Kensley Behel

Aug 3, 20238 min read

2021/2023 FISU World University Games Men's AA Final

Updated: Aug 7, 2023

Please refresh every few minutes for the most recent updates which will appear at the top of the page. This is the live blog for the Men's Gymnastics AA Final at the 2021/2023 FISU World University Games. The Live Stream Link is at the bottom!

Final AA Standings

Zhang Boheng (CHN) - 86.733
Shi Cong (CHN) - 86.398
Kaya Kazuma (JPN) - 84.098
Fred Richard (USA) - 83.764
Milad Karimi (KAZ) - 83.630
Josh Karnes (USA) - 82.664
Ryu Sunghyun (KOR) - 82.366
Lorenzo Bonicelli (ITA) - 81.931
Lay Giannini (ITA) - 81.466
Samir Serhani (SUI) - 80.630
Nicolau Mir (ESP) - 80.165
Ian Raubal (SUI) - 80.131
Ivan Tikhonov (AZE) - 79.998
Ilyas Azizov (KAZ) - 79.632
Pantely Kolodii (UKR)- 79.031
Alexander Kunz (GER) - 76.898
Mehmet Kosak (TUR) - 75.198
Hashimoto Daiki (JPN) - DNF/ withdrew due to injury

Fred Richard (USA - FX) just the smallest of hops on the opening pass, may have gone OOB on the double front, good flairs, just consistently taking little shuffles on all of the landings. 14.166

Zhang Boheng (CHN - HB) tak 1/1, tak 1/2, falls on the Cassina, does not repeat it. Lay tkatcev, Czech giants, stalder, double double with a small hop. 12.900 Puts him in the lead.

Shi Cong (CHN - HB) a little late on his tak 1/1 but better on the tak 1/2, good on the releases, Czech giant, quast, double double with a hop back. 14.466

Kaya Kazuma (JPN - HB) good through the Kolman, lay tkatchev and the straddle tkatchev, Czech giants, tak 1/1, tak 1/2 both good, a couple of hops on the double double. He is very very happy. 14.000 That is almost certainly going to earn him a medal

Milad Karimi (KAZ - HB) zou li min, Cassina, tucked Kovacs, 1/2, tak 1/2, straddle to piked tkatchev, giant 1/2, tak, a step back on the dismount. His D score is going to be a bit down. It seems he played it safe by taking out the Kolman. 14.066 Puts him in the lead with an 83.630

Josh Karnes (USA - FX) front full to double front with a small hop, really fights for the stick on his second pass, back 1.5 to front tuck 1./1, he is so quick in his flairs, just a simple back layout for his side pass that he sticks, big yell from the sidelines as he sticks the triple full dismount. He's going to be one to watch heading into Paris.

Ian Raubal (SUI - FX) Finishes his day strong on floor! 13.366

Rotation 6

After 5:

Zhang Boheng - 78.833
Shi Cong - 71.932
Kaya Kazuma - 70.098
Fred Richard - 69.598
Milad Karimi - 69.564
Josh Karnes - 68.798
Lay Giannini - 68.666
Ryu Sunghyun - 68.533

Zhang Boheng (CHN - PB) peach to on rail with a bend to a Healy, Diam, peach, big front straddle, Bhavsar, 1/2, Tippelt, Healy. double front 1/2 out with a small hop. 15.400

Shi Cong (CHN - PB) immediate straddle up to handstand, slow and piked on the Makuts, peach 1/2, peach, giant, BIG front 1 1/4, 1/2, Bhavsar, good on the Tippelt and the Healy, double pike with a step back! 14.700

Kaya Kazuma (JPN - PB) Whippet, a bit slow and piked on the Makuts, better on the Healy, peach 1/2, peach, giant, good straddle 1 1/4, 1/2, maybe clipped his foot on the Bhavsar, Tippelt, just a small hop back on the double front 1/2 out dismount. 14.700

Josh Karnes (USA - HB) zou li min, tak 1/2, Kolman, lay tkatchev, straddle tkatchev, 1/2, tak, he's a very fast twitch gymnast, When he cleans up his form a little bit he can be exceptional here. Caps off the routine with a stuck dismount! 13.333

Milad Karimi (KAZ - PB) Whippet to open, peach, giant, front uprise to front straddle, 1/2, Bhavsar, 1/2, Tippelt, Healy, 1/2, Diam, Stutz, Stuck double front 1/2 out dismount! Wow! 14.400

Interestingly, Josh Karnes and Ian Raubal are rotating in the same group. Both are gymnasts at Penn State but Raubal competes for Switzerland and Karnes for the US.

Ian Raubal (SUI - HB) jumps to mixed grip, tak 1/1, tak 1/2, lay tkatchev, straddle tkatchev, stalder rybalko was very late, quast, pretty piked in the full-twisting double layout with just a small hop. 13.466

Fred Richard (USA - HB) 1/2, Cassina, Kolman is beautiful, lay tkatchev, straddle to piked tkatchev, quast to one arm giant 1/2, a big late on the tak full, good on the tak 1/2, a couple steps back on the dismount. 14.233

Rotation 5

After 4:

Zhang Boheng - 58.433
Shi Cong - 57.232
Josh Karnes - 55.465
Kaya Kazuma - 55.398
Lay Giannini - 55.366
Fred Richard - 55.365
Ryu Sunghyun - 55.333
Milad Karimi - 55.164

Josh Karnes (USA - PB) Whippet, peach, Makuts, Healy, Diam, Moy, 1/2, Giant... finishes well with a good landing! 14.533

Fred Richard (USA - PB) kip to handstand, slow on the Makuts, didn't make handstand on the Stutz from upper arms, comes back with some big amplitude, good on the front straddle and the Bhavsar, a little low on the Tippelt, Good on the Healy, Stutz, double front with a few steps back. 13.966

Shi Cong (CHN - VT) Probably the best of the Kas doubles we've seen. Really good height and direction and just a small hop on the landing. 14.666

Kaya Kazuma (JPN - VT) Also a Kas double but it was SO messy in the air and really not quite all the way around. 14.366

Lay Giannini (ITA - HB) Zou li min, tak 1/2 ( a bit late), Lay Kovacs with a bit of leg separation, straddle to pike tkatchev, stalder, one arm giant, some bent arms in the wind up for the dismount but a beautiful full-twisting layout. 13.600

Zhang Boheng (CHN - VT) Kas double with a step back. 14.733

Rotation 4

After 3:

Zhang Boheng - 43.700
Shi Cong - 42.566
Lay Giannini - 41.766
Fred Richard - 41.399
Ryu Sunghyun - 41.300
Kaya Kazuma - 41.032
Milad Karimi - 40.998
Ivan Tikhonov - 40.933

Fred Richard (USA - VT) Flies off the mat on his Roche. 13.700

It's official now that Hashimoto has withdrawn.

Alexander Kunz (GER - PB) kip to L sit, straddle to handstand. peach, Diam, giant, Moy, Tippelt, Healy, Stutz but has to really push and then falls on the double front dismount. 12.166

Pantely Kolodii (UKR - PB) - 13.366

Kaya Kazuma (JPN - SR) back uprsie to maltese, and again on the second maltese, yami to joh to honma cross, good on the azarian cross, arches a bit on the two handstands, really low on the dismount. 13.866

He's really working to get the crowd engaged!

Hashimoto did not compete on still rings, and has likely withdrawn from the competition. I will keep you updated as more information becomes available.

Lorenzo Bonicelli (ITA - PB) Whippet into Healy, peach, giant into Moy, 1/2, pretty low on the Tippelt, good Stutz and Diam, beautiful form on the double pike. Just a hop backwards. 13.866

Zhang Boheng (CHN - SR) azarian maltese, kip to maltese, joh to yami to planche, beautiful azarian iron cross, honma cross, WOW are those handstands good. Just a very small step on the double double dismount.

Ryu Sunghyun (KOR - VT) Big bounce back on the handspring Randi. 14.500

Shi Cong (CHN - SR) back uprise to planche, lowers to maltese (a bit high), maltese is better this time, joh to yami to honma cross, azarian Iron cross. I love that skill, a little wobble on the handstand, and the second, big step back on the dismount. 14.400

Rotation 3

After 2:

Zhang Boheng - 29.000
Shi Cong - 28.166
Milad Karimi - 27.832
Fred Richard - 27.699
Ivan Tikhonov - 27.500
Lay Giannini - 27.466
Samir Serhani - 27.199
Kaya Kazuma - 27.166

Lay Giannini (ITA - VT) A bit cowboyed onhe double front.

Shi Cong (CHN - PH) 14.333 Gained over half a point from qualifications. Should he keep performing as he has, he will likely be on the podium.

Milad Karimi (KAZ - PH) a medium arch on the Li Ning. This is somewhat messy as he loses forms on several elements. Looks like he thought midway through the dismount about how many pirouettes he wanted to do. 13.466

Ilyas Azizov (KAZ - PH) Mikulak to open, good D Flop, a bit skewed on the Magyar Sivado, but the Wu is good, but also struggle with the dismount. Odd. I've rarely if ever seen so many people in a row struggle with the dismount and hands slipping like this. 13.533

Hashimoto Daiki (JPN - PH) mounts directly into flairs, scissors, and bobbles into the Li Ning, good on the D Flop, Wu is excellent as is the Roth, beautiful flairs and OH MY GOSH. Big fall on the dismount. Looks like he landed on his head. He's holding it and pointing to his left temple. If he doesn't withdraw due to injury, he's almost certainly out of the AA title fight. 12.966

Zhang Boheng (CHN - PH) Li Ning to open, and a second, good on the Sohn, and the D flop, Wu to Tong Fei, good body position on the Magyar Sivado, Good on the russians but a little bit of difficulty on the dismount.

LONG wait for Zhang's score 14.500 - over a point better than Quals

An inquiry has now been submitted for Kaya Kazuma on pommel horse. It was accepted!

Mehmet Kosak (TUR - SR) back uprise to inverted cross ( a big high) good planche and lower to maltese (perhaps a bit shy of two seconds), good through the swinging sequence to maltese, handstand is good, as is the second, but nearly runs off the podium on his dismount. 13.033

Kosak was not originally supposed to compete but he replaced teammate, Adem Asil who withdrew.

Kaya Kazuma (JPN - PH) Li Ning to open, almost loses it on the Sohn, good through the flop into side travel, Wu is well-performed. As is the Roth and goes well into the dismount. Fist pump from him and a high five from Shi Cong. 14.266 (Was previously 14.166 before the inquiry was accepted.)

Rotation 2

After 1:

Zhang Boheng (CHN) - 14.500
Milad Karimi (KAZ) - 14.366
Fred Richard (USA) - 14.166
Shi Cong (CHN) - 13.833
Samir Serhani (SUI) - 13.566
Ivan Tikhonov (AZE) - 13.500
Pantely Kolodii (UKR) - 13.433
Josh Karnes (USA) - 13.333

Fred Richard (USA - PH) Li Ning to open was a bit shy of handstand, beautiful form on the russians right into the flaired spindles, beautiful flaired travels into the Wu. Good dismount! 14.166

Ian Raubal (SUI - PH) Mikulak to C Scissor, Stoeklis into the flaired Magyar Sivado, It's a bit skewed and then falls off before the dismount. 12.000

Hashimoto Daiki (JPN - FX) SUPER low on the triple double, just a small shuffle on the double double, front full to Randi with a stick, sticks the side double full. He seems to be finding his rhythm. Beautiful russians into wide-arm handstand, OMG NO. He fell on the back 2.5 to front lay. And a small hop on the dismount. 13.233 Over a point lower than in Qualifications

Zhang Boheng (CHN - FX) HUGE roar from the crowd before he started. A little low on the connection to front double pike, beautiful back 3.5, STUCK Randi, a small hop on the side double full, Huh. Back 2.5 to punch tuck. Pretty sure that was supposed to be a layout or a Barani. He's utilized both. So that will be a be a slightly lower D score. Just a small hop on the triple full dismount. 14.500

Nicolau Mir (ESP - PH) A bit piked throughout and there's quite a big skew on the Magyar Sivado. He ends up falling off the horse. Remounts and completes a clean dismount. 11.666

Josh Karnes (USA - PH) 13.333

We are currently watching lots of athletes standing around. There was a big gasp by the crowd and Olly let us know that Kaya Kazuma fell on his opening pass. Looks like he got a 12.900

Milad Karimi (KAZ) is going to start us off on floor. Opens with a Randi. A bit messy in the legs and a small shuffle on the landing. Wow really squeeze his toes to stay in bound for his second pass but lunges OOB on the third pass. He sticks both the double double and side double full pass. A little archy in the handstand. And sticks the final two passes as well! 14.366

There are only 18 athletes in this all-around final. Hashimoto Daiki led qualifications over Zhang Boheng by .999. The catch? Zhang had a fall. If they go clean, it's going to come down to the wire!