news

 AUSTRIA'S GYMNASTS WIN SECOND PLACE BEHIND UKRAINE AT THE FUTURE CUP IN LINZ!

 


The Future Cup is one of the world's most prestigious meetings for young artistic gymnasts. At the 18th edition on November 17/18, 2023, a record field of 154 future hopefuls gymnasts from four continents took part in the Tips Arena.

 

The team competition was a head-to-head duel between Austria and Ukraine, with Team Ukraine winning with 234,850 points, just ahead of Team Austria with 232,600 points. Behind them, the team from Manchester/England finished third with 230,400 points. In 4th place was Team Australia with 225,800 points and fifth place went to Team Japan with 224,300 points, which arrived with only three gymnasts.

 

In Group 1 of the oldest gymnasts, the decision was extremely close, as the first three podium places were separated by only 0.6 points. Reuben Ward (78.550) from Manchester/England won ahead of Rudyi Ivan (78.200) from Ukraine. Third place, pleasing from an Austrian point of view, was Vincent Lindpointner (77.950) from Upper Austria. The good result for Austria was completed by Gino Vetter (77.550) with a 5th place and Alfred Schwaiger (76.850) with the 6th place in this age group. In this class, performances at elite level have already been shown and we can be curious about the performances of these gymnasts in the next few years.

 

In the second-youngest group U16, the victory was no less close. Daniel Chalabow (76,500) from Australia won ahead of Taiga Baba (76,200) from Japan. Only a carelessness on the parallel bars cost Taiga Baba the victory and showed the duel at a high level. Last year's U14 winner, Thomas Tittley (74,600) from Canada, finished third.

 

The victory in the youngest U14 class was won by the great talent from Ukraine Golovin Volodymyr (79.750) with a record-breaking lead of more than five points. At the age of 13, he already showed an elite level program that was not flawless, but far superior to his peers in terms of difficulty. It was not for nothing that he won five out of six titles in the apparatus finals. Second in this category was Naoto Shiroiwa (74.500) of Japan, ahead of his younger teammate Sakihiro Sakuragawa (73.600). The best Austrian was Felix Neumüller (65,700) in 27th place.

 

New since last year are the finals on the day after. The best six gymnasts per apparatus and age group were able to win the titles on the individual apparatuses. In the U18 class, Vincent Lindpointner won gold for Austria twice (floor+rings) and Alfred Schwaiger once (pommel horse). The other apparatuses were shared by Lucas Engesser from Australia (vault), Sved Sviatoslav (parallel bars) and Rudyi Ivan (high bar), both from Ukraine. In the U16 class, the victories were shared by Taiga Baba (floor, rings, high bar) from Japan and Daniel Chalabov (pommel horse, parallel bars) from Australia. The jump was won by Chester Enriquez from Ireland. In the youngest class, Golovin Volodymyr (UKR) won five apparatuses alone (floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars). On the high bar, he failed the Kovacz somersault in his demanding routine, so the Japanese Naoto Shiroiwa won.

 

All in all, the "small Linz Gymnastics World Championships" were unanimously praised by all participants due to the excellent organization and the loving care. The record number of participants and the level of the gymnasts was already one of the highest in the history of the Future Cup.

 

Helmut Kranzlmüller, Head of Future Cup Organization and OÖFT President: "After the two-year COVID-19 interruption, we have succeeded exceptionally well in re-establishing the Future Cup in the competition calendar. This was the best Future Cup so far. Thanks to the entire team behind it and making this important platform for top-class junior sport possible. All the teams want to come back next year – there is hardly any greater praise."

 

Winner of the finals

 Gerät  U18  U16  U14
 Boden  Vincent Lindpointner (AUT)  Taiga Baba (JPN)  Golovin Volodymyr (UKR)
 Pauschenpferd  Alfred Schwaiger (AUT)  Daniel Chalabov (AUS)  Golovin Volodymyr (UKR)
 Ringe  Vincent Lindpointner (AUT)  Taiga Baba (JPN)  Golovin Volodymyr (UKR)
 Sprung  Lucas Engesser (AUS)  Chester Enriquez (IRL)  Golovin Volodymyr (UKR)
 Barren  Shved Sviatoslav (UKR)  Daniel Chalabov (AUS)  Golovin Volodymyr (UKR)
 Reck  Rudyi Ivam (UKR)  Taiga Baba (JPN)  Naoto Shiroiwa (JPN)