POMMELING HIS RIVALS
GOLD Coast Gymnastics Club pommel horse specialist Michael Tone will unveil his upgraded routine in the final world championship trial tonight as he takes the first step towards a possible Olympic debut in Tokyo.
QUEENSLAND’S Commonwealth Games hero Michael Tone will unveil his upgraded pommel horse routine in the world championship final trial tonight as he leads a dominant home state performance in the National Clubs Championships on the Gold Coast.
The Gold Coast Gymnastics Club member nailed his pommel horse (14.25) and rings (13.85) routines for competition-high results as part of the four apparatus events he entered.
He will bump his start value by 0.5 to 5.9 as he seeks to secure a world-class performance on his trademark pommel horse by pulling off the E-class Wu Guonian skill tonight.
AIS-based Commonwealth Games gold medal hero Chris Remkes did not disappoint on his favourite apparatus to claim victory on vault, with a stunning 14.85 performance in the perfect build-up to the world championships in Doha, Qatar, later this month.
Remkes’ AIS teammate from Queensland Mitchell Morgans finished top on high bar (13.5), while Brisbane Grammar club’s Scott Costin was first on floor (13.95).
Queensland High Performance coach Sean Wilson said Tone’s teammates Heath Thorpe and Mitchell Jones also registered strong performances.
Tone, who achieved an Australian team-high three individual finals berths including a fifth placing in high bar at the Commonwealth
Games, was recovering from a sprained ankle so would not be ready to complete fullstrength vault and floor routines until next week.
The Australian team, set to be named later this week, need to finish in the top 24 at this month’s world titles to secure the first stage of Olympic qualification.
“I want to be a leader in the Australian team,’’ Tone, 22, said.
“We need to finish in the top 24 as a team at these world championships but next year’s world championships are even more important. We have a strong team spirit and what we did at the Commonwealth Games gave us confidence.
“The Commonwealth Games is the biggest competition I’ve competed at so being able to walk away and to be pleased with how I did, I felt the pressure lifted.’’
Tone finished eighth in the All-Around final at the Commonwealth Games, and seventh in the pommel horse final.