Monday 7th October – the men’s qualification competition finishes today, with teams from USA, Japan, Canada, People’s Republic of China, Belgium, Finland, Australia, Ukraine, People’s Republic of Korea, Great Britain, Netherlands, Romania and Switzerland competing in subdivisions five to six. 

At the end of the day, we will know which teams have booked their place at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The top 12 teams here will qualify. Three teams are already qualified from last year’s world championships: the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation and Japan. That leaves a further nine Olympic tickets avaiable.

Also at stake are places in the all-around and apparatus finals here in Stuttgart. As well as teams, there are a few standout individuals with medal hopes, such as Yulo Carlos Edriel of the Philippines, a floor specialist, and Croatian Tin Srbic, a horizontal bar specialist. 

The top teams to follow are Japan and USA (subdivision 5), China (subdivision 6), and Great Britain (subdivision 7). All were finalists at the world championships last year.

The final subdivision features high bar specialist, Epke Zonderland of the Netherlands.  Despite the fact that they reached the team finals last year, the Dutch are honest about their chances this time. Zonderland says “We’re not here to make the team finals again, that was a really impressive result last year.”