European champion Rhys McClenaghan crashes out of World Championship in Doha
Ireland's Rhys McClenaghan has crashed out of the World Gymnastics Championships in Doha.
The 19-year-old had been hoping to build on a stunning year which saw him claim both Commonwealth Games and European gold medals.
But McClenaghan flopped off the pommel midway through his routine and his score of 11.066 will not be good enough to reach the final.
Great Britain's men's team, featuring McClenaghan's rival Max Whitlock, were due to begin their qualifying attempt in Friday's evening session.
Whitlock made an underwhelming start to his competition as he failed to make the final of the men's floor.
The 25-year-old has struggled on the apparatus since claiming Olympic gold in 2016, and his score of 13.966 placed him well outside the qualification cut-off.
The other three British competitors, including newly-crowned European champion Dominick Cunningham with a score of 14.116, also failed to progress.
Whitlock held his nerve on his favoured pommel apparatus, delivering a clean routine of 14.966 to comfortably qualify for next week's individual final.
It was a cool performance under pressure from Whitlock, who fell on the same apparatus at the European Championships in Glasgow last month.
A solid series of efforts by his team-mates kept Great Britain in the hunt for a place in the team final after two of the six apparatus rotations.
