Koper, 5 September 2021 – The World Cup in Gymnastics in Koper has been successfully concluded. The Slovenian national team made five appearances in the finals, with Tjaša Kysselef in the vault (1st place) and Lucija Hribar on the uneven bars (3rd place). On the second final day, the only Slovenian performance was taken care of by Lucija Hribar, who was fifth on the balance beam and the floor exercise. The winners of the second final day were Israeli Andrey Medvedev (vault), Canadian Cassandra Lee (balance beam), Turk Sercan Demir (parallel bars), British Claudia Fragapane (floor exercise) and Maxime Gentges (horizontal bar).
The last final day in Koper was opened by gymnasts on the vault. The winner of the qualifiers, the British Courtney Tulloch, was the first to present himself, receiving a score of 14,625 for his jumps, which was enough for second place in the end. Israeli Andrey Medvedev did better with his jumps than in the qualifiers, receiving a score of 14,800 for his jumps. “This is my fourth time competing here in Koper, it’s a really nice city, good organization and a great atmosphere. I am glad that my jumps were a good success today. Today’s performance also gave me additional motivation and self-confidence before the upcoming World Cup, “said the Israeli after winning the medal. Canadian Felix Dolci finished the competition in third place with a score of 14,425.
The performances on the pole were marked by quite a few falls and mistakes by the competitors. The only Slovenian representative in Sunday’s final, Lucija Hribar, like some of her colleagues, made a mistake and in the end won fifth place with a score of 11,650. On the shaft, Canadian Cassandra Lee won the gold medal with a score of 13,050: “This was my first competition in front of an audience and in the public eye in the last 18 months and I really enjoyed it. There was some nervousness at the beginning, but I calmed down and did the exercise as I wanted. ”In second place was Croatian Ana Đerek with a score of 12,800, and in third place was Zoja Szekely from Hungary with a score of 12,200.
Turk Sercan Demir (14,500) was the best on Bradlja, Kazakhstan’s Farukh Nabiyev won silver with a score of 14,350, and Italian Macchiati Mario (14,250) was third. “I competed here in Slovenia for the first time and I really like it. I did my best on the bar and I am thrilled that I managed to win a gold medal, “said young Turkish competitor Sercan Demir after the competition.
The girls continued on the ground floor, where Lucija Hribar made her third final appearance at this year’s World Cup in Koper. “I am very happy with both exercises. On the shaft, I competed in the finals for the first time ever. I had a drop in an element I was just starting to implement. On the ground floor, I got an even better grade than in the qualifications. ”On the ground floor, the fourth from the qualifications, the British Claudia Fragapane, won with a score of 12,900. Another silver medal at this World Cup was won by Croatian Ana Đerek (12,750), and Hungarian Dorina Boeczoego came in third with a score of 12,700. The winner on the ground floor was also enthusiastic about Koper: “It was sunny all the time, Slovenia is really beautiful. I also really enjoyed the competition, the atmosphere in the hall was great, it’s nice to compete in front of the audience again. “
The competition was concluded by the men on the pole, and the winners were awarded the medals by the former world champion Aljaž Pegan. The gold medal was won by the Belgian Maxime Gentges, with a score of 13,800: “I had high expectations for my performance on the horse with handles, but unfortunately I did not make it to the finals and I was quite disappointed after the first day. Today I put my best on the pole, I went with a harder exercise and in the end it paid off for me. I am very happy. ”In second place, Hungarian David Vecsernyes finished the competition with a score of 13,750, and the bronze medal was won by Canadian Felix Dolci with a score of 13,650.
This year’s World Cup in Gymnastics in Koper was the last domestic World Cup in which the currently best Slovenian gymnast Sašo Bertoncelj presented himself. He continued the tradition of domestic cups and also qualified for the finals on his 15th, winning the final sixth place on a horse with handles, and by the end of the season and career he will have the World Cup in Turkey and the World Championship in Japan. Tjaša Kysselef, who won a gold medal in the vault, and Lucija Hribar, who won a bronze medal in the vault, took care of two Slovenian medals on the first day of the final fights. Slovakia’s Barbora Mokosova won on the barbell, Kiril Prokopev was the best Russian in the men’s competition on the floor, Matvei Petrov was the best Albanian on the horse with the handle, and Vinzenz Hoeck was the Austrian on the laps.
