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 Chae-yeon.
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 | Hiu Ying Angel Wong | Hong Kong | 5.2 | 8.500 | 13.700 | 13.700 | |
5.0 | 8.700 | 13.700 | |||||
3 | Lee Hye-been | South Korea | 5.0 | 8.800 | 13.800 | 12.925 | |
4.8 | 7.350 | -0.1 | 12.050 | ||||
4 | Ka Man Leung | 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 Chae-yeon | 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 Chae-yeon | South Korea | 5.4 | 7.650 | 13.050 | |
4 | Yu Minobe | Japan | 5.8 | 7.200 | 13.000 | |
5 | Lee Hye-been | South Korea | 4.7 | 7.750 | 12.450 | |
6 | Ka Man Leung | Hong Kong | 3.8 | 7.000 | -0.1 | 10.700 |
7 | Nim Yan Choi | 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 Hye-been | South Korea | 5.1 | 7.800 | 12.900 | |
4 | Madison Copiak | Canada | 4.8 | 7.550 | 12.350 | |
5 | Kim Chae-yeon | South Korea | 4.9 | 7.400 | 12.300 | |
6 | Hiu Ying Angel Wong | 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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