With the two men’s All Around champions (Tomita and Yang Wei) of the last quad now retired, 2009 is guaranteed to see a new name at the top of the podium at this week’s World Championships. Despite those losses and even with Fabian Hambüchen’s untimely injury, the men’s field does not seem as depleted as the women’s field in this post-Olympic year World Championships, and today's all around competition has the potential for some great gymnastics.

With Hambüchen out, Kohei Uchimura (JPN) became - on paper - the favourite to win, and he didn't falter Tuesday in taking the lead position in qualifying with a 90.925, more than 1.5 ahead of the field. His scores ranged from 14.750 (6.0) on pommel horse to 15.775 (6.5) on floor, which was also the high score for the event. As an all arounder, it’s difficult to point to a true weak event for him and he has the elegance and style in his gymnastics that is characteristic of the Japanese program.

Russia's Maxim Deviatovski came into London with questions about his attitude surrounding him, after questionable performances in Stuttgart and Beijing. Things went well for him Tuesday as he scored 89.350, and with two 90+ outings against Belarus just before Worlds, he definitely seems to be in form. Another outing as he had in qualifying could easily gain this former European champion a spot on the podium today.

While many expected American Jonathan Horton – fourth in Beijing – to move into the medals this year, it was his teammate Tim McNeill who surprised with a third place finish in qualifying. McNeill posted an 88.775. He's strong on pommel horse (qualified to finals with a 15.350), shows a great style in his sets, and will want to show his prelims ranking wasn't a fluke.

Rising British star Daniel Keatings proved he really is among the best in the world with his 88.400 and fourth-place ranking on Tuesday. Still a few months shy of his twentieth birthday, Keatings has already been making an impression on the gymnastics world for a few years, dominating the junior European Championships in 2008, and this year holding the lead position at Euros in qualifying and finishing second in finals. A regular in pommel horse finals at major events (although he missed out here), he could well be Britain’s first all around star.

Pommel horse is a weakness in Horton's program, and while he has shown increased consistency over the last year, he struggled on the event Tuesday, scoring only 12,800. He totalled 88.000 in qualifying as he also had problems on floor and rings; with more typical routines on those events and just a hit routine on pommel horse could move him into a medal position.

Yuri Ryazanov (RUS) and Kazuhito Tanaka (JPN) came into the competition as favourites for a medal and still can't be ruled out. Ryazanov, eighth in qualifying (86.950), is a two-time bronze medalist in the all around at European Championships and winner of the recent Russia Cup, but has never made it to the top ten at Worlds. And while so much focus is on his teammate Uchimura, Japan’s Kazuhito Tanaka is often missed in discussions for the all around medals but is a legitimate contender for the podium, having scored 90.850 for third place at the Japan Cup. He was tenth (86.650) in qualifying where he had to count falls on floor and pommel horse.

Mykola Kuksenkov (UKR) and Alexander Shatilov (ISR) are not as likely to medal as those above, but as Benoit Caranobe showed last year, six clean, hit routines can go a long way when others make mistakes. Ukraine once again has a strong all around candidate in Kuksenkov. With his sixth-place (87.750) showing on Tuesday, he shows he has the potential to be among the top gymnasts in the world. Unfortunately, he's too-often plagued with falls and mistakes that drop his rankings. Shatilov, noted especially for his floor work, is a stylish gymnast but like Kuksenkov, often has mistakes at critical points.

Great Britain has obviously been making a push toward the top of men's gymnastics the last few years and the fact that they have not one but two gymnasts in the top ten at this point is a statement to the development of the program. Kristian Thomas scored 86.800 on Tuesday and the home crowd will have a great deal to cheer with two men on the floor tonight.

The surprise Beijing bronze medalist Caranobe (FRA) has had mixed results this year and scored only 84.550 (20th) Tuesday, with a few falls. He came into London with a left shoulder injury and initially was listed for only floor and vault, and changed to all six events several days before competition began. One advantage he has over most of the field is the experience of keeping cool and hitting on a major stage when others are making mistakes.