Sovetsky Sport. September 24, 1966. We are transmitting this report in the middle of the third working day of the championship. But even now it is unlikely that today we will be surprised by another fight of such intensity, such sharpness and passion as was in the very first shift, when the national teams of the USSR and Japan found themselves on the platform.
It took two and a half hours to name the world's strongest gymnasts - the team and the all-around champion, although there are still four shifts ahead, the the Italian Menichelli and the Yugoslav Cerar were supposed to perform their optional routines in the evening. So, 21-year-old Dinamo member Mikhail Voronin, a student of coaches E. Korolkov and V. Belyaev, is the all-around world champion. He took over the championship baton from Yu. Titov and did it nobly and elegantly. The Japanese team is also unattainable.
The Soviet team starts their performance on the pommel horse. With the exception of Shakhlin's result (8.4) and Diomidov's (9.1), all the scores are good. Kerdemelidi performed his routine at a slightly slower pace (9.4), and Karasev showed a modern style that required special lightless - 9.4. Titov received the same score.
Now everyone is watching only Voronin. And he retains this privileged position until the end. Give us speed! Give us precision! Give us difficulty! Sometimes Voronin freezes for a moment, and then it seems that he is deliberately 'getting the horse going' in order to show his firm hand once again. 9.7 points.
Success inspires. And Voronin is so precise on the rings, even in the smallest details of his difficult routine (it included complex exits in a handstand through straight arms!) that the spectators demand 10. The score is 9.9, which is currently the men's record for the championship. The remaining scores are as follows: Diomidov 9.55, Shakhlin 9.4, Kerdemelidi 9.5, Karasev 9.45, Titov 9.6.
Our gymnmasts vault without a good landing. This, of course, lowered the scores. Diomidov, Shakhlin, and Titov received 9.3 each, Kerdemelidi 9.2, and Karasev 9.4. Only Voronin is accurate again, performing a Yamashita for 9.6.
The quality of our routines on the parallel bars should be noted. Everything was strict, although the leaders included in their exercises several of those elements that are now ccalled 'Ultra-C'. Voronin received 9.65 and Diomidov 9.8. The latter does his unique 'turntable,' and when dismounting, without holding onto the bar, he flies off to the side and lands without moving. Other scores: Titov and Kerdemelidi 9.4, Shakhlin 9.5, Karasev 8.15. Diomidov came apart on high bar (8.35). But the others have roughly equal scores: Titov 9.5, Karasev 9.55, Kerdemelidi and Shakhlin 9.6. Voronin finally strengthened his position with 9.7. The leader did his floor exercises easily and naturally. Several original elements caused applause. The scoreboard again showed 9.7, which means that a new all-around world champion has been born. Voronin has a magnificent 116.15 points.
For the floor exercises, Shakhlin received 9.25, Titov 9.3, Kerdemelidi 9.35, Karasev 9.5, and Diomidov 9.55. And the team's two-day 'earnings' amounted to a silver sum of 570.90.
The Japanese approached the team victory like this.
Their repertoire on the vault, their first event, is not varied. As if in a compulsory program, everyone vaults a front handspring, bending and unbending. This vault is called a Yamashita, although the owner of the patent now answers to the surname Matsuda - he married the only daughter of very rich parents, and he was forced to take her family name.
Here are the vault scores: Endo 9.55, Nakayama 9.5, Kato 9.55, Mitsukuri 9.5, Tsurumi 9.5, Matsuda 9.7. Almost everyone was thrown out as if by catapault, and the landings were not 'dead' like usual.
On the parallel bars, most Japanese have their own 'zest.' Kato and Matsuda did a pirouette dismount. Nakayama - two somersaults in a row over the bars, Tsurumi - a handstand on one hand. Only Endo didn't show anything. So, Endo 9.4, Nakayama 9.5, Kato 9.5, Mitsukuri 9.35, Matsuda 9.5, Tsurumi 9.6.
On the horizontal bar we almost immediately saw an element 'patented' by us - a flight with a pike for 9.7 - that's how much Tsurumi got. Matsuda has a very difficult routine - four higher groups and a double somersault dismount. The score: 9.7. The judges simply patted Mitsukuri on the head. Sitting next to us, the international-category judge V. Silin counted four gross errors - at least a tenth of a point each. And the score was 9.75... The other results were as follows: Endo 9.75, Nakayama 9.85, Kato 9.6. The Japanese consolidated their lead.
Floor exercise and the Japanese are picturesque, soft, characterized by a pleasant change of rituals: if they performed to music, it would be difficult to pick a melody. Finally, Endo showed himself. His 'trademark' is a balance on his elbow, which acrobats call a 'crocodile' for some reason. The score is 9.7. Other scores: Nakayama has 9.8, Kato 9.6, Mitsukuri 9.5, Tsurumi 9.6, Matsuda 9.5.
There is constant lag, weak amplitude, and many mistakes on the pommel horse. Endo 8.95, Makayama 9.5, Kato 9.55, Mitsukuri 9.5, Tsurumi 9.5, Matsuda 9.4. As you can see, they were judged in a divine manner.
On the rings, the young Nakayama clearly imitated the even younger Voronin. However, it is not easy to work through straight arms. The Japanese's arms trembled - 9.8, Endo 9.35, Kato 9.65, Mitsukuri 9.4, Tsurumi 9.6, Matsuda 9.5. Their total was 575.15. The Japanese congratulated each other to the ovation that Voronin received from the other end of the arena.
TECHNICAL RESULTS
Men. Optional program.
All-around. 1. Voronin (URS) - 116.15; 2. Tsurumi (JPN) - 115.25; 3. Nakayama (JPN) - 114.95; 4. Cerar (YUG) - 114.75; 5. Menichelli (ITA) - 114.65; 6. Kato (JPN) - 114.6; 11. Diomidov (URS) - 113.25; 12. Kerdemelidi (URS) - 112.9; 13. Titov (URS) - 112.75; 15. Karasev (URS) - 112.2; 18. Shakhlin (URS) - 111.85.
Team results. 1. JPN - 575.15; 2. URS - 570.90; 3. GDR - 561.0; 4. TCH - 551.2; 5. POL - 550.6; 6. USA - 550.4.
S. TOKAREV and A. CHAIKOVSKY