UPDATE 8:

New final results in the men's following the contestation:

1. Ueyama Yasuhiro (JPN) 70.70 (15.50)
2. Cannone Flavio (ITA) 68.70 (15.90)
3. Que Zhicheng (CHN) 68.20 (16.70)
4. Lu Chunlong (CHN) 68.20 (15.70)
5. Stehlik Henrik (GER) 68.00 (15.60)
6. Liu Qipeng (CHN) 67.90 (16.00 - not finalist)
7. Nagasaki Shunsuke (JPN) 67.60 (15.40)
8. Jensen Peter (DEN) 67.50 (15.40)
9. Goetz Adam (GER) 67.50 (15.80)

The contestation was apparently on Lu Chunlong's difficulty, which was 15.70 pts and not 15.10 pts.  The change allows him to have 0.60 additional points in his total, thus passing his teammate Liu Qipeng to qualify for the final.  Only two athletes from the same country can qualify for the final.  Lu did not pass his teammate Que Zhicheng to be in 3rd place since the total score of his second routine was lower than Que's while they have the same toal (68.20 pts). 

UPDATE 7:

An official contestation of the men's results was made.  The contestation is currently under examination by the judges commission.

UPDATE 6:

Here is the list of the finalists:

Men's:
1. Ueyama Yasuhiro (JPN) 70.70
2. Cannone Flavio (ITA) 68.70
3. Que Zhicheng (CHN) 68.20
4. Stehlik Henrik (GER) 68.00
5. Liu Qipeng (CHN) 67.90
(6. Lu Chunlong (CHN) 67.60 - Not finalist, only 2 athletes per country)
7. Nagasaki Shunsuke (JPN) 67.60
8. Jensen Peter (DEN) 67.50
9. Goetz Adam (GER) 67.40

Women's:
1. Karavaeva Irina (RUS) 69.80
2. Chernova Natalia (RUS) 68.00
3. Moore Jaime (GBR) 66.40
4. Dogonadze Anna (GER) 66.40
5. Luo Dan (CHN) 64.70
6. Domchevska Yulia (UKR) 64.00
7. Wang Wenjuan (CHN) 64.00
8. Cockburn Karen (CAN) 63.90

UPDATE 5:

We just received the results.  We posted them attached to this article (scroll down to the bottom).

UPDATE 4:

The preliminaries are over (in individual trampoline only).  The competition is off schedule as the qualifications alternated women and men.  The competition is already running 1 hour late.  There is currently an hour break before the competition resumes with the tumbling and synchronized trampoline preliminaries.  The preliminaries might not end until 11 pm due to the delay.  It is currently a little after 7 pm in Ghent.

The official results are also taking a long time to be delivered, which caused the impatience and anger of coaches such as Nikolai Zhuravlev (AUS) and Vitaly Dubko (RUS).  The confusion is somewhat reigning in the media room. 

On the trampoline, World Champion Irina Karavaeva (RUS) dominated and apparently has taken the lead.  She delivered a superb first routine coupled with a solid optional. 

In the men's, World Silver Medalist Yasuhiro Ueyama (JPN) settled the debate as he impressively dominated.  He performed two  routines that were very well mastered and with no traveling out of the central rectangle.  He apparently took the lead.    

UPDATE 3:

After 3 series (i.e., 2 series left) at the Ghent World Cup, the most notable fact has to be the number of crashes.  Many people seemed to have a very difficult time to find stability on the trampolines.  The number of crashes was truly impressive.

In the men's, Flavio Cannone (ITA) seemed to have taken the lead after 3 series, followed by former World Champion Henrik Stehlik (GER), Liu Qipeng (CHN), and Peter Jensen (DEN - pictured on the left).  With 2 series left, these four are likely to qualify for the final.  Former World Champion German Khnychev (RUS) crashed both in the first routine and the optional.  Dimitri Ushakov (RUS) did not deliver a performance that would allow him to make the final.  Alexander Leven (RUS) competed a very average routine and will not make it to the final.  The Chinese were not as impressive as expected.  The lack of stability of the trampolines did not favor them as they usually like to jump very high.  Tetsuya Sotomura (JPN) traveled a lot.  Mickael Jala (FRA) and Peter Jensen (DEN) performed nice routines and are currently within the top 8.  Henrik Stehlik (GER) and Liu Qipeng (CHN) did well.

In the women's, Irina Karavaeva (RUS) has still not jumped yet.  She will be among the last ones to compete. Natalia Chernova (RUS - pictured on the right) and Anna Dogonadze (GER) emerged as the two leaders of the competition so far.  They are guaranteed to qualify for the final.  Claire Wright (GBR) fell off the trampoline in a spectacular crash.  People feared that she would be seriously injured.  She was able to walk after the crash though.  2003 World silver medalist Elena Movchan (UKR) delivered a pretty good routine whereas her teammate Marina Kyiko was not as successful. 

UPDATE 2:

In an interview with AcrobaticSports, Stephan Duchesne, FIG Judge and T&T High Performance Director with the Canadian Gymnastics Federation, stated that the athletes' objective in Ghent was to perform at 100% of their capacities, even if it means reducing the difficulty.  Duchesne specified that the athletes were in Belgium to get some confidence and gain some experience as some of them were competing at a major international competition for the first time. The training session of Team Canada was at the same time as the Chinese, who were very impressive in trampoline (with Ye Shuai jumping very high) and tumbling.

Duchesne also commented on the Pacific Alliance Championship that was held earlier this month in Hawaii.  He underscored that the performances were exceptional there with a very high level.  The Canadian athletes exceeded expectations, especially Jason Burnett, who captured a bronze medal behind World Champion Alexander Rusakov (RUS) and World silver medalist Yasuhiro Ueyama (JPN).  The Chinese athletes there were not within the top 4 in China.  Karen Cockburn's bronze medal was also a satisfaction as she had the flu and also considering where her training level was at.  Duchesne thought that the level was not high enough in the junior competition.

Jason Burnett is not present in Ghent as he is ranked only #8 in Canada right now based on the results at the domestic competitions.  The athletes competing in Ghent are ranked #1-2-4-5.  #3 is 2000 Olympic bronze medalist Mathieu Turgeon, who is currently taking exams for school.  Charles Thibault, Jason Burnett, and Martin Myers (ranked #7) will be competing at the Krasnodar World Cup next week.  Duchesne expects Burnett to be ranked within the top 2-3 after the upcoming Canadian Championships.

Duchesne (pictured on the right) also commented on Team Canada's participation to the European Championships as guests.  The athletes will be allowed to compete in the preliminary round, but not in the final. The motivation is to add competitions for the athletes.  Duchesne feels that Jason Burnett needs additional exposure to the judges so that he can display his qualities.  Sarah Charles will also compete in Metz.  She fully recovered from her injury and started training again this week.  She was impressive at the Canadian Cup and needs exposure as well.

AcrobaticSports reporter Damien Dorna also interviewed the members of the French women's team.  Laetitia Hauwelle feels a little stressed but is in great shape.  She intends to compete a 12.20 pt routine.  Aurelie Gratay, who is in the same group as Natalia Chernova and the Chinese, intends to compete a 12.80 pt routine.  2005 French Champion Camille Dru will compete a 12.10 pt routine. 

UPDATE 1:

Today is a day of qualification in Ghent.  The top 8 athletes qualify for the final.  AcrobaticSports.com's reporters Damien Dorna and Michel Bontemps will provide updates throughout the day, even though the wifi internet access is far from optimal at the Topsporthal Vlaanderen arena.

The major news is that 2005 World Champion Alexander Rusakov (RUS) is not in Ghent and will not compete.  Rusakov recently won the Pacfic Alliance Championship.  He was also the winner of the last World Cup event, which was held in Ostend, Belgium, in August 2005.

Alexander Leven (RUS) was finishing his optional with a full in randy out lay, which could lead to suppose that he could try to compete the 17.10 pt routine that he performed in training.  If successfully competed in Ghent, it would be a new World Record.

Below is a quick summary of the starting lists:

Series 1:
Men: Ye Shuai (CHN), German Khnychev (RUS), Henrik Stehlik (GER), Dimitri Ushakov (RUS), Liu Qipeng (CHN)
Women: Karen Cockburn (CAN), Claire Wright (GBR)

Series 2:
Men: Peter Jensen (DEN), Tetsuya Sotomura (JPN), Adam Goetz (GER), David Martin (FRA), Alexander Leven (RUS), Nikolai Kazak (BLR), Ji Wallace (AUS)
Women: Luo Dan (CHN), Wang Wenjuan (CHN), Natalia Chernova (RUS), Zhong Xingping (CHN)

Series 3:
Men: Mickael Jala (FRA), Alexander Chernonos (UKR), Martin Gromowski (GER), Que Zhicheng (CHN)
Women: Claudia Prat (ESP), Anna Dogonadze (GER), Andrea Lenders (NED), Marina Kyiko (UKR)

Series 4:
Men: Michel Boillet (SWI), Yuri Koziakov (RUS), Vladimir Kakorko (BLR), Yasuhiro Ueyama (JPN), Andrei Matveev (UKR), Bryan Milonja (CAN), Charles Thibault (CAN), Lu Chunlong (CHN)
Women: Alaina Hebert (USA), Ekaterina Khilko (UZB), Ana Rente (POR), Irina Karavaeva (RUS), Jessica Simon (GER), Elena Movchan (UKR)

Series 5:
Men: David Sabourin (CAN), Sebastien Laifa (FRA), Nuno Merino (POR), Takayuki Kawanishi (JPN).       

Thanks to Christophe Lambert, FIG Trampoline Technical Committee member, for his technical help and support to improve our wifi access.  Thanks to FIG Judge Stephan Duchesne on the correction of the rules to determine how to break a tie.

Link to the official website