Hamlet Manukyan wins World Challenge Cup gold in Paris as Artur Avetisyan takes silver

Armenian gymnasts won two medals at the World Challenge Cup in Paris. Eighteen-year-old Hamlet Manukyan won the pommel horse final, while Artur Avetisyan finished second on still rings.

Manukyan scored 15.200 points. Italy’s Gabriele Targhetta took silver with 15.000, and American Brandon Dang won bronze with 14.700.

At the European Championships in August, Manukyan had finished behind Targhetta, taking silver with 15.000 points as the Italian won gold with 15.133. In Paris, Manukyan finished ahead of his rival and posted a score higher than Targhetta’s winning mark at the Europeans.

In the still rings final, reigning European champion Artur Avetisyan scored 14.533 points. He finished just 0.033 behind winner Ilia Zaika. Nikita Simonov, representing Azerbaijan, placed third with 14.133.