Berki, who won gold on the apparatus at the 2014 World Championships in Nanning, China, failed to secure his spot in the top eight and now faces an anxious wait to see whether he will get the chance to defend his title at Rio 2016 due to Hungary also exiting the team event at the first hurdle.

The Olympic dream may not yet be over for the 30-year-old as his nation will be able to send two gymnasts to April’s test event, the second qualification competition for the Games in Rio, as they finished between 17th and 24th.

Although he is not guaranteed selection, his previous pedigree on the pommel horse may be enough to hand him a reprieve.

Dutchman Zonderland, also the reigning world champion in his preferred discipline, delivered a routine laden with his usual flamboyance but the judges were unimpressed as he recorded a miserly score of 14.300, which saw him land comfortably outside of the top 30.

He was somewhat saved by the fact that The Netherlands came inside the top 16, meaning he will get also second shot at earning a Rio 2016 berth at next April’s test event.

Their disappointments followed the premature exit of Olympic rings champion Arthur Zanetti of Brazil, whose score of 15.433 wasn't enough for him to make the individual final, though his nation will compete for team gold.

None of the teams competing today were able to surpass Japan’s commanding total of 358.884, with five-times all-around champion Kohei Uchimura also concluding the qualification stage at the summit of the individual standings with a score of 90.564 despite an uncharacteristic fall on the floor, which left him visibly perturbed.

The 2014 World Championships silver medallists topped the leaderboard ahead of defending champions China, who appeared to be playing it safe in order to leave enough in the tank to ensure they can retain their title in Wednesday’s (October 28) final.

Both nations also sealed their spots at next year’s Olympic Games along with Britain, Russia, the United States, who were the best performers on day two of qualification, Switzerland, Brazil and South Korea.

The Americans shrugged off the absence of two of their key gymnasts - Pan American Games all-around gold medallist Sam Mikulak and Jake Dalton, silver medallist on the floor at the 2013 World Championships in Antwerp, to book their place in the final after they recorded an overall score of 350.332.

The United States contingent, made up of Chris Brooks, Danell Leyva, Alex Naddour, Paul Ruggeri III, Donnell Whittenburg and Brandon Wynn, delivered an inconsistent display, which included falls on the floor and high bar.

But their score was salvaged by the excellent performance of Leyva, who made the tough parallel bars discipline look easy with a score of 15.633, and also impressed on the high bar, adding 15.566 points to the American total.

Ukraine’s Oleg Verniaiev had earlier come close to overhauling Uchimura at the top of the individual all-around standings as he posted 90.131, which featured a flawless 16.133 on the parallel bars.

The first medals of the 2015 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships will be awarded tomorrow, with the United States women the resounding favourites to retain the team crown they won in Nanning last year.

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