Slovenian Team Off to a Great Start at the Home World Cup

Photo Grega Valančič

The opening day of the 19th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup – the biggest international competition held in Slovenia – started off excellently for the Slovenian team. Six Slovenian gymnasts have qualified for Saturday’s finals. The best results in qualifications came from Teja Belak on vault and Lucija Hribar on the uneven bars, both receiving the highest scores in their respective events.

The 19th Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Slovenia kicked off with Gregor Turk, who performed on floor exercise out of competition. He delivered a solid routine and received a score of 12.133. I performed the routine with a few minor mistakes that I still need to clean up. But I’m really happy that after a long time, I finally managed to complete a routine without a fall. In recent competitions, I struggled with consistency and things never quite came together the way I wanted. I believe I’m on the right track now. Once I correct those small errors, I think this will be a great stepping stone for the upcoming competitions,” said Gregor after his performance.

A strong routine was also delivered in front of the home crowd by Julij Jan Obal on pommel horse, earning a score of 10.633. “I made a big mistake on the second element because I was a bit nervous, but I fought through the routine and managed to finish it. I’m happy that I was able to successfully complete the routine at my first competition. It was a great experience and I learned a lot from it. I hope I’ll be less nervous at the next competition now that I have some experience,” Julij Jan said after his performance.

Vault performances were opened by Meta Kunaver, who delivered two strong vaults and earned a score of 12.616. Meta was pleased with her routines: “I’m really happy that both of my vaults went well, and that I also performed a very solid uneven bars routine,” she said.

Teja Belak was the first Slovenian to compete officially and impressed with two flawless vaults, earning a score of 13.633, which secured her a commanding lead that she held until the end of the competition, winning the qualifications on vault. “That’s my highest vault score so far. I’d say both vaults were executed really well, especially the first one, which I think was my best this season. I credit that to some excellent training sessions over the past two weeks. After those World Cups, I needed three days of rest to recover – it’s been a really long season. But now I feel great. I had quite a bit of room for improvement on the landing of the second vault, so if I can fix that for the final, this will be a dream preparation for the European Championships,” said Teja, who was cheered on at the competition by both of her children.

The second Slovenian representative on vault, Tjaša Kysselef, had a disappointing performance in front of the home crowd, falling on the landing of her second vault. Despite the mistake, her total score of 12.466 was still enough to qualify for the final. Tjaša was not satisfied with her performance: “I have to admit I’m not really happy with my routine today, especially the second vault. It’s normally a vault I always land well, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case today. Based on the scores, there’s still room for improvement in the first vault too, even though it was fairly solid—I still received quite a significant deduction. That said, I’ve been given an incredible opportunity to compete in the final on Saturday despite the fall. I can honestly say I’m grateful to the universe for giving me another chance to make up for that mistake.”

Slovenia also had two representatives on floor exercise. The first to compete was Nikolaj Božič, who experienced some difficulties during his routine. He scored 13.066, placing ninth—just one spot short of the final—and became the first reserve. “I’m happy that I completed the routine, but there’s definitely a bitter aftertaste, being ninth and missing the final by just one place. If I had stuck the last tumbling pass, I probably would have made it into the final,” Nikolaj said.

He was joined on floor by Anže Hribar, whose goal was to qualify for the final—and he succeeded with a strong routine that earned him a score of 13.400. He placed fourth and was pleased with his performance: “I’m satisfied with today’s qualifications. I had one minor mistake in the routine, but despite that, I made it to the final. In the final, I’ll perform a more difficult routine, and I’ll be aiming for a medal,” said Anže.

The top score in floor qualifications went to Turkey’s Alperen Ege Avci, who earned a 13.566.

Toward the end of the first session, Slovenian hopeful Gregor Rakovič competed on the pommel horse. He delivered a very strong routine, earning a score of 13.900—the third-highest in qualifications. “We have to be happy with third place and qualifying for the final in third. There’s still some room for improvement on the dismount—I hesitated a bit there. But it went through, and it’s clear that we’re stable and competitive even with an easier routine. On Saturday, we’ll increase the difficulty a bit and go into the final with a higher starting value to aim for the medals,” said Gregor.

The highest pommel horse score in qualifications—14.233—was awarded to Kazakhstan’s Zeinolla Idrissov.

The Slovenian team was anxiously awaiting the final part of the competition, with qualifications on the uneven bars and still rings still to come. Representing Slovenia in these events were two athletes who had won medals at last year’s World Cup. On the uneven bars, Lucija Hribar—last year’s gold medalist and fan favorite—once again delivered a brilliant routine. She scored 13.466 and secured the top spot in qualifications. “I’m actually really pleased. I have to admit, compared to my previous competitions, I was the most nervous today. It’s our home crowd, and of course I really wanted to qualify for the final. I’m already looking forward to Saturday’s final,” said a happy Lucija after her performance.

“I think we can be very pleased with today’s performances,” said Andrej Mavrič, head coach of the senior women’s national team. “Teja executed both vaults very well, which earned her first place. Tjaša made a mistake and fell on one of her vaults, but it was still enough to qualify for Saturday’s final, so we can count on two strong contenders in the final. On the uneven bars, Lucija delivered an excellent routine and, if I’m not mistaken, received the highest score so far. I believe she’ll stay at the top until the end of qualifications, which is a great sign for what’s ahead. I think she has a strong chance of winning gold on Saturday if she performs her routine the way she knows how.”

The final routine of the day came from Luka Bojanc on still rings. Last year in Koper, Bojanc claimed his first bronze medal, and this time he secured a score of 13.366, finishing in 4th place. “I’m really happy with today’s routine. There’s still some room for improvement on the dismount, but just making it to the final in Koper for the second year in a row is amazing. The wait before my performance was really long, as I was the last competitor of the day. In some ways, that’s great because you know exactly what score you need—but on the other hand, we were waiting from 3 PM onward. Still, everything worked out in the end,” said Luka, pleased with his performance.

The top qualification score on rings went to Turkey’s Ibrahim Colak, who earned a 14.133.

“It was great. Everyone performed really well. It’s a bit of a shame for Nikolaj, who made too many small mistakes and ended up in 9th place. But overall, I think we can be very satisfied,“ said Sebastijan Piletič, head coach of the senior men’s national team. Gregor delivered an excellent routine on pommel horse, and Anže did a great job on floor. Both still have a bit of room for improvement. Luka also did a fantastic job on rings. We’re really pleased and looking forward to tomorrow’s finals.”

Tomorrow marks the second day of qualifications. Representing Slovenia will be Beno Kunst on vault, Toni Kastelic on horizontal bar, and Zala Trtnik and Lucija Hribar on balance beam. Luana Lubinič will also perform on beam, competing out of the official rankings.