Two-time Hungarian Olympian Zsofia Kovacs collected her third uneven bars title in the competition’s history and the Italian men took half of the golds at the World Challenge Cup of Koper, Slovenia, that ended Sunday.

The 26-year-old Kovacs placed first on uneven bars, following her victories on that apparatus in the 2019 and 2022 editions. She also won gold on balance beam in 2019, and gold on vault and balance beam in 2022.

Two-time World Cup series overall vault champion Teja Belak of Slovenia successfully defended her 2025 title on that apparatus. In previous editions of the World Challenge Cup of Koper on vault, the 32-year-old Belak, 32, placed third in 2017, second in 2019 and third in 2022.

Romania’s Alexia Blanaru took gold on balance beam in her first World Cup or World Challenge Cup competition. Blanaru, a native of Bacau who will turn 16 on October 18, finished 13th all-around, third on vault and seventh on balance beam at last year’s Junior World Championship in Manila.

Two-time Israeli Olympian Lihie Raz, 22, placed first on floor exercise and notched her second World Cup or World Challenge Cup medal. She took silver on floor exercise at last year’s World Cup of Cottbus.

In the men’s competition, 23-year-old Lorenzi Minh Casali of Italy earned the second World Cup or World Challenge Cup medal of his career by taking gold on floor exercise. Casali, a 2024 Olympian, finished eighth on floor exercise at the 2021 World Challenge Cup of Koper. Last year he took silver on parallel bars at the World Cup of Osijek and bronze on floor exercise at the European Championships in Leipzig.

Croatia’s 24-year-old Mateo Zugec recaptured the pommel horse title he won four years ago and collected his fifth World Cup or World Challenge Cup medal in the process.

Like Casali, Ukraine’s Bohdan Suprun claimed his second World Cup or World Challenge Cup medal by placing first on still rings. The 21-year-old Suprun took bronze on still rings at last year’s World Challenge Cup of Szombathely.

Simone Speranza of Italy finished first on vault and second on rings in his World Cup or World Challenge Cup debut. The 19-year-old Siracusa native was fifth all-around, second on floor exercise, second on still rings and sixth on vault at last year’s Junior Worlds.

On parallel bars, 25-year-old Ron Pyatov of Israel won his second World Challenge Cup title, having placed first on that apparatus at the 2025 World Challenge Cup of Osijek and third at this month’s World Challenge Cup of Varna.

Italy’s Riccardo Villa improved four spots from a year ago to take gold on horizontal bar. The 21-year-old from Monza placed third all-around, third on still rings and fifth on horizontal bar at the 2023 Junior Worlds in Antalya.

2026 World Challenge Cup of Koper, Slovenia
May 28-31, 2026

Women:

Vault:

  1. Teja Belak SLO 533
  2. Taeja James GBR 13.083
  3. Tijana Korent CRO 13.066

Uneven Bars:

  1. Zsofia Kovacs HUN 13.600
  2. Caitlin Rooskrantz RSA 13.066
  3. Sanna Veerman NED 12.700

Balance Beam:

  1. Alexia Blanaru ROU 13.300
  2. Tina Zelcic CRO 13.233
  3. Alia Leat GBR 13.100

Floor Exercise:

  1. Lihie Raz ISR 13.200
  2. Taeja James GBR 12.966
  3. Alia Leat GBR 12.766

Men:

Floor Exercise:

  1. Lorenzo Minh Casali ITA 13.500
  2. Timo Eder GER 13.266
  3. Lee Yu-Chen TPE 13.000

Pommel Horse:

  1. Mateo Zugec CRO 14.166
  2. Zeinolla Idrissov KAZ 14.133
  3. Joshua Nathan GBR 14.133

Still Rings:

  1. Bohdan Suprun UKR 13.600
  2. Simone Speranza ITA 13.533
  3. Luka Bojanc SLO 13.400

Vault:

  1. Simone Speranza ITA 13.966
  2. Luca Murabito SUI 13.783
  3. Beno Kunst SLO 13.183

Parallel Bars:

  1. Ron Pyatov ISR 13.933
  2. Mattia Piffaretti SUI 13.733
  3. Yehor Perepolkin UKR 13.300

Horizontal Bar:

  1. Riccardo Villa ITA 13.633
  2. Timo Eder GER 13.433
  3. Martijn de Veer NED 13.366

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