On Sunday Croatia will have two more representatives in the finals, so there is still hope for the hosting nation
On the first day of the 10th Dobro World Cup 2018 finals, Croatian gymnasts did not grasp any medals. Robert Seligman and Filip Ude took part in the pommel horse competition and reached 6th and 8th place, respectively. The winner was Lee Chih Kaiu from Taipei. In the vault wag discipline Tijana Tkalčec took fifth place, with legendary 43 year-old Oksana Chusovitina from Uzbekistan taking gold.
“I am satisfied, even slightly surprised. This is more than I expected. Competition was strong. It truly was a special feeling, home crowd, I am glad so many people cheered on our gymnasts. Osijek definitely remains my favorite competition,” said Tkalčec.
Diana Varinska from Ukraine was brilliant in uneven bars, while Dominick Cunningham from Great Britain was best in floor mag. Cypriot Marios Georgiu was victorious in parallel bars.
The full stands of the Osijek Gradski Vrt hall is proof that Osijek locals love gymnastics, and the love has been going on for a dozen years. Osijek is this year one of nine stations of the World Cup. Everything began in Melbourne, with competitions in Baku and Doha before Osijek, to be followed by Koper in Slovenia, Portuguese Guimaraes, Turkish Mersin, Hungarian Szombathely and Paris. The travelling gymnastics caravan ends near the end of the year in German Cottbus. Osijek has become a favorite destination for the most successful gymnasts, additionally because each year they introduce novelties. The public draw of numbers was held in King Petar Krešimir square in order for Osijek residents to meet the finalists, with entertainment from the Belgrade group S.A.R.S.
On Sunday Croatia will have two more representatives in the finals. Tin Srbić and Anton Kovačević will perform on the bar. Kovačević is set to go first, while current world champion and winner of last year’s World Cup in Osijek Srbić will go third. Thus, there is still hope for the hosting nation.
Since the second Osijek Grand Prix, the tournament director has been Vladimir Mađarević. Together with a team of people organizing the event each year, he wanted to push the limits every time. In any way.
“Our goal was to make the World Cup in Osijek a place attractive to people and during which we would show that Osijek can attract tourism. Of course, gymnastics will always be the main focus. During the competitions we wanted to bring gymnastics close to the people, create interest, shorten the competition for it to be more interesting to media, but also all spectators,” said Mađarević.
