Mens London Open 2018

This historic and prestigious event served as a selection event for the upcoming World Championships and was attended by all the top clubs from across the country and international gymnasts from Finland and Australia. Woking had a strong entry of twenty four gymnasts across six age groups.

The competition started well with our Elite Level 1 gymnasts. Our team of Jake Palmer, Ben Porter, Hayden Blackmun, Harrison Lamble, Jay Coote and Max Veo-Creek, performed well in a very strong field. Max (45.200, 35th), Jay (47.000, 32nd), Harrison (48.400, 27th) and Hayden (48.700, 23rd) have improved greatly in the last twelve months and it will be a closely fought competition in the upcoming grades qualifier. There was a one-two for Woking; Jake Palmer took the AA title with 55.700, just ahead of team mate Ben Porter (55.050). Ben looked classy and stylish as he took home the gold medal on Floor, Vault and P-Bars, along with a bronze medal on H-Bar. While Jake scored a perfect 10 on Pommels and won a bronze medal on the rings.

There was more success in the Elite Level 3 Competition, where Oliver Porter produced some stunning performances, to win gold on the Rings and P-Bars, he added a bronze on H-Bar and despite falling on Pommels, scored well enough to take home the AA title with a score of 53.601. Jamaal Kashim held his own to finish 9th (44.443), with a little more confidence he will surely prove to be an important team player in the national finals.

The Elite Level 4 competition was full of ups and downs. Santo Fuoco didn’t have his best day but did score well enough to take home a silver medal on Floor, his all-around total of 38.268 put him in 7th. Thomas O’Connor won Gold on H-bar and Bronze on P-bars, he counted a few falls but still finished 5th AA (44.943).

The main event of the weekend was the Westminster Cup. In a field of Olympic, World and European medallists, Woking has two competitors. Tim McCarthy suffered a small injury in podium training and was only able to compete on four apparatus. His top score was 12.750 on P-Bars. Jamie Lewis was competing in his first senior competition since winning five medals at the Junior European Championships. He competed on the pommel horse, putting out an upgraded routine but did not get his dismount credited. He finished 6th with 13.250.

Sunday morning saw Christian Fuoco, Charlie Rose, Rudi Moriano, Laurence Butler, Josh Porter and Joel Ireland compete in the Max Whitlock Competition. Despite falling three times Josh was the highest placed Woking gymnast (64.600, 21st), Laurence was 26th (63.550) just ahead of Joel who went 6 for 6. Rudi scored 62.067 (32nd) with Christian in 34th (60.000). Charlie competed just five apparatus scoring 47.634.

The final competition was the Peter Moore Competition. Lorenzo Carrozzo and Jasper Smith-Gordon were competing on their 18th and 16th birthdays respectively. Lorenzo was disappointed to miss his Kovacs on H-Bar, but still managed to finish 5th AA (73.350), impressing the judges and picking up a bronze medal on Rings and a silver on Pommels. Jasper was 8th AA (72.400), the highlight of his competition was undoubtedly his new Vault which he stuck to score a world-class 14.750. Fraser Griffiths was 19th AA (69.700), with James Miller in 26th (66.300).
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It was a great weekend for the Boys Squad, demonstrating our strength across the age ranges. Well done to all the Gymnasts and Coaches.