Jake Jarman (GBR): the bronze medalist at the 2024 Games totally delivered with a tough routine (and didn’t fall…)
Carlos Yulo (PHI): the Olympic champion nailed it again with his awesome execution. He may increase his D score in the final
Kameron Nelson (USA): 1st World Championships, 1st gymnast to include 2 triple backs in the same routine. It paid off
Minami Kazuki (JPN): 2X silver medalist on FX at WC, one of the best Japanese FX specialists
Milad Karimi (KAZ): regularly qualifies for FX finals and won bronze in Antwerp. Solid routine.
Luke Whitehouse (GBR): the 3X European Champion is the 2nd Brit in the final

Several gymnasts have reported difficulties with the Taishan floor podiums, noting that numerous athletes experienced falls, particularly during double fronts.
Harry Hepworth (GBR): he got luckier on rings; out of the three British FX guys, one was bound to trip up and miss the final (he fell after his double front)
Ray Zapata (ESP): the Tokyo silver medalist and Paris finalist had a bummer of a fall during his tuck double front, but his routine was pretty solid overall
Eddie & Kevin Penev (BUL): the Penev Brothers provide an enjoyable viewing experience; Kevin is the third reserve and Eddie attained a slightly lower score.

Tikumporn Suritornta (THA): I don’t think many people predicted the qualification of the 27 year old gymnast from Samut Sakhon in Thailand. Great surprise and great upset!
Krisztofer Mészáros (HUN): It’s kinda a surprise, but not really, since Titi is all about those floor podiums. Super cool to see him make it to the finals in Jakarta

Nariman Kurbanov (KAZ): no surprise here, the Olympic silver medalist qualified in 1st position
Hong Yanming (CHN): First year as a senior and already killing it, snagging the highest execution score among all the finalists
Patrick Hoopes (USA): one of the most promising American PH specialists, great Russians
Hamlet Manukyan (ARM): confirmed his young PH prodigy status, gold medalist at the 2025 Euros and FISU Games
Mamikon Khachatryan (ARM): just like his teammate, he’s part of this awesome new wave of strong specialists coming out of Armenia

Gabriele Targhetta (ITA): such a shame for Gabriele, who ended up 1st reserve, mainly thanks to a slip before the dismount. But his routine was pretty smooth
Lee Chih-kai (TPE): the silver medalist in Tokyo had a lower difficulty score (4.9), yet a solid E score (8.433)
Ahmad Abu Al Soud (JOR): a fall from the pommel horse, what else?
Loran de Munck (NED): also a fall (ore two…)… it’s hard 🙁

Aidan Li (CAN): honestly, it’s kind of a pleasant surprise! I had him on my prediction list because he usually scores super high at local competitions, even though he doesn’t compete much internationally. Super excited to see him make it to the final in his first World Championships

Lan Xingyu (CHN): achieved one of the highest scores of 2025 at the Asian Championships
Donnell Whittenburg (USA): one of his best routines! Great control and landing with his eponymous dismount
Adem Asil (TUR): reached 15.100 at Turkish nationals and confirmed his strength on this apparatus
Eleftherios Petrounias (GRE): it would have been a total shock if he didn’t qualify (can’t even remember the last time he missed a major final since 2015…)
Glen Cuyle (BEL): snagged the gold at the 2025 Paris Cup and even made it to the SR final at the 2024 Olympics

Samir Aït Saïd (FRA): great Maltese cross as usual but it wasn’t enough (and the EurovisionSport cut the feed before the end of his routine…)
Courtney Tulloch (GBR): it’s so frustrating to be the 1st reserve, especially after pulling off such a solid routine with a triple back dismount
Artur Avetisyan (ARM): 3rd reserve (5.6+8.600=14.200)

Zhang Boheng (CHN): not really a shocker considering the scores he usually pulls on rings, but he’s not exactly famous for his rings routines (he got the highest execution score of all the finalists, though). At the 2021 World Championships, he withdrew from the competition after qualifying for the rings final.

Carlos Yulo (PHI): it wouldn’t be a real final without the current Olympic champion, would it ?
Artur Davtyan (ARM): it wouldn’t be a real final without the Olympic vice-champion, would it?
Nazar Chepurnyi (UKR): one of the best current vault specialists, bronze medalist in Antwerp and qualified for the vault final in Paris 2024
Huang Mingqi (CHN): was nearly absent from the MAG international scene since 2018; he’s back in 2025 with a silver at the Asian Championships and at the Baku World Cup

Ondřej Kalný (CZE): he was super close, just one tenth off from Mukhammadzhon Iakubov, and considering all the surgeries he’s been through lately, it’s not all bad…
Jake Jarman (GBR): the reigning World Champion had a bit of a rough landing on his first vault and ended up losing a few tenths by going out of bounds

Daniel Marinov and Mukhammadzhon Iakubov (AIN): their qualifications are not shocking, but the return of Russian gymnasts (competing as neutral) was uncertain: there weren’t many international benchmarks to figure out how they’d stack up, although their scores at Nationals were promising

Zou Jingyuan (CHN): 15.466!!! His scores and rankings are starting to feel predictable. Are we really getting used to his insane routines?
Tsunogai Tomoharu (JPN): at just 19, he won gold on PB at the FISU Games and silver at the Asian Championships
Angel Barajas (COL): One of the highest difficulty scores of 2025 (6.1). Has just won silver on PB at the Paris Cup. His 1st World Championships as a senior.
Oka Shinnosuke (JPN): won bronze in Paris 2024; he was luckier on PB than on HB, FX and PH

Ferhat Arican (TUR): The deal with packed events like PB is that even if you’ve got a killer routine, you might just end up as the 1st reserve…
Joe Fraser (GBR): he fell, then sat on the bars…
Zhang Boheng (CHN) and Hashimoto Daiki (JPN): both got hit by the “2 per country rule.”

Donnell Whittenburg (USA): not too shocking, really – he’s had it going on for ages – it’s awesome to see him really shine in a big competition like this

Tsunogai Tomoharu (JPN):  has already won silver on HB at the 2025 Asian Championships. 6.2 D score
Hashimoto Daiki (JPN): the GOAT of the apparatus, despite Paris 2024
Carlo Macchini (ITA): tenacious and relentless, recent winner of the Paris Cup. Che figata
Brody Malone (USA): 2022 World Champion, then serious injury, then spectacular comeback. The D score of his routine (5.8) wasn’t assessed as planned so there’s a margin for improvement in the final (6.5)

Tang Chia-hung (TPE): totally the greatest disappointment of these World Championships. He had it all to qualify and maybe even snag gold after such an awesome season… just sad
Shinnosuke Oka (JPN): the Olympic Champion fell…
Angel Barajas (COL): his D score is one of the highest of the season, but it’s tough to keep up the execution with so many tricky elements. Still, he’s first reserve
Félix Dolci (CAN): the FISU Games gold medalist had what it takes to make the top 8, but at this level, 3 tenths can knock you out
Marios Georgiou (CYP), Tin Srbić (CRO), Bart Deurloo (NED), Noe Seifert (SUI), Diogo Soares (BRA) and René Cournoyer (CAN): they were all in the range of 13.833 to 14.000, ranked 10th to 16th
Zhang Boheng (CHN): fell when doing the Cassina 🙁

None, really…