The three-day championship features 137 athletes from 21 different countries competing for the grand honours.

Colours, talent, and exceptional skills: athletes from all around the world have gathered on Wednesday for the opening of the Senior Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

Qatar Gymnastics Federation (QGF)’s president, President Ali Ahmed Al Hitmi officially launched the competition at the Aspire Dome, welcoming all athletes to the region’s sports hub and wishing them a successful tournament.

Over the next three days, some of the best gymnasts in the world and Asia will compete to earn a spot in the 2022 FIG World Artistic Championships.

This year’s Asian competition, last held in Qatar in 2008, features 137 contestants from 21 different nations contending for grand titles.

Reigning champions China are eyeing the top spot yet again here in Doha. The country had previously dominated the medals table in 2019 in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) with 18 podium finishes, 10 of which were gold.

Japan, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, central Asians Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Iran, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia are also competing in Aspire.

The first day of the grand championship featured men’s floor exercise, pommel horse, and rings, as well as women’s vault and uneven bars.

Philippines’ double world champion Carlos Yulo has claimed the lead in the men’s all-around competition, while Wei Xiaoyuan of China has a slim lead in the women’s competition.

Chinese Taipei and Japan are in second and third place, respectively, with 124.900 and 123.533 points, while China has a narrow lead with 126.000 points in the men’s team tournament.

The second day will witness men’s vault, horizontal and parallel bars, women’s balancing beam, and floor exercise.

The finals, which will be held on days three and four, will serve as qualifications for the The Team and All-Around.

Five Asian teams of the four gymnasts (MAG), including six from the All-Around competitions, four female teams of four gymnasts, and eight from All-Around events, will compete to qualify for the World, set to take place in Liverpool (United Kingdom) from 29 October to 6 November.

In addition to 40 individual MAG gymnasts from All-Around events and 49 for WAG, a total of 24 teams of five gymnasts for both MAG & WAG will be eligible to qualify for the continental competitions, per FIG rules for the Worlds.

Athletes will compete on Thursday for a chance to clinch the top spots (MAG and WAG) and pack their bags for Liverpool.