A SLIP on his dismount from the pommel horse cost Max Whitlock a podium place at the finals of the DTB World Cup in Stuttgart, Germany.

The 17-year-old had finished second out of 36 – behind reigning World Champion Krisztian Berki – in Friday’s qualifying round.

But he had to settle for a seventh place finish out of eight in Saturday’s final after a mistake at the end of his routine.

Berki, from Hungary, won to claim his fourth World Cup title in 2010.

Whitlock, who trains at the South Essex Gymnastics Club, off Cranes Farm Road, Basildon, said it was more valuable experience in a year in which he claimed two silver and a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in India.

He said: “I’m still only young and I’m learning all the time. I really enjoyed this competition and I was happy with how I performed.”

Whitlock will now rest over the winter and is next likely to compete in April’s European artistic gymnastic championships in Berlin, Germany.