"Fresh from my success at the World Championships I was straight back in training for the 3rd stage of the Champions Trophy in Hannover.
"Still full of confidence from my World Silver medal I took an early lead after just two apparatus, Floor and Pommel, and continued with good form on Rings and Vault. I soon racked up a score of 61.35 after four apparatus, nearly one mark ahead of my nearest rival Flavius Koczi. I remember saying to myself 'if I perform on Parallel Bars and High Bar like I did at the Worlds then I am on target to score over 91.0 - my highest score ever!'
"Unfortunately that extra pressure threw me off course and I ended up making a mistake on the Parallel Bars and High Bar, costing me 2.0 marks. But thankfully it didn't make much of a difference. I went on to take first place with 89.175; a narrow margin of 0.05 points between me and Flavius Koczi.
"I also picked up the maximum eight points for winning the third stage which now places me in fourth place overall. Now I am in with a real chance of winning the whole competition.
"All I keep thinking is, if only I hadn't missed the first round through injury. Then I could have been on top of the leader board going into the final stage in Stuttgart on 15th November."
Dan
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