Dan Keatings back in form with a silver medal in Ghent

DAN Keatings made a welcome return to form at the Challenger Trophy Gymnastics Competition in Ghent at the weekend.

The prestigious event is one of the final major international tournaments before the Olympic Games and attracted a field of more than 120 of the world’s best gymnasts, all eager to check their progress in the run up to London next month.

Keatings, 22, has had a difficult few months with an ankle injury but showed his preparation was on track by taking the silver on the pommel horse in Sunday’s final. The event was won by Chinese specialist, Zhang Hongtao, with former World Cup medallist Prashanth Sellathurai of Australia taking the bronze.

The result will boost Keatings’ chances of Olympic selection, having missed last month’s European Championships following intensive rehabilitation on his injured ankle.

Keatings had mixed fortunes the previous week at the Maribor Gymnastics Grand Prix, held in Slovenia, failing to qualify on the pommel horse and parallel bars but making high bar final and finishing fifth.

Keatings now faces a tough few weeks after impressing the Olympic selectors in Belgium. Next up are the British Championships in Liverpool.

There will also be two weeks of preparation with tammate Louis Smith at the Huntingdon Gym before the final selection event at the British Championships which will be held in Liverpool at the end of June.

‘This is my second Grand Prix medal in the last three months and, with my performance in the Olympic test event in January, gives me great confidence going into the final trial in a couple of weeks,” said Keatings.

“I was very relieved that I could cope with the pressure in such a quality field and am looking forward to proving my worth in Liverpool.”