The highlight of the competition was no question the team’s first apparatus – high bar, where Cory Paterson of Montreal scored a 13.700 to finish the day sitting in 9th – the team’s highest individual apparatus finish of the day. René Cournoyer of Repentigny, QC scored a 13.600 to sit 11th, Sam Zakutney of Ottawa, ON scored a 13.533, and Zach Clay of Chilliwack, BC scored 13.233 to make them the third-highest ranked team on that apparatus for the day with a total score of 40.833.
“It’s an amazing environment and experience to be with the best in the world, and see where you are against them, and to train with guys and make friends from all over the world,” said Paterson who won a silver medal on high bar at the 2018 Commonwealth Games this past April. “This has been a good experience coming up for 2019 – we can use this to go back to the gym and work harder, develop new skills, and work on better execution.”
Cournoyer continued to have a strong day, laying down quality routines on all six apparatus to finish the day sitting in 10th with a total score of 79.698 in the all-around competition. The top-24 individuals will advance to the all-around finals on October 31st. Paterson was the only other athlete to compete all six apparatus, finishing the day in 38th with a score of 75.531.
The team started off strong on high bar and floor, where Scott Morgan of Vancouver, BC had the top score – a 13.833, and finished strong on parallel bars, but had a tough time on pommel horse where combined, they scored 32.732.
“Well that’s the sport of gymnastics – one moment up, one moment down. I think everybody knows that pommel horse was a complete disaster, but it’s probably better to do it this year rather than next year,” said head national team coach Ed Van Hoof. “There are a lot of positive things out of the performances and everybody pulled together well and even after such a bad pommel horse they recovered well.
It clearly shows that consistency of hitting routines is key. Minor adjustments to exercises to make them that little bit more consistent without overdoing raising the difficulty will pay dividends across the board. They are a fairly clean, technically good routine team, and just need to make sure that that consistency is in their work.”
The final day of qualifications in the men’s competition takes place tomorrow, with the first day of qualifications for the women starting on Saturday. Canada’s women’s team will take to the floor on Sunday in subdivision 8.
For the full schedule and results visit: https://live.gymnastics.sport/schedule.php?idevent=13335
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