Louis Smith and Daniel Keatings demonstrated their medal credentials at the Gymnastics World Championships as the British men excelled in qualifying at London's O2 Arena on Tuesday.

Olympic bronze medallist Smith produced a sterling display to claim the third highest score and reach the pommel horse final, while British team-mates Keatings and Kristian Thomas sealed their places in the all-around final.

Smith, from Peterborough, posted a score of 15.900 to finish behind China's Zhang Hongtao on 16.275 and Hungary's Krisztian Berki, who scored 16.100.

He said: "I didn't enjoy it when I was on it, but I certainly enjoyed it when I was finished.

"(The crowd support) was brilliant. All my friends and family congregated in one section around the pommel horse. It was nice to have that level of support.''

The 20-year-old, who only competed in one of the six disciplines, is one of the favourites for the pommel horse title with the two men who beat him at the Beijing Games absent this week.

"I may not have any people who beat me from Beijing here, but there are a lot of people who didn't go to Beijing who are here that are really good,'' he said.

"I saw Krisztian's routine, it was a beautiful routine. I'm sure we'll have a very good competition in the final.''

Smith has been working on a more difficult routine which he could unveil in Saturday's final and is confident of overhauling his rivals for the title.

"I haven't done that in competition before. I've done it training hundreds of times and it is my second-best routine.

"We wouldn't think about doing it at a World Championships if there was any risk.''

Meanwhile, Keatings recovered from an early error to qualify in a superb fourth to take one of the 24 spots in Thursday's all-around final with a score of 88.400.

But his mistake on his dismount cost him as he failed to make the pommel horse final, where he had an outside chance of a medal.

It was an otherwise impressive performance from the European Championship silver medallist as he moved into third overall after his section, before dropping down to fourth after the final two groups.

The 19-year-old from Northamptonshire, who finished 20th in the Olympic all-around final, was disappointed by his error.

"I was just going round and I misplaced my hand - a silly mistake. Because it's one of my highest-scoring pieces, I was quite upset,'' he said.

Wolverhampton's Thomas made it through to the all-around final after qualifying in ninth place.

The 19-year-old eased through with a score of 86.800 overall despite a fall during his routine on the floor, which was his strongest event.

He said: "I am happy. I took a bit of a tumble on the floor but everything else pretty much went to plan really.

"I've competed at European Championships and one other World Championships but this is something else coming to this arena, and the home crowd behind you really make a difference.''

Britain's Theo Seager finished 15th on the vault with a score of 15.575, while Daniel Purvis was 15th on floor with 15.075.