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 Yekaterinburg's David Belyavsky captured the men's all-around title Thursday as competition continued at the Russian Cup in Penza. Yekaterinburg's David Belyavsky, 19, captured the men's all-around title Thursday as competition continued at the Russian Cup in Penza. Belyavsky improved by nearly 2 points from Tuesday's qualification competition, where he had balked on vault (performing only a single Tsukahara instead of double pike). He crashed his vault in the final but still won by a comfortable margin over top qualifier Sergei Khorokhordin of Barnaul, 89.131-87.997. Khorokhordin, a 2008 Olympian, narrowly edged out Leninsk-Kuznetsky's Igor Pakhomenko (87.932) for the silver.  London lock Emin Garibov, the defending champion, reportedly sat out the competition on advice of the coaches. Olympic bronze medalist Anton Golotsutskov was also absent, but a herniated disc in his back has all but ended his chances of a third Olympics. Several specialists also competed during the all-around final. Denis Ablyazin (Penza) continued his march to London with a 15.600 on floor, 15.333 on still rings and 16.166 on vault. Still rings specialist Alexander Balandin outscored rival Konstantin Pluzhnikov, 15.600-15.400. Both gymnasts also competed pommel horse and parallel bars, with Balandin scoring higher on both. Garibov, Balandin and Ablyazin are considered locks for the Olympics after their medal-winning performances at last month's European championships, Russian coach Andrei Rodionenko said. The all-around medalists in Penza will fight it out for the remaining two spots on the five-gymnast squad, he said, though an additional two gymnasts will train as alternates. "The guys who topped the individual all-around final are the main contenders for the remaining spots on the Olympic team," Rodionenko told the "All Sport" agency. "We are approaching it this way: five people form the core team, and two will be alternates. And even after the team leaves for London, the alternates for both the men's and women's teams will continue to train at Round Lake for the Olympics. In case someone is forced out, they will be ready to step up." Competition continues Friday with the women's all-around final. External Link: Russian Gymnastics Federation 2012 Russian Cup
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