Son wins two golds at Asian Campionships

Rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae competes in the hoop final of the 7th Senior Asian Championships at the Semyung Gymnasium in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, Friday. / Yonhap

By Kwon Ji-youn

Son Yeon-jae celebrates on the podium after winning a gold medal in the hoop final of the 7th Senior Asian Championships, Friday. / Yonhap

Rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae settled for just two of the four apparatus final golds at the 7th Senior Asian Championships, Friday.

At the Semyung Gymnasium in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, the 21-year-old won gold medals in the hoop and ball finals, but came up short in the clubs and ribbon competitions. With her Chinese rival Deng Senyue retired, most had expected her to sweep all four events.

Son’s first gold came in the hoop final performing to “Cornish Rhapsody.” With a flawless performance that last month snagged her a bronze at the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) Tashkent World Cup, Son received a difficulty score of 9.150 and an execution score of 9.000 to finish first with 18.150 points. Second went to Uzbekistan’s Anastasia Serdyukova with 17.450 points, and bronze went to Japan’s Hayakawa Sakura with 17.250. Korea’s Chun Song-e came in fifth with 16.450 points.

But minor mistakes in the ball final saw Son’s score drop below 18 points. Her act to “Somos” began strong but faltered as she fumbled the ball, giving her a difficulty score of 8.950 and an execution score of 8.900 for 17.850 points total. She edged Uzbekistan’s Elizaveta Nazarenkova by just 0.350 points to redeem her fourth-place finish at the Tashkent World Cup. Bronze went to Kazakhstan’s Sabina Ashirbayeva, who amassed 17.450, while Chun finished eighth with 16.050.

Son’s clubs final marked her lowest total, barely capping 17 points to miss the podium completely. She dropped the clubs twice during her performance to “Cigani” to secure a difficulty score of 8.800 and an execution score of 8.250 for 17.050 points. Gold went to Nazarenkova with 17.600 and silver, to Hayakawa, with 17.550. Bronze went to Ashirbayeva with 17.250 points, while Korea’s Lee Da-ae finished eighth with 16.200.

With her earlier blunders hanging over her head, Son entered the ribbon final to “Le Corsaire” confidently but was forced to stop mid-performance to untangle her ribbon. She tallied 17.200 for bronze, shared with Japan’s Kaho Minagawa. Gold went to Hayakawa with 17.550 and silver, to Serdyukova, with 17.450. Chun finished eighth with 16.100 points.

Son’s hoop performance was the only apparatus final that earned a score exceeding 18 points. In three of the four apparatus qualifications, her scores surpassed 18 points, which goes to show that though she may be without equal in Asia, she will need to work on minimizing the number of slipups and putting past mistakes behind her before the upcoming Gwangju Universiade in July.

Son is coming off a successful World Cup season, having won an all-round individual bronze at the Tashkent World Cup with a total score of 72.250, her best all-around count this season. She added a bronze in the hoop final.

In March, Son finished fourth at the season opening Lisbon World Cup, with a score just 0.350 points short of Yana Kudryavtseva’s 72.400. She missed the podium again at the World Cup event in Bucharest, Romania, in early April, undermined by a minor ankle injury that effectively cut her medal-winning streak short. She had brought home a medal at 12 consecutive World Cup events. She withdrew from apparatus finals and sat out the Pesaro World Cup in Italy.

In the team event, Team Korea, without Son, finished fifth with 29.150 points. Team China took gold with 33.650 points and Japan won silver with 33.450. Uzbekistan finished third with 30.750.

Son will attempt to defend her gold in the individual all-around finals today.