ANADIA, Portugal, May 30, 2014 – Alex Naddour of Gilbert, Ariz./Team Hilton HHonors (USA Youth Fitness), and Eddie Penev of Penfield, N.Y./Team Hilton HHonors (Stanford University), won the pommel horse and floor exercise titles, respectively, at the Anadia (Portugal) World Challenge Cup. Naddour also won the silver medal on the still rings.
Tomorrow, Sam Mikulak of Corona del Mar, Calif./University of Michigan, will compete in all three finals (vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar), with Penev in the vault final.
Penev and Mikulak went one-two on the floor exercise. Penev began his routine with a layout double twisting, double back and followed it up with an Arabian double layout half out. Last up, his 15.625 gave him the gold medal. Mikulak executed a back one-and-a-half twist to front double full and dismounted with a triple twist. He earned a 15.550 for silver. Chile’s Tomas Gonzalez, 15.375, was third.
On the pommel horse, Naddour began his routine with a scissor to handstand and then moved smoothly through a single pommel spindle sequence. Finishing with a handstand pirouette dismount, Naddour earned a 15.225 for the gold medal. Hungary’s Zoltan Kallai, 15.150, was second, and Dmitrijs Trefilovs of Latvia was third with 14.825.
Naddour also won the silver medal on the still rings where he scored a 15.300. He performed an Azarian Maltese, a back uprise to planche and dismounted with a one-and-a-half twisting double back. Reigning Olympic champion Arthur Zanetti of Brazil took the gold with a 15.700, and Markku Vahtila of Finland was third with 15.200.