Men's UTRS: The Best Scores of 2017 Updated March 5

I've decided to revive the UTRS (Uncle Tim Ranking System), which, for those who care, is pronounced "uterus." For the time being, it's going to be a very tiny UTRS, mostly because there haven't been many meets. But as we see more men, the UTRS will expand.

As per usual, take these rankings with a grain of salt. (Pro Tip: Never bet your life savings based on my numbers–or my predictions for that matter.) Judging varies from meet to meet, and as you can see, I've culled these scores from several meets. I've included the competition names so that you can decide how much crack (or meth) the judges smoked before handing out the scores.

More than anything, you should think of these tables like this: New quad, new Code of Points. What the H is a good score nowadays? I don't think anyone knows right now. So, let me show you…

Key:

• An asterisk (*): Usually denotes a routine for which I have a final score without a D score.
• Links, when available, are provided for the top 5 routines.

Notes:

• The official results sheets for Russian Nationals do not include D scores. I love you, Gymternet, but I don't have time to score every routine on YouTube. Wedding planning > Scoring routines. So, there may be a few Russian gymnasts who have big Ds and aren't listed. If you know who they are, leave their names and D scores in the comments section below.
• As always, if I missed someone, let me know in the comments. Obrigado.

Men's All-Around Rankings: Best Scores

Name	Country	Score	Meet
1. Yul Moldauer	USA	86.900	Winter Cup F
2. Akash Modi	USA	86.300	Winter Cup Q
3. Oleg Verniaiev (Олег Верняєв)	UKR	85.699	American Cup
4. Allan Bower	USA	85.050	Winter Cup F
5. Artur Dalaloyan (Артур ДАЛАЛОЯН)	RUS	84.431	Russian Nationals Q
6. Donnell Whittenburg	USA	84.200	Winter Cup Q
7. Nikita Ignatyev (Никита ИГНАТЬЕВ)	RUS	83.731	Russian Nationals AA

Men's Floor Rankings: Best D Scores

Name	Country	D Score	Meet
1. Shirai Kenzo (白井健三)	JPN	7.2	Melbourne EF
2. Dmitry Lankin (Дмитрий ЛАНКИН)	RUS	6.4	Russian Nationals EF
3. Eddie Penev	USA	6.3	Winter Cup
4. Kirill Prokopyev (Кирилл ПРОКОПЬЕВ)	RUS	6.1	Russian Nationals EF
4.Wataru Tanigawa	JPN	6.1	Melbourne EF
4. Christopher Remkes	AUS	6.1	Melbourne
7. Jile Mu	CHN	5.9	Melbourne
7. Donnell Whittenburg	USA	5.9	Winter Cup
7. Ryohei Kato (加藤凌平)	JPN	5.9	American Cup
7. Akash Modi	USA	5.9	Winter Cup
7. Oleg Verniaiev (Олег Верняєв)	UKR	5.9	Reykjavík International Games
7. Antonios Tantalides (Αντώνιος ΤΑΝΤΑΛΙΔΗΣ )	GRE	5.9	Greek Nationals
7. Dimitrios Markousis (Δημήτριος ΜΑΡΚΟΥΣΗΣ)	GRE	5.9	Greek Nationals

Men's Floor Rankings: Best Scores

Name	Country	Final Score	Meet
1. Shirai Kenzo (白井健三)	JPN	15.100	Melbourne Q
2. Eddie Penev	USA	15.050	Winter Cup F
3. Yul Moldauer	USA	14.850	Winter Cup Q
4. Kirill Prokopyev (Кирилл ПРОКОПЬЕВ)	RUS	14.733	Russian Nationals AA
5. Akash Modi	USA	14.550	Winter Cup Q
6. Jile Mu	CHN	14.466	Melbourne EF
7. Dmitry Lankin (Дмитрий ЛАНКИН)	RUS	14.433	Russian Nationals Q

Men's Pommel Rankings: Best D Scores

Name	Country	D Score	Meet
1. Oleg Verniaiev (Олег Верняєв)	UKR	6.5	Reykjavík International Games
2. Alexander Naddour	USA	6.4	Winter Cup
3. Krisztián Berki	HUN	6.3	Melbourne
4. Hao Weng	CHN	6.2	Melbourne
5. Allan Bower	USA	6.1	Winter Cup
5. Alec Yoder	USA	6.1	Winter Cup Q
5. Bart Deurloo	NED	6.1	American Cup
5. Evan Cruz	CAN	6.1	Elite Canada EF

Men's Pommel Rankings: Best Scores

Name	Country	Final Score	Meet
1. Oleg Verniaiev (Олег Верняєв)	UKR	15.550	Reykjavík International Games
2. Alexander Naddour	USA	15.300	Winter Cup F
3. Krisztián Berki	HUN	14.933	Melbourne EF
4. Allan Bower	USA	14.900	Winter Cup F
4. Alec Yoder	USA	14.900	Winter Cup Q
6. Brandon Ngai	USA	14.850	Winter Cup Q
7. Donothan Bailey	USA	14.750	Winter Cup F

Men's Rings Rankings: Best D Scores

Name	Country	D Score	Meet
1. Eleftherios Petrounias Ελευθέριος ΠΕΤΡΟΥΝΙΑΣ	GRE	6.3	Greek Championships
2. Guanhua Wu	CHN	6.2	Melbourne
2. Jingyuan Zou	CHN	6.2	Melbourne
2. Alexander Naddour	USA	6.2	Winter Cup F
2. Ibrahim Colak	TUR	6.2	Melbourne EF
6. Donnell Whittenburg	USA	6.1	Winter Cup
6. Oleg Verniaiev (Олег Верняєв)	UKR	6.1	American Cup
6. Koji Yamamuro (山室 光史)	JPN	6.1	Melbourne EF
6. Kiu Chung Ng (吳翹充)	HKG	6.1	Melbourne EF

Men's Rings Rankings: Best Scores

Name	Country	Final Score	Meet
1. Eleftherios Petrounias Ελευθέριος ΠΕΤΡΟΥΝΙΑΣ	GRE	15.700	Greek Championships
2. Oleg Verniaiev (Олег Верняєв)	UKR	15.550	Reykjavík International Games
3. Yul Moldauer	USA	15.100	Winter Cup Q
4. Konstantinos Konstantinidis Κων/νος ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΙΔΗΣ	GRE	14.900	Greek Championships
5. Guanhua Wu	CHN	14.866	Melbourne EF
5. Jingyuan Zou	CHN	14.866	Melbourne EF
7. Alexander Naddour	USA	14.850	Winter Cup F
8. Donnell Whittenburg	USA	14.800	Winter Cup F

Men's Vault Rankings: Best D Score Averages

Name	Country	D1	D2	D Avg.	Meet
1. Christopher Remkes	AUS	5.6	5.6	5.6	Melbourne
1. Wataru Tanigawa	JPN	5.6	5.6	5.6	Melbourne
3. Kenzo Shirai (白井健三)	JPN	5.6	5.4	5.5	Melbourne Q
4. Dmitry Lankin (Дмитрий ЛАНКИН)	RUS	5.6	5.2	5.4	Russian Nationals EF
4. Artur Dalaloyan ДАЛАЛОЯН Артур	RUS	5.2	5.6	5.4	Russian Nationals EF
4. Viktor Britan (БРИТАН Виктор)	RUS	5.6	6.2	5.4	Russian Nationals EF

Men's Vault Rankings: Best Avg. Scores

Name	Country	Final Score	Meet
1. Kenzo Shirai (白井健三)	JPN	14.916	Melbourne EF
2. Christopher Remkes	AUS	14.883	Melbourne EF
3. Wataru Tanigawa	RUS	14.566	Melbourne EF
4. Dmitri Lankin* (Дмитрий ЛАНКИН)	RUS	14.533	Russian Nationals Q
5. Artur Dalaloyan* (ДАЛАЛОЯН Артур)	RUS	14.416	Russian Nationals Q
6. Ahmet Onder	TUR	14.299	Melbourne Q

Men's P-Bar Rankings: Best D Scores

Name	Country	D Score	Meet
1. Oleg Verniaiev (Олег Верняєв)	UKR	6.7	American Cup
2. Jingyuan Zou	CHN	6.6	Melbourne
3. Donnell Whittenburg	USA	6.5	Winter Cup
4. Nikita Nagornyy Никита Нагорный	RUS	6.4	Russian Nationals EF
4. Vladislav Polyashov (Владислав ПОЛЯШОВ)	RUS	6.4	Russian Nationals EF
6. Ferhat Arican	TUR	6.3	Melbourne Q
7. Akash Modi	USA	6.1	American Cup

Men's P-Bar Rankings: Best Scores

Name	Country	Final Score	Meet
1. Oleg Verniaiev (Олег Верняєв)	UKR	15.600	Reykjavík International Games
2. Jingyuan Zou	CHN	15.433	Melbourne Q
3. Nikita Nagornyy Никита Нагорный	RUS	15.066	Russian Nationals EF
4. Akash Modi	USA	15.033	American Cup
5. Yul Moldauer	USA	15.000	Winter Cup F
6. Ferhat Arican	TUR	14.833	Melbourne Q
7. Vladislav Polyashov (Владислав ПОЛЯШОВ)	RUS	14.633	Russian Nationals EF

Men's High Bar Rankings: Best D Scores

Name	Country	D Score	Meet
1. Yusuke Saito	JPN	6.7	Melbourne Q
2. Bart Deurloo	NED	6.4	American Cup
3. Chris Brooks	USA	6.2	Winter Cup
4. Akash Modi	USA	6.0	American Cup
4. Grant Breckenridge	USA	6.0	Winter Cup F
6. Donnell Whittenburg	USA	5.9	Winter Cup
7. Wei Sun	CHN	5.8	American Cup
7. Mitchell Morgans	AUS	5.8	Melbourne
7. Oleg Verniaiev (Олег Верняєв)	UKR	5.8	Reykjavík International Games

Men's High Bar Rankings: Best Scores

Name	Country	Final Score	Meet
1. Chris Brooks	USA	14.950	Winter Cup Q
2. Bart Deurloo	NED	14.533	American Cup
3. Akash Modi	USA	14.400	Winter Cup Q
4. Yusuke Saito	JPN	14.366	Melbourne Q
5. Christopher Jursch*	GER	14.350	German National Team Cup
6. Grant Breckenridge	USA	14.150	Winter Cup F
7. Nikita Ignatyev*	RUS	14.000	Russian Nationals AA
8. Alexei Rostov*	RUS	13.966	Russian Nationals Q

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2014 Men's World Team Finals: When Difficulty Edges Out Execution

At the 2004 Olympics, Marian Dragulescu performed his eponymous vault. He completed it nearly flawlessly and earned a 9.900, a ginormous score at the time. For his second vault, Dragulescu did a Kaz 1.5. But he went over the lines, put both hands to the mat, and stepped off the vault mats.

Magically, Dragulescu still scored a 9.325 on his second vault. Many thought that Dragulescu should have scored a maximum of 9.100 on the Kasamatsu. The Canadian gymnastics federation lodged a protest on behalf of Kyle Shewfelt who was in fourth place. Two judges had given Dragulescu a 9.5 on his second vault, when there were clearly more than 0.5 in errors.

Adrian Stoica, a Romanian, was the FIG's Men's Technical Director at the time, and many believe that Dragulescu's score was a show of partisanship.

About today's results, Coach Rick on GymnasticsCoaching.com has said:

This is worse than the Uchimura pommel dismount scandal at the 2012 Olympics. 

On par with the Dragalescu 2nd Vault scandal at the 2004 Olympics. Four judges were sanctioned that time.

I had many feelings about this, as well.

China wins with a fall on floor and a pancake splat on p-bars. W.T.F.
— Uncle Tim (@uncletimmensgym) October 7, 2014

Had Kato not messed up his Tak 1/1…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… GAH!
— Uncle Tim (@uncletimmensgym) October 7, 2014

Overall, Japan was the more consistent team. But, with some distance between myself and the event, I can say that Japan had their fair share of mistakes and missed opportunities. Let's take a look at some numbers… 

As you can see, China performed more difficulty than Japan, especially on rings.

Event	CHN D-Score Avg.	JPN D-Score Avg.
Floor	6.633	6.900
Pommels	6.233	6.333
Rings	6.833	6.300
Vault	6.000	5.867
Parallel Bars	6.900	6.633
High Bar	7.100	6.733
Overall	6.617	6.461

Dang! The Chinese on rings are hot.

What the Japanese lacked in difficulty they made up in execution. Correction: almost made up in execution.

Event	CHN E-Score Avg.	JPN E-Score Avg.
Floor	8.289	8.677
Pommels	8.341	8.780
Rings	8.677	8.544
Vault	9.355	9.389
Parallel Bars	8.541	8.711
High Bar	8.219	8.222
Overall	8.571	8.721

Japan's execution scores, though better than China's, just weren't enough to overcome China's difficulty. Unfortunately, that's not where this story ends.

Like moths to a flame, gymnastics fans are attracted to the faintest whiff of controversy. If you look closely at the high bar execution scores, they are awfully close: an 8.219 average for China and an 8.222 average for Japan. On top of that, Zhang Chenglong's execution score was only 0.044 behind Kohei Uchimura's. (8.466 to 8.500.)

So, we sit down at our laptops and compare high bar routines in slow motion. We watch Kohei's routine:

Then, we watch Zhang Chenglong's routine:

And we compare pirouetting skills. How much did they twist? How crooked and whackadoodle were their swings out of the pirouettes?

vs.

And we'll compare release catches. How early did they catch? How bent were their arms? Did they almost kiss some pipe?

vs.

And, in the end, we, the couch gymnasts of the world, blame the judges.

(And some of us open up old wounds because we are masochistic like that. We remember that time, in 2011, when Zhang Chenglong was last to go on high bar. He managed to beat Epke Zonderland in Rotterdam. And we get our tighty whities in a bundle because "the judges really messed that one up.")

But we don't blame the gymnasts. We're reluctant to blame the gymnasts – when, to be quite frank, the Chinese team left the door wide open for Japan. And Japan tripped walking up the stairs.

Shirai Kenzo stepped out of bounds on floor. There went three tenths right there.

Ryohei Kato competed a 5.6 vault instead of his 6.0 vault. There go another four tenths right there. (Though, he did score a 14.966 in finals compared to his 14.866 in prelims.)

Yusuke Tanaka "bombed" parallel bars. He scored a 15.700 in prelims and only a 15.166 in finals. That's 0.534. (Personally, I would die a happy man if I scored a 15.166 on p-bars.)

Ryohei Kato missed his Adler 1/1 into his Yamawaki, dropping his difficulty score from a 6.4 to a 6.3. There's another tenth.

As I said on the Worlds preview show of GymCastic, the team title was Japan's to lose, and lost it they did.

That's right. The judges did not lose the meet. The gymnasts did.

Contrary to what we might believe, gymnasts do have agency in competitions. Contrary to what we might believe, gymnasts are not the marionettes of some maniacal puppeteer judges.

Sure, judges will mess up from time to time. They are human – just like the gymnasts. When it is crystal clear that the judges did mess up, they should be castigated.

But was Zhang Chenglong's high bar score as painfully wrong as the Marian Dragulescu's 2004 vault score situation?

No. De ninguna manera.

Don't be so dramatic.

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