Dual world championships medallist Prashanth Sellathurai will be in the hunt for that elusive gold medal, when he lines up in the pommel horse final at the 2010 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Rotterdam, The Netherlands this Saturday night.

The 24-year-old from Sydney qualified in second place on his favourite apparatus at the conclusion of the men’s qualification round overnight, scoring 15.566 behind arch rival Krisztian Berki of Hungary who posted 15.900.

Sellathurai advances to the finals alongside Australia’s female gymnasts who qualified for four of a possible six finals over the weekend.

The women’s team will contest the prestigious team final tonight, whilst Lauren Mitchell (WA), who won three individual gold medals in Delhi, qualified for apparatus finals on the beam and floor and will be joined by Commonwealth Games all-around bronze medallist Georgia Bonora (VIC) in the coveted all-around final later this week.

Only one Australian gymnast has won a world title – Philippe Rizzo on high bar in 2006 – and Sellathurai will be hoping to add another medal to his impressive collection which already boasts a silver medal from the 2006 world championships and bronze last year at the world titles in London.

Standing in his way is Krisztian Berki of Hungary, who won silver on pommel horse at the 2007 and 2009 world championships.

“I never feel like I’m the favourite,” said Sellathurai, “I just concentrate on my routines and do my best at every competition. 

“I’ll be doing the same routine as the qualification, just neater I hope. I think every gymnast would love to get a world title, as would I.

“I really don’t focus much on the other gymnasts, but I have to consider everyone in the final my major opponents as anything can happen on the day. The ones to watch would definitely be Berki from Hungary and (Cyril) Tommasone from France.”

In other results from the men’s qualification round, the Australian team finished in 18th placing overall, earning them the right to advance to the final 2012 Olympic qualification competition – the 2011 world championships in Tokyo, Japan.

Queenslanders Josh Jefferis and Thomas Pichler qualified as third reserves for the all-around and floor finals respectively.

It has been a whirlwind campaign for Australia’s men’s gymnastics team, who earlier in the month won five gold and two bronze gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, including an historic team victory.

The 2010 FIG Artistic World Championships continue tonight with the final of the women’s team competition from 2am, where Australia will vie for a medal amongst the world’s top eight nations.

Gymnastics Australia