Deviatovski edges McNeill and Keatings in 1st round of gymnastics qualifying

American McNeill 2nd in early qualifying at worlds

LONDON — Tim McNeill wasn’t checking the scores, so he had no idea where he stood at his first world championships.

Imagine his surprise when he finally did glance up at the scoreboard.

McNeill was second in the first qualifying session at the world gymnastics championships Tuesday, finishing less than a point behind Maxim Deviatovski of Russia. Deviatovski finished with 89.350 points while McNeill had 88.775 points.

Britain’s Daniel Keatings is third with 88.4 points despite a fall on pommel horse, his best event.

“I was pretty much in the dark,” said McNeill, who stopped looking at scores during competitions this year. “To finally look at the standings, I was just very elated.”

Olympic silver medalist Kohei Uchimura and American Jonathan Horton, the main contenders for the men’s all-around title, compete in later qualifying sessions Tuesday. The all-around final is Thursday.

McNeill was runner-up to Olympic medalist Jonathan Horton at the U.S. championships in August. But the international stage is a far different place, especially for a newcomer.

McNeill, though, looked right at home. He put up the top score of the first session on pommel horse — yes, that’s right, an American man making pommel horse look easy — and had the third-best mark on parallel bars. His only significant error was a botched tumbling pass on floor exercise.

“I just tried not to make too big of a deal of the situation,” McNeill said. “But I can’t lie, I was a little nervous.”

Keatings, a big factor in Britain’s recent resurgence, said he wasn’t nervous, despite being greeted with shrieks and cheers of “Come on, Dan!” every time he stepped on the floor. Even the PA announcer gave him shoutouts, reminding the crowd anytime he was up on an event.

“It helps me,” Keatings said. “I like a lot of people getting behind me.”

Keatings got off to a surprisingly rough start. Pommel horse, his second event, is one of his best and the first half of his routine was “perfect.”

But as he neared his dismount, he misplaced his hand. He struggled mightily to avoid falling, but couldn’t keep from spilling.

“Silly mistake, really,” he said.

The fall likely cost him more than a point, but Keatings rebounded with a nice routine on still rings, an event that had been giving him trouble in training. His vault was impressive, landed so solidly he may as well have had glue on his feet.

His high bar routine, his final event, wasn’t flashy, but he did it with smoothness and ease, and fans were already cheering by the time he hit the mat. He smiled and gave a sweeping wave to the arena, and there was another cheer when his name moved to the top of the standings.

It was a brief stay, though, with Deviatovski and McNeill yet to do their final events. Still, Keatings wasn’t complaining.

“For a couple of mistakes, it’s quite high. It’s a really good score,” Keatings said.

Deviatovski is one of the sport’s most enigmatic performers. Immensely talented, he got kicked out of Russia’s training camp after failing to finish the men’s all-around after hurting himself on the parallel bars at the 2007 worlds.

This performance is sure to be more pleasing. He didn’t do anything spectacular Tuesday, but his smoothness and control gives his routines a polish that sets him apart.

His best event was vault. He got huge height on his double front somersault — the folks in the front row had to look up to see him — and landed with a solid thud. He had to bend deeply, but he managed to not take a step.