© John Cheng

INDIANAPOLIS, July 4, 2019 – Alex Diab of Glen Ellyn, Ill./University of Illinois, advanced to the event finals for the floor exercise and still rings at the 2019 World University Games, in Naples, Italy. He will compete at 5 a.m. ET/11 a.m. Naples time on July 7 in the event finals. Competition continues tomorrow with the women’s team finals, which serve as the qualification round for the all-around and event finals. The competition will be streamed live at www.fisu.tv.

On rings, Diab posted a 14.350, ranking fifth. Turkey’s Ibrahim Colak had the highest qualifying score at 14.850. For the floor, Diab’s 13.925 earned him the eighth spot for the finals. Russia’s Kirill Prokopev tallied a 15.100 for the top ranking for the event. Diab is the third reserve athlete for the horizontal bar final, based on his 13.600. Chinese Taipei’s Wang Chia-Hung was ranked first after the qualification round at 14.700. Diab was 12th on vault with a 13.600 average (14.150, Kasamatsu one-and-a-half/13.050, double front). Japan’s Wataru Tanigawa earned a 14.700 average for the top-ranking spot on vault, as well as a 14.950 for the parallel bars top score.

Stephen Nedoroscik of Worcester, Mass./Pennsylvania State University, had a rough day on pommel horse, posting a 13.200 to tie for 12th with Korea’s Lee Seungmin but was ranked 13th due to the tie-breaker. Lee Chih-Kai of Chinese Taipei had the highest pommel horse score at 15.150.

For information on the World University Games, visit universiade2019napoli.it. Fans can follow the action in Naples in several different ways. The competition will be streamed live at www.fisu.tv. News and results will also be available on the official event website. Additionally, follow FISU’s Facebook and Twitter accounts for up-to-the-minute action, and be sure to catch up on videos on the FISUTV YouTube channel.

The schedule for gymnastics at Palavesuvio Main Hall is as follows; all times are local to Naples, which is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time: July 5, women’s team finals and all-around/event qualifications, 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.; July 6, all-around, men/2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m./women; and July 7, 5 events/11 a.m. and 5 events/4 p.m. This summer’s Games mark the event’s 30th edition, which has 18 sports.

Participation in men’s gymnastics at the World University Games is a joint effort between the College Gymnastics Association, USA Gymnastics and the NCAA member institutions. The World University Games is a multisport event held every two years. Participants must be born between January 1, 1994, and December 31, 2001; have taken at least one three-credit course towards a degree or diploma within the last year before the games; and the athlete must be “progressing towards a degree.”

Based in Minneapolis, the College Gymnastics Association, a member of USA Gymnastics’ Advisory Council, represents not only the NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Coaches in the country, but also the Gymnastics Association of College Teams (GymACT) coaches as well. For more information on these organizations, visit collegegym.org or gymACT.org.

Based in Indianapolis, USA Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. The organization is committed to creating a culture that encourages and supports its athletes and focuses on its highest priority, the safety and well-being of the athletes. USA Gymnastics has taken specific, concrete steps to strengthen its athlete safety policies and procedures. Former gymnast and business executive Li Li Leung is the new president and chief executive officer of USA Gymnastics. The organization’s disciplines include men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline and tumbling, acrobatic gymnastics and gymnastics for all (formerly known as group gymnastics). For more complete information, visit usagym.org.