Rhys McClenaghan through to World Championship final

The Irishman will defend his title next weekend. 

ON TRACK: Rhys McClenaghan of Ireland after competing in the Men's Pommel Horse Qualifications subdivision 2. Picture: Filippo Tomasi/Sportsfile 

Rhys McClenaghan has sealed his place in the Pommel Horse final at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. 

The Irishman earned a score of 14.933, placing third in the qualifiers in Antwerp. 

McClenaghan will defend his world title next Saturday.

"I'm very happy with my performance, it was enough to make the Pommel Horse final, my third World Championships final and my 6th World Championships as well,"  said McClenaghan.

"So I'm happy with how the performance went and I'm looking forward to improving on that performance in the final".

Teammates Eamon Montgomery, Dominick Cunningham and Adam Steele were also competing in qualifications with their top scores of 12.500 on Floor for Montgomery, 14.366 on Vault for Steele and 13.700 on Floor for Cunningham.

Cunningham said: “This is my fifth World Championships and I’m very happy with my progression here. 

"Unfortunately I didn’t qualify to compete on all six apparatus after a bad Europeans. But I qualified for floor and vault through the World Cup series. 

"I came here to go for my upgraded routines, something I haven’t done for a long time. I felt competitive and I know I can do that bit more and be back competing with the big guns. Floor was great competing new tumbles and I felt good and had good feedback from the judges.