The women's qualifying round wrapped up Tuesday at the world gymnastics championships, with Tokyo Olympic floor exercise bronze medalist Mai Murakami confirmed as a finalist in both her pet event and the balance beam.
The 25-year-old Murakami qualified first in the floor exercise after scoring 14.166 points on Monday at Kitakyushu General Gymnasium and will be joined in the final by compatriot Yuna Hiraiwa, who ranked sixth with 13.400.
The top eight gymnasts in each competition qualify for finals, with a maximum of two per country.
Urara Ashikawa was the best among the Japanese in balance beam qualifying, posting the sixth-highest score of 13.533. Murakami also advanced to the final with the equal ninth-best score of 13.400.
Hitomi Hatakeda qualified fourth for the women's individual all-around competition with a score of 53.798. Russian Angelina Melnikova, competing under the Russian Gymnastics Federation flag due her country's ban over doping, topped qualification with 57.065.
Tokyo Games men's individual all-around gold medalist Daiki Hashimoto and two-time Olympic all-around champion Kohei Uchimura will compete from Wednesday in the men's qualifying rounds.
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