Favourite Dukhno had the most difficulty. But landings and O.B. dropped him to 4th. Judges “boxed” the E-scores, as usual, but I’d say they got the medal ranking correct.
Men's Floor Exercise final at the Junior World Championships:
๐ฅ Yang Lanbin ๐จ๐ณ 13.833 ๐ฅ Simone Speranza ๐ฎ๐น 13.766 ๐ฅ Karl Eldrew Yulo ๐ต๐ญ 13.733 pic.twitter.com/oHVgdzgv5i
Arsenii Dukhno is an amazing talent who’s only challenge for the future in Senior is a lack of Ring strength holds. BUT he had a fall on the last apparatus โ H Bar โย and we wondered if he could stay ahead of the terrific competition. It was an excellent meet with relatively few errors from the top group.
Danila Leykin looks to have potential to qualify for Senior U.S. teams. He could be a counting score on P Bars and H Bar already. Pommels could get there, as well.
is Philippines the fastest improving Gymnastics nation? With KarlEldrew joining his brother in Senior … look out.
volume way too high in that small hotel ballroom. My noise cancelling headphones helped.
I’m wondering if we need announce every inquiry to the arena audience. Better would be to announce ONLY those scores that change. It was definitely a distraction. Also, why are the judges changing so many D-scores? Get it right in the first place.
remember the name โ Volodymyr Golovin (Ukraine)
Canadian Thomas Tittley withdrew from the World Jr Gymnastics Championships due to a neck injury suffered training H Bar just before Podium Training. Happily, it turned out to be minor.
Simone Speranza amazing Triple Tuck knees together STICK ๐ฎ๐น on Rings. Once FIG rules change in 2026, I expect many to stop using Triple Back dismount. But not Simone.
GREAT for the fans to have gymnasts on all 6 apparatus. The meet might be rushed for the gymnasts, however.
In Gyลr, Hungary 2019, the Jr. winner was Shinnosuke Oka who went on to be Olympic champion.
Arsenii Dukhno (AIN) leads in the All-Around with 82.065 despite a major error on P Bars and minor problems on H Bar. First on Floor and Vault.
Karl Eldrew Yulo (PHI), the younger brother of Olympic champion Carlos Yulo, was the gymnast most cheered. Very similar at the same age. Eldrew qualified for Floor, Vault, H Bar and All-Around Finals.
Danila Leykin (USA) leads on P Bars and H Bar with terrific and interesting routines. USA very excited about finishing Bronze in team.
Watching Podium training, I expected a lot of falls. BUT performances in competition were good, overall.
Falls mostly on:
Double Front on Floor
Under-rotated H Bar dismounts
Pommels, especially dismounts
Many fell on Vault landings, but not many felt unsafe. Most of the nations made good decisions on difficulty.
Remember the name โ Nikita Netreba, Poland.
Remember the name โ Aaron Esner, Netherlands. Tons of potential.
Looks to me like we will have more 1/1 twisting Double Tuck dismounts off P Bars in the future. Evan McPhillips (GBR) and Dukhno, for example. All 3 Colombia gymnasts used Flyaway 1/1 twisting Double Tuck dismounts off the end.
Hey. Could Colombia qualify a full team to the L.A. Olympics? They have 2 very strong all-around gymnasts in รngel Barajas and Camilo Vera.
Without watching scores, I’d ASSuMEd Japan had beaten China due to higher difficulty. I was way wrong.
AA Final Qualifiers
Arsenii Dukhno from that Putin nation was easily the top AA gymnast. And he did not have a perfect competition. He’ll definitely contend in the AA at the Los Angeles Olympics. Amazing Vault and Tumbling for a gymnast with a build more suited to swinging.
most of the young men took this opportunity quite seriously. There wasn’t much joking around on the floor.
coaches free to ask questions of the judges
facility looks great. Feels more like a small arena than a hotel ballroom.
photo via FIG
competitors who haven’t trained on TaiShan told me equipment was good โย but different. Floor is hard as most NEW Floors are until hundreds of gymnasts have pounded it. One told me the Pommel Horse felt springy. Light coloured Floor caused no confusion. It’s not white, as it was in Jakarta.
once again, something went wrong with the podium H Bar set-up. Yep. While USA was training. Actually, it was just the tension gauge which stopped working and had to be replaced. It caused a slight delay.
close to 750 athletes total will compete in the 2025 edition of Jr. Worlds, the 3rd edition. It’s getting increasingly popular. Nations are finding funding.
Israel is here โย and their guys look great. Potential for several Finals.
security seems quite good to me. The streets of Pasay City outside reveal many armed guards, as well.ย We are close to the airport.ย
Ukraine and AIN are here
Karl Eldrew Yulo, the younger brother of two-time Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo, has a lot of media following him. Another superstar in the making for Philippines.
Japan is looking great, as expected. China as well.
Rings is the weak apparatus, as expected.
Pommels impressed me most. There are another dozen Juniors who will soon be challenging the top Seniors on Horse. I can’t understand how so many guys are getting so good, so young.
of course the size and maturation of competitors is wildly different at this age. Some guys are more than twice as heavy as others. Happily, late developers have some advantages in MAG. There’s no rush.
how many of these Juniors will ever compete Sr. Worlds?
on the other hand, Shinnosuke Oka won the 1st Jr. Worlds in 2019 and went on to be Olympic Champion in 2024. รngel Barajas was 2nd AA at the 2023 Jr Worlds. A year later won the silver medal on theย horizontal barย at theย 2024 Olympic Games.
no doubt some future stars will become well known after Manila
What MEN made history at the World Gymnastics Championships 2025?
Mamikon Khachatryan and Hamlet Manukyan (both amazing), Zou Jingyuan (4th gold on P Bars), Angel Barajas, Omar Mohamed, Dagur Olafsson, Sebastian Sponevik, Jameel Ali, and many more.
Gymnasts warm-up in the arena for Event Finals. This competition is LONG, of course, with only 1 routine at a time, so many go back to the training Gym to stay warmed-up.
I expected Deng to medal. Warm-ups were strong. But she ran over the horse and got a zero on her first vault. Judges wouldn’t let her do a second.
Schรถnmaier tried upgrading to Cheng โ but lost 2.0 for using only 1 hand.
16-year-old Lia-Monica Fontaine is the breakout star on Vault. Tons of potential here. And very good in the AA, as well. She’s destined to be on the Canadian team for years to come.
Zoja Szekely did a good routine, but couldn’t land her dismount. I understand she was too injured from Vault the previous day. I admire her courage. But with 20 / 20 hindsight, she should have withdrawn and let the Reserve gymnast go.
This sets up Donnell for the coming quadrennial. USA can always use a top Ring man who can compete other apparatus, if needed. Along with Asher Hong, it would not be a weak event.
Zhang Boheng and Adem Asil are incredibly good at Rings for AA gymnasts.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 