RUSSIA, BELARUS GET FLOORED INJURIES HURT CHANCES ON MEN'S SIDE IN QUALIFYING.

Byline: Ramona Shelburne Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - The first day of competition at the World Gymnastics Championships at the Pond seemed to be going smoothly.

Then came the injuries.

First, the United States learned Annia Hatch tore ligaments in her left knee and would miss the competition. Then, in the evening men's qualifying session, Dimitri Kasparovich of defending world-champion Belarus and Evgeni Krylov, one of Russia's top all-around competitors, both severely injured their left Achilles tendons during the floor exercise.

Suddenly, the scores from Japan (227.046) and Romania (224.770) from the morning group looked a lot better, as Russia and Belarus were forced to use alternates to replace their injured teammates.

Because of its depth, Russia (223.380) was able to finish in third place overall, but Belarus (219.120) finished a disappointing seventh and likely won't make Tuesday night's final, where the top eight teams qualify.

Both Russia and Belarus turned to their aging superstars to carry them through qualifying. Russia's 12-time Olympic medalist Alexei Nemov, likely competing in his final World Championships, was the high scorer on both the parallel bars (9.687) and horizontal bar (9.775).

Belarus' 28-year-old Ivan Ivankov, the 1997 world all-around champion, filled in for Kasparovich in the vault and scored a 9.500.

Still, Belarus is on the bubble to finish in the top 12 and qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, with defending Olympic champion China, Olympic silver medalist Ukraine and the U.S. still to compete today.

The injuries and poor performance by Belarus overshadowed a superb performance by the Japanese team, which placed three gymnasts in the top five in the all-around.

``We could have done better (in the past), but we just want to kick out the past. We feel very good about our chances this year,'' Naoya Tsukahara said of Japan's fourth-place finish at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, the team's last major international competition.

Among the biggest surprises Saturday was Canada, which went a long way toward qualifying for Athens with a 220.617 team score that placed them fourth. The Canadians were led by Kyle Shewfelt, who scored a 9.762 on the vault and had the top score of the day on the floor exercise (9.637). Alexander Jelkov (54.999) finished 13th in the all-around.

Despite his team's poor performance, Cuban all-arounder Eric Lopez, who won his fourth consecutive Pan American Games title last week, scored a 55.448. He finished eighth and should qualify for Thursday's all-around finals.

The Cubans came to Anaheim with aspirations of qualifying for Athens and were in third place after their first two rotations, but they fell apart on floor and high bar. Their 217.832 team total most likely will not be enough to make the top 12.

Ramona Shelburne, [phone]

ramona.shelburne(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

Russia's Evgeni Krylov crawls off the mat after tearing his Achilles tendon during the floor exercise.

Kim D. Johnson/Associated Press

Box:

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