2013-03-25

Dan Keatings won two masters titles on the final day of the British Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool on Sunday.

Keatings took his chance to impress selectors ahead of next month's European Championships.

He added to his three senior golds earned on the pommel horse, parallel bars and high bar on Saturday with a masters double - which are apparatus finals competed by senior, junior and youth age categories - with victory on the pommel and p-bars.

The 2009 all-around world silver medallist, who missed out on a place in Great Britain's five-man Olympic squad last summer, showed his intent to avoid becoming the forgotten man of British gymnastics when he pipped newly-crowned British all-around champion Max Whitlock to the pommel horse title in the morning session before beating Whitlock again to parallel bars gold.

The Huntingdon Olympic club gymnast then stuttered on high bar as Whitlock and first year senior Frank Baines shared the masters crown, but Keatings is likely to have still done enough to regain his place in the men's squad for the European tournament which takes place in Moscow between April 18 and 21.

Keatings' form will provide a much-needed boost for selectors as all-around star Kristian Thomas has been ruled out of the competition due to injury.

The 24-year-old Wolverhampton-born gymnast, who played a key role in securing the first Olympic men's team medal for Britain in a century at London 2012, suffered a knee injury during the vault at last weekend's French World Cup event and is expected to be out for up to three months.

A spokesperson for British Gymnastics said: "Kristian Thomas sustained an injury to his right knee whilst competing in France.

"He is currently being assessed and managed by the medical team and is expected to be out of competition for eight to 12 weeks."

Sam Oldham also made a final bid for one of the six places in the men's team in Moscow when he won the masters floor title ahead of Whitlock while Theo Seager powered to gold on rings and the vault.

This story was provided by Orange Sport

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