GYMNASTICS / WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS : Scherbo, Miller Take Good With Bad During Prelims

Defending all-around champions Vitaly Scherbo and Shannon Miller had mixed fortune on the opening day of the world gymnastics championships Tuesday.

Scherbo, winner of six gold medals at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, was the leading qualifier for the final of the men’s floor exercises, but was eliminated from the pommel horse event when he slipped and fell from the apparatus.

The 22-year-old from Belarus stormed angrily from the arena after making the error and finishing 32nd.

Miller, a 17-year-old from Edmond, Okla., who won three gold medals at last year’s world championship, was the fourth qualifier for the vault, but was only ninth in the uneven bars event in which she was defending champion.

Miller won’t even be a reserve for the eight-woman final because two other Americans qualified and a nation is only allowed two competitors in any final.

Scherbo was in fine form during the floor exercise, in which he scored 9.637.

He did not compete on the rings, one of his gold medal events in Barcelona.

Yuri Chechi of Italy, the defending champion in the rings competition, headed the qualifiers for that event with 9.712 points.

Marius Urzica of Romania, Mark Sohn of Boca Raton, Fla., and Vitaly Marinich of Ukraine were the leading qualifiers in the pommel horse, tied with 9.662 points.

Miller unveiled a new move--a 1 1/2 twisting three-quarter giant swing to a handstand on the low bar--in her uneven bars routine, but was let down by a poor landing.

Lu Li of China scored a 9.900 to head the qualifiers in the uneven bars, ahead of Lavinia Milosovici of Romania (9.825) and Svetlana Chorkina of Russia (9.812).

Milosovici headed the qualifiers for the women’s vault final with 9.731 points.

Miller scored 9.706 points to clinch her final spot.

Qualifying will continue through today, with the men’s all-around competition on Thursday and the women’s all-around on Friday. Individual finals are slated for Saturday and Sunday.