Japan Cup Coming Up

Japan Cup is going on July 3rd and 4th in Tokyo at the Metropolitan Gymnasium, which is where the 2011 World Championships will be held.  

The United States will be sending Jonathan Horton (Houston, TX), Chris Cameron (U of Michigan), Danell Leyva (Miami, FL), Alex Naddour(U of Oklahoma), and Paul Ruggeri (U of Illinois). Chris Brooks (Norman, OK) is the alternate. I’ve heard conflicting reports about who is actually on the team, but I’ve taken this information directly from the USAG press release (HERE), so hopefully it is correct!

Sad to see Chris Brooks always in the alternate position. He has a history of unfortunately timed injuries - both this year and last year he was supposed to go to the Moscow Stars meet and injured his back last year and ankle this year. To the best of my knowledge, though, he’s back at 100%, so I say USAG should give him the chance to show what he’s got. He dominated at Winter Cup and is a very powerful athlete, and I think he can hold up against the rest of the pack. Oh well…hopefully he will get his chance soon.

The other nations competing in the men’s competition include France, Great Britain, Germany, South Korea, Romania, Russia, and Japan. The team competition is on July 3rd, and the All-Around will be held on July 4th.

There will also be a women’s competition, which includes competitors from Japan, Vietnam, Russia, and South Korea.

The Official Meet website (HERE) lists the USA competitors as Brooks, Cameron, Horton, Naddour, and Ruggeri. I tend to think the USAG press release has the correct competitors on it, but you never know. I’ve also heard that John Orozco will be replacing Danell Leyva. So like a said….a myriad of options! It will be interesting to see who actually shows up!