By Fawad HussainT

DOHA: As top gymnasts from around the globe begun quest for glory in Doha Ahmed Al Dayani stood for hosts Qatar on the opening day of the Ninth Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series which commenced with the qualifying rounds at iconic Aspire Dome yesterday.

The inaugural day of the three-day event saw qualification competitions for men (6 apparatus) and women (4 apparatus). Over 100 gymnasts from as many as 33 countries are participating in the International Gymnastics Federation’s (FIG) showpiece event.

Al Dayani matched excellence of world’s best gymnasts and displayed excellent skills to reach the final of men’s pommel horse event.

It was a star-studded line-up in the qualifying round of the event with Azerbaijan’s Oleg Stepko defending the title. But Al Gayani held his nerves well to seal one of the eight qualifying berths the category.

The Qatari accumulated 14600 points as Robert Se Ligman of Croatia sealed the top spot with a total of 15350 points.

“I will term Al Dayani’s performance today as a huge success. Not only for him (Al Dayani) but for whole Qatar gymnastics fraternity” Qatar Gymnastics Federation (QGF) President Ali Al Hitmi told The Peninsula after the qualifying round.

“It’s a big stage as all the top gymnasts from around the world are competing and finishing among the top ones is not an easy task. It’s a first step for Al Dayani towards becoming a world class gymnast and I am confident he would start winning laurels for Qatar in the future.”

Oleg was third in the event after recording 15100 points below Harutyun Merdinyan who compiled 100 points more.

Although Qatar’s only female in the competition Farah Tariq Mehmoud failed to qualify for women’s uneven bars the 18-year old will be featuring in the finals after being granted a wild card entry.

She finished the competition with a total of 11550 points with Jonna Adlerteg winning the qualifying event after marking 15000 points.

“I am satisfied with Farah’s performance also despite of the fact that she didn’t qualify. She is returning from an injury and it’s not easy to excel after coming from injury in gymnastics. Still she showed improvement and I am content with her show. In fact I am very happy with overall performance of our gymnasts on the opening day.”

Meanwhile star attraction of the day Giulia Steingruber faced little difficulty in topping the women’s vault qualification after earning 14650 points.

The Olympian from Switzerland was followed by Teja Belak of Slovenia and Hungary’s Zsofial Kovacs with 14250 points and 14075 points respectively.

Eleftherios Petrounias of Germany Armenia’s Vahgn Davtyan and his compatriot Artur Tovmasyan completed the top three line-up in men’s rings qualification round.

Diego Hypolito proved his mettle in men’s floor qualifying and secured 15400 points to top the list while Danil Batarun of Kazakhstan claimed second spot with 15200 points. Rok Klavora of Slovenia was third in the event 15100 points.

The finals begin today with both male and female gymnasts to be seen in action in front of fans expected to turn out in good numbers.

Male athletes will compete for medals in floor exercises pommel horse and rings while female athletes will lock horns for vault and uneven bars titles.

The event concludes tomorrow with more finals in line.