Elze Geurts and Naomi Visser qualified for the final at the World Gymnastics Championships in Japan. Debutante Geurts finished second with 14,350 points for the final in the jump division, with the top eight coming into play on Saturday.
Geurts just had to hold Olympic jumping champion Rebecca Andrade of Brazil. Andrade reached 14,800 points and was the first to qualify for the final battle. The Brazilian was also the first to qualify for the final on Bridge (15.100).
This is the first time since 2013 that a Dutch gymnast has played again during a World Cup jump final. In 2013, Shantisha Ntipp was the last Dutch woman to qualify for the vaulting final at the World Championships in Antwerp.
Naomi Visser
After a Shamil with a total of 52,266 points, Naomi Visser qualified for the eleventh place for the Shamil final on Thursday. For Visser, this is her third World Cup final. She previously participated in that final in 2018 and 2019.
Angelina Melnikova of Russia qualified first with 57,065 points for the final in which the top 24 gymnasts compete (maximum of two per country). Melnikova won a bronze medal throughout the Olympic Games in Tokyo last summer.
Vera Van Poel was lacking in the bridge after falling twice for a place in the final over all. Van Poel, who was still active in the Olympics this summer, finished 28th with 48,415 points.
Sanna Firman fell on the bridge (12.433) and the beam (11.566) in her World Cup debut, and thus never came close to reaching the final.
Casimir Schmidt
The Dutch national team will participate in the World Cup finals on Wednesday morning. Casimir Schmidt is missing. Schmidt was injured during a jump training last Friday and has since suffered from ankle and shoulder injuries.
National team coach Bram van Buchoven of Japan reported on Tuesday morning that Schmidt would definitely not play during Wednesday’s game. “Three days is too short for a good recovery and a good race. It’s a shame because he was so agile and sharp, and had a lot of all-out potential. Fortunately, it’s not a serious injury, so he is expected to make a full recovery in a few weeks,” Van Bockhoven said.
On Wednesday morning, Jermaine Grunberg, Laurent de Monck and Frank Rieken will participate on behalf of the Netherlands in the Gymnastics World Cup qualifiers.
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