Ke Qinqin
Coming in during the final of 10 subdivisions of WAG qualifications at world championships, China had a ton of pressure as one of the top teams in the field. While it wasn’t a perfect day for the team, it was their strongest qualifications performance in two decades, with 2006 the last time the Chinese women led the rankings.
With a score of 164.996, China was able to upset the reigning world champions from the United States by nearly half a point, but I think the key note here is that China has a considerable amount of room for improvement, whereas the U.S. was about as solid as we could expect in their qualifications performance.
China was not at full strength on bars with mistakes from Du Siyu and a fall from Qiu Qiyuan, and first-year senior Ke Qinqin missed the dismount in her beam set – which still earned a 13.9 and was among the top three scores for the team! – so the team is counting a fall on both apparatuses in its total from yesterday. Also, though they didn’t count falls on floor, there were a lot of mistakes there and I think they have have a lot of room for improvement just as they do with bars and beam.
The U.S., meanwhile, had an excellent qualifications performance, and it’s hard to see where they can get better. If anything, I think going up first was a detriment, as judges absolutely got a bit looser with their deductions as qualifications went on. Routines like Skye Blakely‘s bars set and a few of their vaults have slightly lower execution than much weaker routines we saw in later subdivisions, so being at a level playing field in the final is one area for improvement.
Additionally, Claire Pease and Charleigh Bullock can do better work on beam, as both of their sets on Sunday were pretty wobbly. I don’t think both of these athletes will compete beam in the final, as I am pretty sure two of the three spots will go to Blakely and Dulcy Caylor, but whichever one ends up in the lineup will hopefully be able to improve on their prelims performance.
Side by side, I think China is the stronger and more exciting team while the U.S. is more balanced and consistent. Both have it in them to take the gold this year, but if both teams are able to come through with hits across the board, I see China as the frontrunners for the title over the U.S.
No team impressed me more in qualifications than Russia, however. Three of the five we saw yesterday came in super last-minute after the Netherlands refused to process visas for the program’s three star athletes, and despite their youth, lack of international experience, and dramatic entry into the competition – first-year senior Aleksandra Anufrieva, who had never competed outside of Russia or Belarus before, missed podium training and had to do her own session in the arena after MAG qualifications on Saturday night – the team performed brilliantly.
Led by Lyudmila Roshchina, who counted strong scores on every apparatus and finished third in the all-around, the team only had one fall throughout the entire competition, and didn’t count any routines with major mistakes into their total of 163.662. They put up three difficult vaults, lovely and controlled work on both bars and beam, and some of the best performances of the meet on floor.
Like the U.S., it’s hard to see how they can improve for the team final, and the team’s real test will be performing similarly well in a three-up three-count situation for the first time. I don’t see them as a top gold contender, but think if they can replicate the work they did yesterday and take advantage of mistakes from China or the U.S., it’s also not out of reach.
Italy performed about how I expected to finish fourth with a 162.430, showing superb routines on bars and beam, but held back quite a bit on vault and floor compared to other top programs. Still, it’s exciting to see a team that’s missing a few key players still rank as well as they did, which is a real testament to their depth.
I expected more from Japan, which struggled with nerves and uncharacteristic falls, including from leader Sugihara Aiko on bars and first-year senior Nishiyama Misa on vault and beam, but I also wasn’t surprised to see many of their scores for hit routines come in much lower than they’ve seen at home and at continental meets this year, where their execution scores have been, um, interesting. I do still see this team as a medal contender, especially if they’re able to calm down and do what they’re capable of, so I’m excited to see if they can upset any of the stronger teams tomorrow.
Rounding out the top eight were France in sixth with a 161.430, Canada in seventh with a 160.130, and Brazil in eighth with a 159.131. All three programs had highs and lows, though I think Canada has the most room to grow after a splatfest on beam. Maybe not enough to put them in medal contention, and I don’t see France or Brazil capable of medals either, but a team final is a team final, and this year’s has the potential to be much closer than others we’ve seen in recent history!
I said in my preview that there are a handful of teams in a sort of logjam where they’re all at a similar enough level, and the problem isn’t that they’re not good enough for the final, but rather that there’s just too many of these programs at the same level for all of them to get in. That was the case with teams like Germany, the Netherlands, and Australia missing out, and had circumstances been slightly different, we could’ve seen something like Germany in and France out, and it wouldn’t have been shocking – it really would’ve just come down to who had a slightly better day.
There was one massive shock, however, which is Great Britain out. They’re absolutely a step above these “logjam” teams, but opening the meet with all four athletes falling on beam was nearly impossible to fight back from. The incredible part is that they almost did it, finishing in ninth place less than two tenths back from Brazil! They really went on a revenge tour with three of the strongest floor routines of the competition, a stacked vault lineup, and a stunning bars set from specialist Becky Downie in the anchor spot. Though it ultimately wasn’t enough, the fact that they got so close with such a dreadful start to their day is a testament to the strength of this program.
The team outside of the top 12 that I was most impressed with was Switzerland, which matched its 14th-place program record from 1979 and 1983 after looking better than I’ve seen them collectively look in years. It’s not the strongest team in terms of difficulty, so they were never going to be a team final contender, but it was exciting to see them hit routine after routine with clean and confident work, especially after years of watching them struggle with consistency.
I also loved Algeria competing with a full team at worlds for the first time in the country’s history, finishing in 20th place just a few tenths behind Romania, and though Malaysia didn’t qualify outright to this competition – the program came in as an alternate after North Korea withdrew – they performed at the same level as every other nation in Rotterdam with beautiful and solid performances throughout. Their finish here broke the previous program record of 37th place set in 2018, and as an added bonus, Yeap Kang Xian in 45th place broke the program’s all-around record previously held by the legendary Farah Ann Abdul Hadi (59th place in 2019).
Below, find a complete list of all team rankings as well as a list of the individuals who qualified to finals. We’ll be back before the individual finals to preview those!
TEAM QUALIFICATION STANDINGS
1. China 164.996
2. United States 164.529
3. Russia 163.662
4. Italy 162.430
5. Japan 161.630
6. France 161.430
7. Canada 160.130
8. Brazil 159.131
9. Great Britain 158.963
10. Germany 158.661
11. Netherlands 158.029
12. Australia 156.228
13. Spain 155.963
14. Switzerland 153.897
15. Mexico 153.796
16. Belgium 153.128
17. South Korea 152.197
18. Sweden 152.130
19. Romania 151.996
20. Algeria 151.495
21. Ukraine 151.463
22. Belarus 151.363
23. Argentina 149.664
24. Malaysia 149.531
ALL-AROUND QUALIFICATION STANDINGS
1. Kaylia Némour, Algeria, 55.999
2. Skye Blakely, United States, 55.465
3. Lyudmila Roshchina, Russia, 55.098
4. Elena Colas, France, 55.032
5. Ke Qinqin, China, 54.699
6. Zhang Qingying, China, 54.565
7. Claire Pease, United States, 54.432
8. Naomi Visser, Netherlands, 53.965
9. Alyona Glotova, Russia, 53.932
10. Lia Redick, Canada, 53.599
11. Alba Petisco, Spain, 53.599
12. Flavia Saraiva, Brazil, 53.566
13. Kishi Rina, Japan, 53.499
14. Charleigh Bullock, United States, 53.499*
15. Ellie Black, Canada, 53.466
16. Maïana Prat, France, 53.333
17. Giulia Perotti, Italy, 53.032
18. Sofia Tonelli, Italy, 52.700
19. Breanna Scott, Australia, 52.698
20. Abigail Martin, Great Britain, 52.599
21. Sugihara Aiko, Japan, 52.266
22. Lorrane Oliveira, Brazil, 52.165
23. Lisa Vaelen, Belgium, 52.065
24. Alice Kinsella, Great Britain, 52.065
25. Greta Mayer, Hungary, 51.999
R1. Lea Marie Quaas, Germany, 51.899
R2. Lena Bickel, Switzerland, 51.799
R3. Kristina Hrudetska, Ukraine, 51.732
R4. Michelle Pineda, Mexico, 51.699
VAULT QUALIFICATION STANDINGS
1. Rebeca Andrade, Brazil, 14.533
2. Yeo Seojeong, South Korea, 14.483
3. Claire Pease, United States, 14.283
4. Lia Monica Fontaine, Canada, 14.099
5. Skye Blakely, United States, 14.066
6. Ellie Black, Canada, 13.933
7. Abigail Martin, Great Britain, 13.850
8. Victoria Mata, Mexico, 13.816
R1. Lisa Vaelen, Belgium, 13.816
R2. Aleksandra Anufrieva, Russia, 13.799
R3. Alice Vlkova, Czechia, 13.550
UNEVEN BARS QUALIFICATION STANDINGS
1. Kaylia Némour, Algeria, 14.933
2. Helen Kevric, Germany, 14.766
3. Elena Colas, France, 14.533
4. Elisa Iorio, Italy, 14.466
– Naomi Visser, Netherlands, 14.466
6. Alyona Glotova, Russia, 14.400
7. Giulia Perotti, Italy, 14.366
8. Skye Blakely, United States, 14.333
R1. Lyudmila Roshchina, Russia, 14.266
R2. Sanna Veerman, Netherlands, 14.166
R3. Ke Qinqin, China, 14.133
BEAM QUALIFICATION STANDINGS
1. Zhang Qingying, China, 15.100
2. Qiu Qiyuan, China, 14.966
3. Flavia Saraiva, Brazil, 14.400
4. Okamura Mana, Japan, 14.266
5. Manila Esposito, Italy, 14.200
6. Skye Blakely, United States, 14.166
7. Elena Colas, France, 14.133
8. Kaylia Némour, Algeria, 14.133
R1. Hwang Seohyun, South Korea, 13.933
R2. Maïana Prat, France, 13.900
R3. Breanna Scott, Australia, 13.866
FLOOR QUALIFICATION STANDINGS
1. Reese Esponda, United States, 13.633
2. Lia Redick, Canada, 13.433
3. Abigail Martin, Great Britain, 13.433
4. Lia Monica Fontaine, Canada, 13.366
5. Claire Pease, United States, 13.333
6. Gabrielle Black, Canada, 13.300*
7. Maïana Prat, France, 13.300
8. Alice Kinsella, Great Britain, 13.266
9. Lyudmila Roshchina, Russia, 13.266
R1. Manila Esposito, Italy, 13.233
R2. Naomi Visser, Netherlands, 13.233
R3. Alba Petisco, Spain, 13.233
*Did not qualify due to two-per-country limitations
