November 6, 2022 - Filip Ude came in eighth in the world on the pommel horse! In his fifth final at the World Championships in Liverpool, he made a mistake on a jump that cost him a score of 12.500 and the initial score of 5.7. However, Filip was anything but a disappointed finalist.

"I survived. I decided to take a risk. I had no chance with that qualifying exercise. The last time I competed in this exercise was a year ago, and unfortunately because of that Gymnova horse tlly doesn't suit me, I couldn't train for the exercise I did today. For the first time now, I raised my hand and tried it. I decided to take a risk; it doesn't matter, it's fifth or eighth, it doesn't matter to me', Filip said in a breath after the final in which he took a risk with the element of "three Russian rounds between the grips" which significantly increased his starting rating.

Photo: Slobodan Kadić

Before the final he said, "when I come to the last warm-up and try that element, I will know if I will go for it or not." And it worked great on that "one touch." "I did it well during practice, too, but it took an awful lot of energy. 30% of my energy is taken away by that element, that's why in the qualifications I did one that comes easy to me. Well, after the "roller coaster" it was as if someone took away all my energy. I dragged on, I don't even know how I dragged it to the end. On the jump I thought I would fall on the horse like the Dutchman De Munck, but I shot the jump in the wrong direction. It could have been better, but the maximum I could do with that exercise was fifth because I spread my legs. I'm not going to say 'if this, if that'..., the Čakovčan, who in his career already won world silver in 2014, was fifth in 2010 and seventh last year on pommel horse, said in all honesty.

What impressed everyone the most with Filip was that he really took risks and that he fought until the end. After a mistake on the jump, he got back on the horse and went for another jump. "Honestly, I don't know, I have no idea why I even went to do the jump again, because then I made a mistake. I was so exhausted... I don't know, I wanted to try to do an E jump to at least finish in style, but my hands weren't mine. Anyway, I'm satisfied, I'm happy." And he looked happy.

Photo: Slobodan Kadić

"I'm happy that I entered the final at all, considering the problems I had in training with that horse. I have nothing to complain about. Yes, the grade is what it is, but for me this final is like I won a medal, considering everything I went through. I'm in the top 8 in the world, being this old... Look, an Armenian won bronze at 38. I have a few more years for sure, but next year I have to practice more. This time I took a risk, it didn't pay off, but my time will come."

The world champion on pommel horse is the Irishman Rhys McClenaghan (15,300), bronze medalist from the 2019 WC and European champion in 2018. The runner-up is Ahmad Abu Al Soud (14,866), who brought Jordan the first medal in the history of the gymnastics WC. The bronze medalist is the oldest finalist here, the 38-year-old Armenian Harutyun Merdinyan (14,733), current European champion and bronze medalist from the WC 2015.

"The boys were better today. Next time I have to prepare better", said Filip Ude.

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February 27, 2022 - Filip Ude won gold on the pommel horse, and Aurel Benović won silver on the floor at the Gymnastics World Cup in Cottbus! Current silver Olympian Tin Srbić will also compete in the final on Sunday. 

The silver medalist from Beijing in 2008 shows that he still belongs to the world top, even at 35 years old. In Cottbus, he won the 17th medal of his career in his 63rd World Cup final, and this is his 4th gold overall. Eight years have passed since the last gold medal at the World Cup. So far, he was on top of the podium in Moscow and Maribor in 2006, but on the floor, and in 2014 in Osijek on the pommel horse. 

Slobodan Kadic

"I'm happy. The second victory of my career on the pommel horse. After almost 30 years in my career! I did the best exercise in the final. I didn't go through my whole exercise, although I strengthened it compared to the qualifications, and it was enough for gold," said Filip.

He celebrated with a score of 14,366, while the silver went to Ukrainian Ilya Kovtun (14,166) and bronze to American Brody Malone (14,133).

"I haven't talked to anyone here about the current political situation. Coach Igor Križimski talked to everyone, saying that the situation was difficult. This is very unusual to me that in 2022 war can happen like that. I'm sorry about that. I feel sorry for those people. I hope it stops as soon as possible. To finish as soon as possible, with as few victims as possible and all the evil that goes with it," Ude said.

Former European runner-up on the floor, Aurel Benović, won his fifth medal in his sixth career World Cup final.

Slobodan Kadic

So far, the Osijek native has won gold at the World Cup in Varna in 2021 and Mersin in 2019, silver in Osijek in 2021, and bronze in Koper in 2019.

Only Jahor Sharamkov from Belarus (13,933) was better than Aurel (13,766) in Cottbus. The bronze went to Italian Thomas Grasso with 13,700 points.

"I am happy and satisfied with the silver medal. I have to be honest and say I’m not overly happy with the performance itself, but the medal is there, and I can’t complain. Some mistakes didn’t have to happen but thank God I have a chance to correct that at the World Cup in Doha that awaits me next week. We travel there on Monday, there is training on Tuesday, and we have qualifiers on Wednesday. I also hope to enter the finals and repeat such a good result. It's great that I immediately started collecting points to qualify for the World Cup in the fall in Liverpool," said Aurel Benović after winning the medal.

Slobodan Kadic

At 2 om on Sunday, on the last day of the competition in Cottbus, Croatia will have the finalist in the hurdles, the current silver Olympian Tin Srbić.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

October 23, 2021 - Croatian pommel horse gymnast Filip Ude was graded 13,833 for his exercise at the 11th World Championships, in his fourth world final, which wasn't enough for a spot on the podium.

The finals were delayed by more than half an hour, and Japan again showed disorganization at this championship. This long wait certainly upset the pommel horse finalists, which affected their final exercise, reports HRT.

The world champion is American Stephen Nedoroscik with 15,266 points, while silver was shared by Chinese Hao Weng and Japanese Kazuma Kaya (14,900).

"We waited a long time; we cooled down a lot. We waited for 40 minutes in the draft; we were cold. But we were all in the same boat. The conditions were the same for everyone. No one excelled on the pommel horse today. Except for the American gymnast, even though he didn't do the exercise properly. We all stumbled. I felt great, despite that delay. I didn't feel any great pressure; I just wanted to do my thing. I started great; I felt feather-light, full of strength. The horse was very slippery. And I put my hand on magnesium, not honey, and unfortunately, my hand twitched a bit, I slipped, I lost my balance. It all happened in a second, and unfortunately, I didn’t do the whole exercise. I did not lubricate the horse enough," said Filip after the final.

It took a minimum of 14,900 points for the medal, which was very accessible to Filip if we consider that he won 14,866 in the qualifications with the start of 6.0.

"Now, whether it would be enough for a medal or not, I don't know. Others may think, 'I did everything' ... Let's let it go now. I am overjoyed. At the age of 35 to be 7th in the world... I am proud that I did this World Champs as I planned, as I imagined, and that is to enter the finals. In the finals, anything is always possible; unfortunately, this time, I was not judged. But I have more motives, will, desires. Next year, I hope to intensify the exercise with "Busnari" to be even more competitive and to be able to fight with everyone. I look forward to the next competitions. I like that. I love gymnastics; I live for gymnastics. I hope to last as long as possible," said the silver Olympian, former world runner-up, and two-time runner-up in Europe.

Today was a good day for Italy in Kitakyushu. Nicola Bartolini brought her country the first world gold ever on the floor (14,800) in a final in which Japanese Kazumi Minami won silver (14,766) and Finn Emil Soravuo bronze (14,700). Shortly afterward, two Italians were on the hoop podium won by the Chinese Xingyu Lan (15,200). The silver went to Marco Lodadio (14,866), and the bronze to Salvatore Maresca and Russian Grigory Klimentev (both 14,833).

Asia D'Amato is the world runner-up in the vault (14,083), which was celebrated by the Olympic winner, Brazilian Rebeca Andrade (14,966), while the bronze medalist Russian Angelina Melnikova (13,966) is the all-around champion at this World Champs. The uneven bars were gilded by the Chinese Xiaoyuan Wei (14,733), the silver by Andrade (14,633), and the bronze by the Chinese Rui Luo (14,633).

Today, Croatian Lana Sambol traveled to the World Championships in Kitakyushu with coach Niko Robert Crevatini and Mirjana Starčević Bosnar. Namely, next week is the World Championships in rhythmic gymnastics.

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

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June 10, 2021 - The gymnastics spectacle in Osijek can begin! Everything is ready for the 12th edition of the DOBRO World Cup in gymnastics, which will host 140 athletes from 31 countries from Wednesday to Sunday (June 10-13) in the Gradski vrt hall.

"We have some more small details to finish, but in general everything is ready, most teams came, stayed in hotels, accredited, passed all the COVID procedures that we received from the World Gymnastics Federation and all those epidemiological measures that are currently in force in the Republic of Croatia. The hall and the whole production are 99% ready. We are all looking forward to the start of the competition. The figure of 31 countries is one of the best in terms of attendance at gymnastics competitions in the world this year. 140 competitors are coming. We also have a lot of those who are interested in the highest medals at the Olympic Games because Osijek is the last international stage in the preparations for the Olympics in Tokyo, so the competition will be very interesting for Tin, Aurel, Jakov, Filip Ude, our girls ... very interesting to follow the outcome of this competition. However, we as the Croatia national team also expect a lot from the DOBRO World Cup. It is no secret that we are expecting podiums, and all our national team members will want to show themselves in the best world at home," announced the director of the competition and vice-president of the Croatian Gymnastics Association, Vladimir Mađarević.

Slobodan Kadic

Let us remind you that Croatia has won as many as 30 medals in Osijek since 2009.

At this year's tournament, the Croatia national team will consist of Tin Srbić (horizontal bar), Aurel Benović (floor and vault), Filip Ude (pommel horse), Jakov Vlahek (pommel horse), Filip Boroša (floor), Ana Đerek (floor and beam), Tijana Korent (vault), Christina Zwicker (beam and uneven bars) and Sara Šulekić (uneven bars).

All of them attended the last press conference today before the start of tomorrow's competition. On Thursday at 3 pm, Benović and Boroša on the floor, Ude and Vlahek on the pommel horse, Korent on a vault, and Zwicker and Šulekić on uneven bars will be in the qualifications. On Friday, Srbić will be on the hunt for the finals, Benović on the vault, Zwicker on the beam, and Đerek on the beam and the floor.

Tin Srbić (gold in Osijek 2017 and 2018, bronze 2016):
"I am ready for my last check before going to the Olympics in Tokyo. I'm in great shape, we're training great. If I have to go to the Olympics tomorrow, I'm ready! Osijek will be a simulation of Tokyo for me, an exercise that I will do here, 6.2, I will also do in Tokyo. I hope to qualify for the finals so that I can try out the 6.5 exercise we are training to be ready for the Tokyo finals, which I hope. I didn’t watch the competition here. There are no strongest who will be in Tokyo. There is last year's European champion Tvorogal, but I do not see this "defeat" in Mersin as something big since I did not consider the EP very important given the whole epidemiological situation, the number of countries that came, and the trial there. I don't bother with that. I know I'm better than him. I’m not saying he’ll never beat me because I can screw up too, but if we both do the exercises, I’ll always be better than him. He’s definitely a big competitor, he does great exercises, but I repeat, if we both do ours, I’m realistically better. I have had back problems for a long time, it has been worse in recent weeks, but it is getting better. Yesterday I did exercise 6.2. I didn't think it would go this much better, but it is going."

Slobodan Kadic

Aurel Benović:
"I am not under pressure to perform in my city. I’m sorry there shouldn’t be an audience in the hall this year, but I hope that as early as next year, the fans will refill the City Garden. I expect a good performance, I am sure that none of us members of the Croatia national team will let down all those who will watch us on small screens thanks to the broadcast of HRT. I am happy that I won gold at the World Cup in Varna ten days ago with my strongest exercise. I hope that I will be able to do the same in Osijek. I didn’t study the competition, I just heard it was going to be strong, like every year. I was happy when I heard that Artem Dolgopjat had come, I look forward to meeting him again. He beat me at the EP last year, I beat him now in Varna. We will see how it will be in Osijek. The legendary Marian Dragulescu is also here, I am honored to perform with him. He is a gymnastic icon. Still, at 41, he shows that he can still perform challenging acrobatics and difficult elements on the jump. I will also perform on the vault and I will be honored to stand next to him."

Filip Ude (gold in Osijek 2014, bronze 2010 and 2013):
"I am and I am not ready. I’m not in the shape I wanted to be in, due to a shoulder injury, but in the last 2 weeks, I’ve done my best to make it OK. We are already used to Osijek being our competition, that our people can see us there and I am glad that it is so. I hope that one day a world or European championship will come to Croatia. I have not studied competition in Osijek, I never do that, I do not fight with anyone, it is not martial arts or some contact team sport. This is more of a mental sport. If you don't beat yourself, unfortunately, you won't beat anyone."

Slobodan Kadic

Ana Đerek (gold in Osijek 2019):
"For me, this is the last competition before going to the Olympics in Tokyo, which is only a few weeks away, so I am in good shape. I’ve been doing my best in training lately, because Tokyo is close, but also because this World Cup means the most to me. I trained well, and I hope that the results will follow. About 10 days ago we were at the World Cup in Varna, I competed for 4 days, I won 2 finals, I know physically that I am in shape, but you know how it is in sports, it takes a little luck to get to the finals, and then whatever. I had a small accident before coming here, from one state to another, I traveled from Split to Osijek for 2 days. Namely, before Zagreb, the tire on our car burst, we crossed a metal part that was on the road and cut our tire. Fortunately, neither I nor coach Miroslav Končarević had any other issues. But while the towing service came to pick us up, while they took us to the service station, so they didn't have tires ... My coach is still in Zagreb waiting for the tires, and I came to Osijek with the Zagreb team. But nothing rattled me before the performance. It wasn't that scary. I’m more sorry we’re going to perform without spectators this year. The audience is the No. 1 favorite thing of this World Cup. They are something special. But everything is going in the direction that we will soon return to normal life."

Slobodan Kadic

Tijana Korent (silver in Osijek 2009, bronze 2010):
"Given that in Varna 10 days ago the final escaped me by 0.001 points, which is partly discouraging, I hope that I will make up for that crumb in this competition and that I will fight in the final on Saturday. I have silver and bronze from Osijek, I would not complain about completing medals ... But, considering the competition here, it will be difficult. Although, when you’re in the finals there’s always that factor that we all often forget, and that’s luck. It's not all about training. We can be in great shape, but if just a little bit of luck is missing, it doesn't have to turn out well."

Christina Zwicker:
"I'm ready. I don't have too many goals in terms of results, just to do both exercises the way I know how to train. The competition here, thank God, is very strong. However, the Games are at the door and everyone came here, and there is always a perfect organization, hall, everything, so it is clear to me why all the best always come to Osijek. It's simple, everyone here feels perfect."

Sara Šulekić:
"I don't have any additional anxiety. Although I am still a junior by age, this will be my third competition in a row among the "big girls" and I am slowly adjusting. I hope that I will be able to perform my exercise the way we do in training, and that is the only thing that matters to me here for the first time."

Slobodan Kadic

Jakov Vlahek:
“Just three days ago, I landed from Egypt where I won silver at the World Cup in Cairo, but honestly, I’m not tired. I have been waiting for five years to get the opportunity to perform in Osijek and I am really happy to be here. I hope that I will be able to repeat the good performances from Cairo."

Filip Boroša:
"First of all, it is a great honor for me to be part of the Croatia national team in Osijek and to have the opportunity to perform here for the first time. I am sure that each of us on the team will do our best not to disappoint and to justify our colors."

The ceremonial opening of the competition is on the program on Saturday at 12.45, and both final days, will be live broadcasts from Osijek on HRT 2.

Follow the Livescore results at the link https://osijekgym.com/rezultati/

All information about the DOBRO World Cup can be found at the link http://osijekgym.com/

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE. 

December 11, 2020 - As many as six Croatian gymnasts will compete for medals in Mersin, Turkey, on Sunday as part of the European Championships - juniors Liam Rebić and Mate Žugec on the pommel horse, and seniors Aurel Benović on the floor, Filip Ude and Robert Seligman on the pommel horse, and Tin Srbić on the horizontal bar.

Of the entire Croatian delegation, Jakov Vlahek did not make the finals, as he came 14th on the pommel horse. Tin Srbić, the defender of the European silver medal, received the best score of 14,333 in the qualifying round. Aurel Benović deserved his first European final by coming in sixth in the qualifications.

"I went through the qualifiers at this year’s strange European Championships. Honestly, I planned to go into the exercise with a start of 6.2; in the end, it turned out to be 5.8 because I started off poorly, pulled out the jumps, and decided to throw out the "Možnik" element in the middle of the exercise. It would be a little too much for me at that point. I felt like it was training. There are certainly no such calculations in the finals, and I am going with my best exercise, and we are going to attack the medals," said Srbić.

As expected, there were many big names in Turkish gymnastics (Ibrahim Colak, Ahmet Onder) in the finals, and it is a great pity that we cannot see top Russian and French gymnasts in Mersin who canceled their arrival.

Due to the pandemic, Mersin, Turkey replaced Baku, Azerbaijan, where the European Gymnastics Championships were to be held this spring. So far, the strangest EP in the history of gymnastics is being held with strong epidemiological measures and daily COVID-19 testing. The entire national team of Azerbaijan and the juniors from Serbia have already returned home due to infection.

Hard times, but we must wait for Sunday.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

October 14,  2019 -  Croatia’s best gymnast Tin Srbic won the silver medal at the World Championships in the men’s horizontal bar final on the last day of the competition in Stuttgart, Germany. He even performed in the final with an injured wrist.

Namely, HRT reports that the 2017 World Champion in Montreal had to practice with a lower starting grade due to an injury, but with a very accurate performance, he earned a total score of 14,666 points, which was enough for the silver medal.

The world champion is Brazilian Arthur Mariano, who achieved a score of 14,900 points, while the bronze medal went to Russo Artur Dalaloyan (14,533), who also won the silver medal in the vault on Sunday.

After winning the silver medal in Stuttgart, young Croatian gymnast Tin Srbic won his fourth Croatian medal at the World Championships and his 11th at major international competitions.

Srbic also became the first Croatian gymnast with two medals at the World Championships. Recall, the Zagreb gymnast won the gold medal two years ago in Montreal, and now in Stuttgart, he’s booked the silver.

However, Srbic isn’t the only Croatian to take home a medal this weekend. Filip Ude celebrated the silver medal on the pommel horse, while Mario Moznik received a medal on the bars. 

This is Ude’s second medal after the at the 2014 World Championships in Nanning, while Moznik won third in the same championship.

Let's add that Srbic has won a total of eleven medals for Croatia at the Olympics, World and European Championships.

Namely, Croatia has received one medal at the Olympics and one silver thanks to Filip Ude in Beijing in 2008. Croatian gymnasts have won four medals at the World Championships and six at the European championships.

You can watch videos of Tin's performance on HRT here. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

Second week in a row of World Cup finals for Filip Ude, after a bronze on Sunday in Baku, on Wednesday he placed third in Doha qualifications and made it to the finals on pommel horse

Croatian Olympic Team got even bigger this weekend, as two gymnasts qualified for the Rio Games