Veterans Ponor and Chusovitina headline World Cup in Doha

A host of World and Olympic Champions will take centre stage when the 10th Artistic Gymnastics World Cup begins at the Aspire Dome from today.For the first time in tournament’s history, the event will be held over four days – with the first two days reserved for qualification and the last two for the finals. The championship is part of a two-year FIG Individual Apparatus World Cup circuit, which began in November last year and will conclude in March 2018. Based on their rankings at World Cup stops, gymnasts gain points in the Individual standings. A gymnast with the highest points at the end of the series is crowned World Cup champion in their discipline.  The Qatar Gymnastics Federation has hosted the annual event from 2008. The 10th edition has attracted 111 gymnasts – 80 men and 31 women – from 31 countries, and is just a glimpse of what Doha can offer, with the city hosting the World championships in October 2018.Gymnasts are coming off after participating in Baku, Azerbaijan last week. And once again all eyes will be on five-time Olympic medallist Catalina Ponor in Doha. At 29, the Romanian veteran is not showing any signs of slowing down.After a disappointing Rio Olympics, where she failed to get into the podium, Ponor has begun 2017 in splendid fashion. She won the gold in both the Balance Beam and Floor Exercise in Baku and will be hoping to repeat the same this week. Ponor is preparing for next month’s European Championships, which will be held in her home country Romania for the first time in 60 years and the gymnast is upbeat about her chances. Interestingly, Ponor is not the oldest gymnast to take centre stage in Doha. With a record seven Olympic Games under her belt, 41-year-old Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan is still going strong.The 1992 Olympic team gold medallist topped the Vault event with a solid performance in Baku, even if she didn’t attempt the uber-difficult Produnova vault that she showed last summer in Rio. In the men’s, 2012 Olympic champion Krisztian Berki lost out on Pommel Horse to China’s Weng Hao last week. Though Hao will not be in action in Doha, Berki will be attempting to make amends for his second place finish in Baku. Lithuania’s Tomas Kuzmickas is another one to watch out for, having qualified for three event finals and winning a gold on Floor Exercise and bronze on Horizontal Bar in the last event. In the Vault, Australian Chris Remkes is in fine form. After finishing second before his home crowd in Melbourne a month ago, Remkes finally got gold in Baku. Remkes will be in action in floor, pommel horse and vault and will lead a strong Australian contingent, with other members being Mitchell Morgans (Parallel and Horizontal), Clay Stephens (Floor, Vault and Parallel Bars) and Michael Tone (pommel horse and rings). “It’s going to be an exciting World Cup in Doha. I hope to do well,” said Remkes, who was born in the Philippines, but moved to Australia at a young age. In the women’s section, Australian challenge will be held by Emily Little, who claimed gold in floor, silver in vault and bronze medal in balance at the Melbourne leg of the FIG World Cup.Little will lead a four-member Australian women’s team that also includes Georgia-Rose Brown, Rianna Mizzen and Emma Nedov. Last monthMeanwhile, two young Qatari gymnasts Ahmed Mosa and Jana Elkiki will make their senior debut. Mosa and Elkiki will join Ahmed al-Dayani, who has been regular at the World Cup for the last few years.Qatar Gymnastics Federation (QGF) president Ali al-Hitmi believes it will be a good opportunity for the local gymnasts to rub shoulders with the international athletes and gain some valuable experience. “This will be a great event for our gymnasts. The Qatar squad has been preparing well and we expect them to shine at the home event. We will be hosting the 10th edition of the event and every year we field our own gymnasts. We have made significant progress over the years,” al-Hitmi said.