Rakesh Patra qualified for the Parallel Bars final in the FIG World Challenge Cup currently underway in Koper, Slovenia with a score of 13.250.
The Indian Navy employee, who specialises in rings and Parallel Bars, finished eighth in the qualification rounds as he earned 7.950 points for execution and 5.300 for difficulty level.
Ilias Georgiou of Cyprus topped the standings with a total of 14.300 points with Kazakhstan’s Milad Karimi second with a total of 14.050 points.
The final of the event will be held on June 2.
The World Challenge Cup events are major FIG events with a broader participation and open to all the countries. They are high standard FIG international events aimed at promoting gymnastics worldwide. At each event, the gymnasts have the opportunity to win prize money and World Challenge Cup points which will count towards the World Challenge Cup Ranking List for each apparatus.
India had fielded a three member team comprising Patra, Ashish Kumar and Shraddha Talekar in World Challenge Cup in Croatia but none of them managed to reach the final. Patra had finished ninth in Parallel Bars there and was the lone Indian participant in Slovenia.
He finished 12th in the Rings competition with a total score of 12.800.