3 | Lee Hyebeen | South Korea | 5.0 | 8.800 | 13.800 | 12.925 | |
| 4.8 | 7.350 | -0.1 | 12.050 | ||||
| 4 | Leung Ka Man | Hong Kong | 4.4 | 7.350 | 11.750 | 12.150 | |
| 4.2 | 8.350 | 12.550 |
Uneven Bars Final
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | D | E | ND | Score |
| 1 | Wakana Inoue | Japan | 5.2 | 8.000 | 13.200 | |
| 2 | Azumi Ishikura | Japan | 5.1 | 8.050 | 13.150 | |
| 3 | Madison Copiak | Canada | 5.0 | 8.100 | 13.100 | |
| 4 | Kim Chaeyeon | South Korea | 5.0 | 6.000 | 11.000 | |
| * | Asuka Teramoto | Japan | 5.8 | 7.350 | 13.150 | |
| * | Koko Dobashi | Japan | 5.4 | 7.550 | 12.950 | |
| * | Yasuha Matsumura | Japan | 5.6 | 6.300 | 11.900 |
Balance Beam Final
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | D | E | ND | Score |
| 1 | Asuka Teramoto | Japan | 5.8 | 8.700 | 14.500 | |
| 2 | Madison Copiak | Canada | 5.0 | 8.250 | 13.250 | |
| 3 | Kim Chaeyeon | South Korea | 5.4 | 7.650 | 13.050 | |
| 4 | Yu Minobe | Japan | 5.8 | 7.200 | 13.000 | |
| 5 | Lee Hyebeen | South Korea | 4.7 | 7.750 | 12.450 | |
| 6 | Leung Ka Man | Hong Kong | 3.8 | 7.000 | -0.1 | 10.700 |
| 7 | Choi Nim Yan | Hong Kong | 3.9 | 4.950 | 8.850 | |
| * | Natsumi Sasada | Japan | 5.5 | 8.600 | 14.100 | |
| * | Azumi Ishikura | Japan | 5.4 | 8.000 | 13.400 | |
| * | Sakura Yumoto | Japan | 5.6 | 7.600 | 13.200 |
Floor Exercise Final
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | D | E | ND | Score |
| 1 | Mai Murakami | Japan | 5.4 | 8.150 | 13.550 | |
| 2 | Natsumi Sasada | Japan | 5.4 | 8.100 | 13.500 | |
| 3 | Lee Hyebeen | South Korea | 5.1 | 7.800 | 12.900 | |
| 4 | Madison Copiak | Canada | 4.8 | 7.550 | 12.350 | |
| 5 | Kim Chaeyeon | South Korea | 4.9 | 7.400 | 12.300 | |
| 6 | Angel Wong Hiu Ying | Hong Kong | 4.6 | 7.400 | 12.000 | |
| * | Koko Dobashi | Japan | 5.5 | 7.950 | -0.1 | 13.350 |
| * | Sakura Yumoto | Japan | 5.3 | 7.750 | -0.5 | 12.550 |
| * | Yasuha Matsumura | Japan | 5.2 | 7.200 | 12.400 |
* Exhibition routine; did not count in rankings.
Article by Lauren Hopkins
Kohei’s HB routine was absolutely beautiful. Everything high bar should be. It’s hard to believe he hasn’t won a World or Olympic title there yet. He’s long overdue.
I wish I could’ve seen Yang Hak Seon’s vaults because it sounds like he did much better at this meet than at Worlds.
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