This competition hasnt been very well reported so I decided to show some of my favourite routines. It was actually a pretty decent standard of Senior and Juniors from Russia and Italy and mainly Seniors fromt The Netherlands and Brazil. The results were close with the Italian Team just beating the Russians by 0.3! Followed by the Brazilians and the Netherlands. All Around results were: 1. Malikova 56.50 2. Dementyeva 56.10 3. Galante 56.00. Full results can be found here.
The Russian Team consisted of: Violetta Malikova, Tatiana Solovyeva, Ramilya Musina, Valeria Sviridova, Anna Dementyeva and Yuliya Belokobylskaya. Belokobylskaya is relatively new to the International scene, she competed at the Gymnix at the start of the year. I really like her lively stye on floor, she doesn't have the difficulty yet but I still enjoyed it. Score: 13.950.
She also has an interesting beam routine although she fell and had some wobbles, the skills are there.
Violetta Malikova was more stable in this competition than previous performances, her floor was particularly impressive with a 9.00 execution score and final score of 14.40. She even stuck her beam routine (14.350), though there was some form issues but she had a round off straight bk and a nice double pike dismount.
I always liked Anna Dementyeva especially her floor but she wasnt at her best this time but still scored 14.20. Another highlight was Ramilya Musina who performed a sky high double layout on floor which can be seen here
The Italians were mostly impressive and innovative in their work. Serena Licchetta who is down to compete Vault and Bars at Worlds was there. Neither of these routines looked good Scoring 13.650 and 12.800, personally I prefer her Floor. In her bars routine she made a mistake and climbed over the low bar to face the other way! It didn't look good and I have never seen
a gymnast do it like that before. Take a Look:
Elisabetta Preziosa showed an excellent beam routine with a 9.00 execution scoring 14.800 and is down to compete beam at Worlds and she definetley has a legitimate shot at making finals with that routine. She had nice leaps and flexibilty and an interesting free cartwheel to scale.
Paola Galante achieved a good all around score of 56.00 to take 3rd in the all around. I like her gymnastics and am looking forward to seeing her in the aa finals at worlds. Junior Carlotta Ferlito was a highlight of the competition, born in 1995 she has a different style including an interesting release on bars (the name I can't think of), an energetic floor routine and her best piece is Beam (14.20).
Monday, 5 October 2009
Gymnastics In Europe Moves to America!
I haven't been posting in a while because I have moved to the US. Yes, just as the Worlds comes to London I move to America! I've decided to still carry on with the blog about european gymnastics but I'm also going to cover some American gym too.
Sunday, 24 May 2009
British Team Championships 2009
I just came back from this years British Teams in Guildford. Overall there was some impressive gymnastics consiering it is early on in the season but there was also some not so good and scary performances! This year the results were:
1 - 169.550 - City of Liverpool
2 - 168.600 - Heathrow 'A'
3 - 161.100 - Notts 'A'
4 - 154.000 - Cardiff Central
5 - 150.850 - Huntingdon
6 - 149.700 - Heathrow 'B'
7 - 148.050 - Horsham
8 - 145.000 - Bristol Hawks
9 - 144.550 - The Academy
The City of Liverpool team consisted of Beth Tweddle, Hannah Whelan, Jenny Pinches, Alex Cooper and Abbie Caig. Beth received a (slightly inflated) score of 15.70 on Bars, 15.450 on Floor and she also competed a Yurchenko 1/2 on pike front off on Vault for 13.950, so it seems she is training the other events. Her bars was impressive live but not as good as at the Europeans and floor was flawless but I still don't like her choreography. Hannah Whelan won the All Around (Becky Downie didn't compete all around) and had a good, consistent competition. Her scores were Vault 14.050, A-Bars 14.050, Beam 14.150 Floor 14.150, Total: 56.400. Her floor routine has Nastia Liukin's 2004-06 music and included a nice triple twist. Jenny Pinches semmed to be having an off day with falls on her standing tuck bk full on beam (13.20) and her straight full in dismount off bars (13.050). Although I did like her floor routine (14.40) with a Double Arabian and back 1 1/2 through to back 2 1/2 twist. Just a quick mention of little Abbie Caig (12 years) who had a very solid routine including a difficult beam routine with Onodi into split change+tuck back, Flick Layout and double tuck back dismount.
Heathrow 'A' Team consisted of Danusia Francis, Nicole Hibbert, Backy Wing and Laura Mitchell. Danusia (3rd AA) presented some nice elegant work but she needs to up her difficult level and she seems to be well capable of doing that. Her highest score was on Bars (14.200) where she showed a nice combination of stoop in to pike seat circle fwd (in L grip) in hstd phase into Straddled Jaeger. Nicole Hibbert came 2nd in the All Around with a score of 56.250 she had some big skills on floor (double arabian and full in) and an improved Bars (Tkatchev into pak, Toe on Shapshnikova into overshoot 1/2), but I think she needs to work on her presentation as she doesn't really sell her floor and beam. Becky Wing looked in very good shape and her routines were better presented than in the Europeans. Her bars with good with a beautiful Tkatchev into Pak Salto and a very elegant floor and dance work on beam where she scored 14.00. She came 4th all around and if she hadnt had a fall on floor (double arabian) she could have won. Laura Mitchell had a nasty fall on her bars dismount, she was meant to do a double straight but her hand guards got stuck to the bar and her first tuck back was onto her back on the high bar and she then bounced backwards onto the low bar! I have never seen a fall like it before. but thankfully she was fine with no injuries at all.
Becky Downie only competed Bars (14.90) and Beam (13.650) where she had a silly fall on her free cartwheel. I think she is still recovering from an ankle injury but she still managed to stick her double pike dismount on beam. She also debuted a new skill on bars which was a Toe on Piked Tkatchev and finished her routine with a stuck full in dismount.
I will post other comments tomorrow and hopefully by then some videos will be up on youtube.
1 - 169.550 - City of Liverpool
2 - 168.600 - Heathrow 'A'
3 - 161.100 - Notts 'A'
4 - 154.000 - Cardiff Central
5 - 150.850 - Huntingdon
6 - 149.700 - Heathrow 'B'
7 - 148.050 - Horsham
8 - 145.000 - Bristol Hawks
9 - 144.550 - The Academy
The City of Liverpool team consisted of Beth Tweddle, Hannah Whelan, Jenny Pinches, Alex Cooper and Abbie Caig. Beth received a (slightly inflated) score of 15.70 on Bars, 15.450 on Floor and she also competed a Yurchenko 1/2 on pike front off on Vault for 13.950, so it seems she is training the other events. Her bars was impressive live but not as good as at the Europeans and floor was flawless but I still don't like her choreography. Hannah Whelan won the All Around (Becky Downie didn't compete all around) and had a good, consistent competition. Her scores were Vault 14.050, A-Bars 14.050, Beam 14.150 Floor 14.150, Total: 56.400. Her floor routine has Nastia Liukin's 2004-06 music and included a nice triple twist. Jenny Pinches semmed to be having an off day with falls on her standing tuck bk full on beam (13.20) and her straight full in dismount off bars (13.050). Although I did like her floor routine (14.40) with a Double Arabian and back 1 1/2 through to back 2 1/2 twist. Just a quick mention of little Abbie Caig (12 years) who had a very solid routine including a difficult beam routine with Onodi into split change+tuck back, Flick Layout and double tuck back dismount.
Heathrow 'A' Team consisted of Danusia Francis, Nicole Hibbert, Backy Wing and Laura Mitchell. Danusia (3rd AA) presented some nice elegant work but she needs to up her difficult level and she seems to be well capable of doing that. Her highest score was on Bars (14.200) where she showed a nice combination of stoop in to pike seat circle fwd (in L grip) in hstd phase into Straddled Jaeger. Nicole Hibbert came 2nd in the All Around with a score of 56.250 she had some big skills on floor (double arabian and full in) and an improved Bars (Tkatchev into pak, Toe on Shapshnikova into overshoot 1/2), but I think she needs to work on her presentation as she doesn't really sell her floor and beam. Becky Wing looked in very good shape and her routines were better presented than in the Europeans. Her bars with good with a beautiful Tkatchev into Pak Salto and a very elegant floor and dance work on beam where she scored 14.00. She came 4th all around and if she hadnt had a fall on floor (double arabian) she could have won. Laura Mitchell had a nasty fall on her bars dismount, she was meant to do a double straight but her hand guards got stuck to the bar and her first tuck back was onto her back on the high bar and she then bounced backwards onto the low bar! I have never seen a fall like it before. but thankfully she was fine with no injuries at all.
Becky Downie only competed Bars (14.90) and Beam (13.650) where she had a silly fall on her free cartwheel. I think she is still recovering from an ankle injury but she still managed to stick her double pike dismount on beam. She also debuted a new skill on bars which was a Toe on Piked Tkatchev and finished her routine with a stuck full in dismount.
I will post other comments tomorrow and hopefully by then some videos will be up on youtube.
Thursday, 21 May 2009
FinGym 2009
This is a small competition but it attracted some good quality junior gymnasts including Laura Svilpaite, Sara Catanzaro and Naoual Ouazzani-Chahdi.
Laura Svilpaite from Lithuania is one of my favourite gymnasts and her form is beautiful. She earnt a gold medal on beam with 13.90 and a silver medal on Bars (12.90) with a fall. Her bars routine has a D Score of 5.70 and includes a tkatchev, pak salto and double layout dismount. In qualification she scored 14.850. Her routine from the WOGA Classic where she performed better is below:
Naoual Ouazzani-Chahdi from the Netherlands earnt gold medals on Vault and Floor with scores of 13.950 and 13.850. Her floor routine was entertaining and although she didnt do the harder tumbles her form was good.
Sara Catanzaro from Switzerland has high D Scores including 5.90 on beam but needs to work on her execution and form but she has a lot of potential. She got 2 silvers on Vault (13.775) and Floor (13.60). Her routine had Double Arabian, tucked full in, 1 1/1 through to double and double pike to finish.
Full results and videos can be found here
Laura Svilpaite from Lithuania is one of my favourite gymnasts and her form is beautiful. She earnt a gold medal on beam with 13.90 and a silver medal on Bars (12.90) with a fall. Her bars routine has a D Score of 5.70 and includes a tkatchev, pak salto and double layout dismount. In qualification she scored 14.850. Her routine from the WOGA Classic where she performed better is below:
Naoual Ouazzani-Chahdi from the Netherlands earnt gold medals on Vault and Floor with scores of 13.950 and 13.850. Her floor routine was entertaining and although she didnt do the harder tumbles her form was good.
Sara Catanzaro from Switzerland has high D Scores including 5.90 on beam but needs to work on her execution and form but she has a lot of potential. She got 2 silvers on Vault (13.775) and Floor (13.60). Her routine had Double Arabian, tucked full in, 1 1/1 through to double and double pike to finish.
Full results and videos can be found here
Glasgow Grand Prix 2009
Full results can be found here. As every1 has already reported on the results I'm just going to write a few of my comments and favourite videos.
Beth Tweddle was impressive in finals hitting both routines after having trouble on Bars in qualifying. Her bars routine has a D Score on 6.70 and I think it is the most difficult routine in the world, however recently at the Chinese National Championships Jiang Yuyuan performed a routine which had a D Score of 6.90. Comparing the two I still prefer Beths rouutine but she will definitely have some competition at this years Worlds from Yuyuan's routine as she scored 15.00 and 15.150 which strict judging, and there is still room for improvement. Which routine does every1 else prefer?
The floor final was intersting Beth's routine was clean and her tumbling was impressive but I really do not like her dance work and I hope the GB choreographers can come up with something better. I also agree with others that Anna Myzdrikova's routine had much nicer dance and I liked her different tumbles including a back triple twist into a tuck back.
I really liked Diego Hypolito's floor routine esoecially with his new skill a Double Arabian Straight with full twist in the second somersault. I really love how he is motivated to do better and to compete more daring skills, so I'm glad he won both floor and vault.
Sanne Wevers and Ana Maria Izurieta won the Beam Finals with a score of 14.075. I like Wevers routine because it is very innovative, she does have a lot of turns but I was impressed with her triple spin and double spin with leg up. She had a D Score of 6.70 but she does need to improve her form although I saw an interview with her on BGTV where she hadnt been training much so it is a good performance!
Also well done to Becky Downie for finally proving herself and earning the silver medal on bars with a score of 14.60.
Beth Tweddle was impressive in finals hitting both routines after having trouble on Bars in qualifying. Her bars routine has a D Score on 6.70 and I think it is the most difficult routine in the world, however recently at the Chinese National Championships Jiang Yuyuan performed a routine which had a D Score of 6.90. Comparing the two I still prefer Beths rouutine but she will definitely have some competition at this years Worlds from Yuyuan's routine as she scored 15.00 and 15.150 which strict judging, and there is still room for improvement. Which routine does every1 else prefer?
The floor final was intersting Beth's routine was clean and her tumbling was impressive but I really do not like her dance work and I hope the GB choreographers can come up with something better. I also agree with others that Anna Myzdrikova's routine had much nicer dance and I liked her different tumbles including a back triple twist into a tuck back.
I really liked Diego Hypolito's floor routine esoecially with his new skill a Double Arabian Straight with full twist in the second somersault. I really love how he is motivated to do better and to compete more daring skills, so I'm glad he won both floor and vault.
Sanne Wevers and Ana Maria Izurieta won the Beam Finals with a score of 14.075. I like Wevers routine because it is very innovative, she does have a lot of turns but I was impressed with her triple spin and double spin with leg up. She had a D Score of 6.70 but she does need to improve her form although I saw an interview with her on BGTV where she hadnt been training much so it is a good performance!
Also well done to Becky Downie for finally proving herself and earning the silver medal on bars with a score of 14.60.
Monday, 4 May 2009
British Compulsory Finals
This Saturday I watched the British Compulsory Level 4 Finals for 8 and 9 year olds which is the youngest age gymnasts can go to a National Finals. This is the first step for gymnasts aiming to be elite.
The winner of the British Compulsory Level 4 Finals was Catherine Lyons who trains at East London Gymnastics Club. She scored 64.40 beating the 2nd place gymnast by 1.20 points. With scores 12.70 (Vault), 12.80 (Bars), 13.00 (Beam), 12.90 (Floor) and 13.00 (Range and Conditioning) all out of 13.5 she had some the highest scores that I have ever seen at a this level. she has extraordinary flexibility and composure for 9 years old and her Range & Conditioning is definetely the best I have ever seen. Check it out for yourself below:
After this there is the Voluntary Level 4 which is an Optional Level with difficulty limitations. The scores are added together from the 2 competitions to decide the Age Group National Champion and National Team members. This is the same for the following year at Level 3 (10 years) and Level 2 (11 years) and then after this is Espoir (11-13 years) which is the frrst level at the British Championships followed by Junior (14-15 years) and Senior (16+ years).
The winner of the British Compulsory Level 4 Finals was Catherine Lyons who trains at East London Gymnastics Club. She scored 64.40 beating the 2nd place gymnast by 1.20 points. With scores 12.70 (Vault), 12.80 (Bars), 13.00 (Beam), 12.90 (Floor) and 13.00 (Range and Conditioning) all out of 13.5 she had some the highest scores that I have ever seen at a this level. she has extraordinary flexibility and composure for 9 years old and her Range & Conditioning is definetely the best I have ever seen. Check it out for yourself below:
After this there is the Voluntary Level 4 which is an Optional Level with difficulty limitations. The scores are added together from the 2 competitions to decide the Age Group National Champion and National Team members. This is the same for the following year at Level 3 (10 years) and Level 2 (11 years) and then after this is Espoir (11-13 years) which is the frrst level at the British Championships followed by Junior (14-15 years) and Senior (16+ years).
Sunday, 3 May 2009
USA VS France and France VS GBR May 8
On May 8 the USA seniors are competing against the French Seniors and at the same time the GB Juniors are competing against the French Juniors. The teams competing are listed below:
Seniors
France
Marine Petit, Aurélie Malausséna, Rose-Eliandre Bellemare, Pauline Morel, Typhaine Pompilio, Magaly Hars, Léa Kémayou.
USA
Bridgette Caquatto, Mackenzie Caquatto, Olivia Courtney, Kytra Hunter, Mattie Larson, Corrie Lothrop, Bridgette Sloan, Sabrina Vega.
Juniors
France
Cindy Baquet, Mira Boumejmajen, Marine Brevet, Justine Crosato, Caroline Nieves, Aurélie Orivelle, Sophia Serseri .
GB
Laura Edwards, Laura Mitchell, Danusia Francis, Niamh Rippin, Jennifer Pinches, Ruby Straw, Nicole Hibbert.
Interestingly Youna Dufournet is not competing, I hope they are taking time to sort her routines out before her next competition. Also some of the USA Team competing are not actually Seniors, Bridget Caquatto and Sabrina Vega are still Juniors. It will be good to see Pauline Morel competing again I really liked her floor routine last year.
Seniors
France
Marine Petit, Aurélie Malausséna, Rose-Eliandre Bellemare, Pauline Morel, Typhaine Pompilio, Magaly Hars, Léa Kémayou.
USA
Bridgette Caquatto, Mackenzie Caquatto, Olivia Courtney, Kytra Hunter, Mattie Larson, Corrie Lothrop, Bridgette Sloan, Sabrina Vega.
Juniors
France
Cindy Baquet, Mira Boumejmajen, Marine Brevet, Justine Crosato, Caroline Nieves, Aurélie Orivelle, Sophia Serseri .
GB
Laura Edwards, Laura Mitchell, Danusia Francis, Niamh Rippin, Jennifer Pinches, Ruby Straw, Nicole Hibbert.
Interestingly Youna Dufournet is not competing, I hope they are taking time to sort her routines out before her next competition. Also some of the USA Team competing are not actually Seniors, Bridget Caquatto and Sabrina Vega are still Juniors. It will be good to see Pauline Morel competing again I really liked her floor routine last year.
USA Vs GERMANY
The results were:
Team
1. USA 232.400
2. GER 219.700
All Around
1. Bridget Sloan, USA 59.550
2. Corrie Lothrop, USA, 56.500
3. Mackenzie Caquatto, USA, 56.400
4. Olivia Courtney, USA, 55.95
5. Bridgette Caquatto, USA, 55.80
6. Kim Bui GER, 55.75
7. Mattie Larson, USA, 55.65
8. Anja Brinker, GER, 55.25
GymNiceTic has a full report with the live ticker translated into English and full results can be found here. Dutchfan33 has also put all the routines on Youtube.
Performances I was impressed with:
Bridget Sloan
She had the top scores on Vault (15.35), Bars (15.15) and 2nd on Beam (14.00) and Floor (15.05). Although her results were probably expected she did her job and led the team well.
Sabrina Vega
Her Beam routine was a very mature performance considering more experienced teammates had problems (Sloan, Lothrop). She scored the highest on the day (14.30) with a double pike dismount and solid leaps.
Kytra Hunter
She only did vault and floor but her floor had some impressing tumbling with a Double Layout, Piked Double Arabian, and a Tucked Double Arabian to finish! she had the highest score on floor with a 15.150 (to put that into perspective at the Europeans this score would have earnt her joint first place with Tweddle!)
Of the Germans Maike Roll had a good competition considering it was her first International for Germany, she doesn't yet have the difficulty needed but she is still only 14 so she has time. Kim Bui also did well to get amongst the Americans in the All Around and she had a nice floor routine scoring 14.250
Performances I was a bit disappointed with:
Mattie Larson
I have always loved this gymnast especially last year but she seemed to be having an off day yesterday. She had a fall on her Ricna on bars and a big step out of bounds on floor. I hope there is some problem I don't know about and she sorts everything out for worlds.
Bars Routines
I noticed that Mackenzie Caquatto and Corrie Lothrop both have a close bar element missing from their routines, which is a requirement in the new code:
3 – Min. two different grips (no cast, MT or DMT) and
a Close bar Circle element (non flight) award 0.50 (from the code)
So considering it is worth 0.5 it seems to be a crucial thing to miss out. What does everyone else think?
Team
1. USA 232.400
2. GER 219.700
All Around
1. Bridget Sloan, USA 59.550
2. Corrie Lothrop, USA, 56.500
3. Mackenzie Caquatto, USA, 56.400
4. Olivia Courtney, USA, 55.95
5. Bridgette Caquatto, USA, 55.80
6. Kim Bui GER, 55.75
7. Mattie Larson, USA, 55.65
8. Anja Brinker, GER, 55.25
GymNiceTic has a full report with the live ticker translated into English and full results can be found here. Dutchfan33 has also put all the routines on Youtube.
Performances I was impressed with:
Bridget Sloan
She had the top scores on Vault (15.35), Bars (15.15) and 2nd on Beam (14.00) and Floor (15.05). Although her results were probably expected she did her job and led the team well.
Sabrina Vega
Her Beam routine was a very mature performance considering more experienced teammates had problems (Sloan, Lothrop). She scored the highest on the day (14.30) with a double pike dismount and solid leaps.
Kytra Hunter
She only did vault and floor but her floor had some impressing tumbling with a Double Layout, Piked Double Arabian, and a Tucked Double Arabian to finish! she had the highest score on floor with a 15.150 (to put that into perspective at the Europeans this score would have earnt her joint first place with Tweddle!)
Of the Germans Maike Roll had a good competition considering it was her first International for Germany, she doesn't yet have the difficulty needed but she is still only 14 so she has time. Kim Bui also did well to get amongst the Americans in the All Around and she had a nice floor routine scoring 14.250
Performances I was a bit disappointed with:
Mattie Larson
I have always loved this gymnast especially last year but she seemed to be having an off day yesterday. She had a fall on her Ricna on bars and a big step out of bounds on floor. I hope there is some problem I don't know about and she sorts everything out for worlds.
Bars Routines
I noticed that Mackenzie Caquatto and Corrie Lothrop both have a close bar element missing from their routines, which is a requirement in the new code:
3 – Min. two different grips (no cast, MT or DMT) and
a Close bar Circle element (non flight) award 0.50 (from the code)
So considering it is worth 0.5 it seems to be a crucial thing to miss out. What does everyone else think?
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
Maribor 2009 Results
I didnt cover this event in any detail because I was away this weekend at a gymnastics competition, so I didnt get to see any of it. Full Results can be found on the Official Website. I've had a chance to see most of the routines now as they are available on 2008agwc's and soveticas4ever youtube channels.
I was most impressed with Kristina Goryunova who won the Beam (14.350) and Floor (14.000) Finals and also got Silver on Bars (13.700). The scores are exactly high compared to the European medallists but she just seemed a much more mature and consistent gymnast than in before and I guess she has recovered well from her "injury" that kept her out of the All Around final.
I liked her beam routine it was elegant and had some nice skills (Onodi,pike front off on leg,sheep jump) and an almost stuck double pike dismount.
Goryunova also had an elegant floor routine and I actuallly liked her dance and leaps and she had solid landings on all 4 tumbles. Anna Myzdrikova also had a nice and more difficult floor routine (13.950) than Goryunovas' but she stepped out of bounds twice and her landings were not as good. She looked like she had grown since last year and was in better shape. The Russians overall were very good although the level of the competition was not high they still did ther job. Another Russian to mention is Ekaterina Kurbatova who won the Bars Final (14.325), she is relatively unknown internationally but had some interesting connections and skills which can been seen on soveticas4ever channel.
Another interesting gymnast was Ana Claudia Silva from Brazil she came 2nd on beam (13.550) and 5th on Bars (13.000). I've always liked her elegant stle and long lines but she has always been inconsistent. Her beam had a very nice mount and spin combination, as well as a clean dismount.
Another gymnast who I liked that competed this weekend is Miranda Meyer from Canada. This was her first overseas competition representing Canada and she made the Beam final. She had the highest start value of all the gymnasts (5.90) and she is only. Unfortunately she did not stick her routine in the final coming 5th (12.550) but earlier this month at the Wild Rose Invitational she came first on beam (13.60). The routine is below for you to watch:
I was most impressed with Kristina Goryunova who won the Beam (14.350) and Floor (14.000) Finals and also got Silver on Bars (13.700). The scores are exactly high compared to the European medallists but she just seemed a much more mature and consistent gymnast than in before and I guess she has recovered well from her "injury" that kept her out of the All Around final.
I liked her beam routine it was elegant and had some nice skills (Onodi,pike front off on leg,sheep jump) and an almost stuck double pike dismount.
Goryunova also had an elegant floor routine and I actuallly liked her dance and leaps and she had solid landings on all 4 tumbles. Anna Myzdrikova also had a nice and more difficult floor routine (13.950) than Goryunovas' but she stepped out of bounds twice and her landings were not as good. She looked like she had grown since last year and was in better shape. The Russians overall were very good although the level of the competition was not high they still did ther job. Another Russian to mention is Ekaterina Kurbatova who won the Bars Final (14.325), she is relatively unknown internationally but had some interesting connections and skills which can been seen on soveticas4ever channel.
Another interesting gymnast was Ana Claudia Silva from Brazil she came 2nd on beam (13.550) and 5th on Bars (13.000). I've always liked her elegant stle and long lines but she has always been inconsistent. Her beam had a very nice mount and spin combination, as well as a clean dismount.
Another gymnast who I liked that competed this weekend is Miranda Meyer from Canada. This was her first overseas competition representing Canada and she made the Beam final. She had the highest start value of all the gymnasts (5.90) and she is only. Unfortunately she did not stick her routine in the final coming 5th (12.550) but earlier this month at the Wild Rose Invitational she came first on beam (13.60). The routine is below for you to watch:
Friday, 10 April 2009
Comparison of International Scores under the 2009 Code Of Points
Now that we have had a few International Competitions this year with the new code I have decided to compare scores and see what a good score is on each apparatus and All Around and who has scored the highest scores so far. I know some of the scores may not be completely accurate (e.g. the American Cup) but it's just so people can get an idea of the scoring under the new code.
All Around
1. Jordyn Wieber 60.200 (American Cup)
2. Bridget Sloan 59.600 (American Cup)
3. Jordyn Wieber 58.500 (Gymnix Junior Cup)
4. Ksenia Semenova 58.175 (Europeans AA Finals)
5. Ksenia Semenova 57.625 (Europeans AA Qualifications)
6. Ksenia Afanasyeva 57.600 (Europeans AA Finals)
7. Ariella Kaeslin/Ana Maria Tamirjan 57.275 (Europeans AA Finals/Quals)
8. Ana Maria Izurieta 56.375 (Europeans AA Finals)
9. Aagje Van Walleghem 56.150 (Europeans Qualifications)
10. Kim Bui 56.000 (American Cup)
Vault (1 Vault)
1. Jordyn Wieber 15.750 (American Cup)
2. Ariella Kaeslin 15.300 (Europeans AA Finals)
3. Bridget Sloan 15.150 (American Cup)
4. Jordyn Wieber 15.000 (International Gymnix Junior Cup)
5. Ana Maria Izurieta 14.850 (Europeans AA Finals)
6. Diana Chelaru 14.675 (Europeans AA Finals)
7. Ana Maria Tamirjan 14.650 (Europeans AA Finals/Quals)
8. Janaina Silva 14.550 (Jesolo)
9. Ksenia Afanasyeva 14.525 (Europeans AA Finals)
10. Ksenia Afanasyeva 14.475 (Europeans AA Qualifications)
Vault (2 Vaults)
1. Ariella Kaeslin 14.625 (European Event Finals)
2. Ariella Kaeslin 14.550 (Cottbus)
3. Yulia Berger 14.325 (Europeans Event Finals)
4. Yulia Berger 14.287 (Europeans Qualifications)
5. Anna Kalashnyk 14.275 (Europeans Event Finals)
6. Jana Komrskova 14.225 (Europeans Qualifications)
7. Aagje Van Walleghem 14.200 (Europeans Event Finals)
8. Charlotte Mackie/Kim Bui 14.150 (International Gymnix World Cup/Europeans Event Finals)
9. Anna Kalashnyk 14.112 (Europeans Qualifications)
10. Kim Bui 14.087 (Europeans Qualifications)
Uneven Bars
1. Beth Tweddle 15.650 (Jesolo)
2. Beth Tweddle 15.575 (Europeans Event Finals)
3. Ksenia Semenova 15.500 (Europeans Event Finals)
4. Beth Tweddle 15.275 (Europeans Qualifications)
5. Anja Brinker 15.025 (Europeans Qualifications)
6. Anja Brinker/Becky Downie 15.00 (Europeans AA Final)
7. Ksenia Semenova/Ksenia Afanaseyeva 14.925 (Europeans AA Final)
8. Ksenia Afanaseyeva/Anja Brinker 14.825 (Europeans Qualifications/Cottbus)
9. Anja Brinker/Jordyn Wieber/Bridget Sloan 14.80 (Europeans Event Finals/American Cup)
10. Youna Dufournet 14.750 (Europeans Qualifications)
Beam
1. Jordyn Wieber 15.00 (American Cup)
2. Bridget Sloan 14.90 (American Cup)
3. Amelia Racea/Ksenia Semenova 14.80 (Jesolo/Europeans AA Final)
4. Yana Demyanchuk 14.775 (Europeans Event Finals)
5. Ana Maria Tamirjan/Jordyn Wieber 14.750 (Europeans Event Finals/International Gymnix Junior Cup)
6. Vasiliki Millousi 14.725 (Europeans Qualifications)
7. Mattie Larson/Gabriela Dragoi 14.650 (International Gymnix World Cup/Europeans Event Finals)
8. Ana Maria Tamirjan 14.60 (Europeans AA Finals)
9. Amelia Racea 14.550 (American Cup)
10. Ana Maria Tamirjan 14.525 (Europeans Qualifications)
Floor
1. Beth Tweddle 15.150 (Europeans Event Finals)
2. Sandra Izbasa 15.050 (Nadia Comaneci International Invitational)
3. Beth Tweddle 14.975 (Europeans Qualifications)
4. Mattie Larson 14.950 (International Gymnix World Cup)
5. Bridget Sloan 14.750 (American Cup)
6. Vanessa Ferrari 14.675 (Europeans Event Finals)
7. Jordyn Wieber 14.650 (American Cup)
8. Ksenia Semenova 14.625 (Europeans Event Finals)
9. Ksenia Afanasyeva 14.575 (Europeans AA Final)
10. Vanessa Ferrari 14.525 (Europeans AA Final)
Videos of the Top Scorers on each apparatus so far in International Competition under the COP 2009:
All Around
1. Jordyn Wieber 60.200 (American Cup)
2. Bridget Sloan 59.600 (American Cup)
3. Jordyn Wieber 58.500 (Gymnix Junior Cup)
4. Ksenia Semenova 58.175 (Europeans AA Finals)
5. Ksenia Semenova 57.625 (Europeans AA Qualifications)
6. Ksenia Afanasyeva 57.600 (Europeans AA Finals)
7. Ariella Kaeslin/Ana Maria Tamirjan 57.275 (Europeans AA Finals/Quals)
8. Ana Maria Izurieta 56.375 (Europeans AA Finals)
9. Aagje Van Walleghem 56.150 (Europeans Qualifications)
10. Kim Bui 56.000 (American Cup)
Vault (1 Vault)
1. Jordyn Wieber 15.750 (American Cup)
2. Ariella Kaeslin 15.300 (Europeans AA Finals)
3. Bridget Sloan 15.150 (American Cup)
4. Jordyn Wieber 15.000 (International Gymnix Junior Cup)
5. Ana Maria Izurieta 14.850 (Europeans AA Finals)
6. Diana Chelaru 14.675 (Europeans AA Finals)
7. Ana Maria Tamirjan 14.650 (Europeans AA Finals/Quals)
8. Janaina Silva 14.550 (Jesolo)
9. Ksenia Afanasyeva 14.525 (Europeans AA Finals)
10. Ksenia Afanasyeva 14.475 (Europeans AA Qualifications)
Vault (2 Vaults)
1. Ariella Kaeslin 14.625 (European Event Finals)
2. Ariella Kaeslin 14.550 (Cottbus)
3. Yulia Berger 14.325 (Europeans Event Finals)
4. Yulia Berger 14.287 (Europeans Qualifications)
5. Anna Kalashnyk 14.275 (Europeans Event Finals)
6. Jana Komrskova 14.225 (Europeans Qualifications)
7. Aagje Van Walleghem 14.200 (Europeans Event Finals)
8. Charlotte Mackie/Kim Bui 14.150 (International Gymnix World Cup/Europeans Event Finals)
9. Anna Kalashnyk 14.112 (Europeans Qualifications)
10. Kim Bui 14.087 (Europeans Qualifications)
Uneven Bars
1. Beth Tweddle 15.650 (Jesolo)
2. Beth Tweddle 15.575 (Europeans Event Finals)
3. Ksenia Semenova 15.500 (Europeans Event Finals)
4. Beth Tweddle 15.275 (Europeans Qualifications)
5. Anja Brinker 15.025 (Europeans Qualifications)
6. Anja Brinker/Becky Downie 15.00 (Europeans AA Final)
7. Ksenia Semenova/Ksenia Afanaseyeva 14.925 (Europeans AA Final)
8. Ksenia Afanaseyeva/Anja Brinker 14.825 (Europeans Qualifications/Cottbus)
9. Anja Brinker/Jordyn Wieber/Bridget Sloan 14.80 (Europeans Event Finals/American Cup)
10. Youna Dufournet 14.750 (Europeans Qualifications)
Beam
1. Jordyn Wieber 15.00 (American Cup)
2. Bridget Sloan 14.90 (American Cup)
3. Amelia Racea/Ksenia Semenova 14.80 (Jesolo/Europeans AA Final)
4. Yana Demyanchuk 14.775 (Europeans Event Finals)
5. Ana Maria Tamirjan/Jordyn Wieber 14.750 (Europeans Event Finals/International Gymnix Junior Cup)
6. Vasiliki Millousi 14.725 (Europeans Qualifications)
7. Mattie Larson/Gabriela Dragoi 14.650 (International Gymnix World Cup/Europeans Event Finals)
8. Ana Maria Tamirjan 14.60 (Europeans AA Finals)
9. Amelia Racea 14.550 (American Cup)
10. Ana Maria Tamirjan 14.525 (Europeans Qualifications)
Floor
1. Beth Tweddle 15.150 (Europeans Event Finals)
2. Sandra Izbasa 15.050 (Nadia Comaneci International Invitational)
3. Beth Tweddle 14.975 (Europeans Qualifications)
4. Mattie Larson 14.950 (International Gymnix World Cup)
5. Bridget Sloan 14.750 (American Cup)
6. Vanessa Ferrari 14.675 (Europeans Event Finals)
7. Jordyn Wieber 14.650 (American Cup)
8. Ksenia Semenova 14.625 (Europeans Event Finals)
9. Ksenia Afanasyeva 14.575 (Europeans AA Final)
10. Vanessa Ferrari 14.525 (Europeans AA Final)
Videos of the Top Scorers on each apparatus so far in International Competition under the COP 2009:
Winner of the Poll for Best All Around European Gymnast is: Lilia Podkopayeva
Lilia Podkopayeva was born on August 15, 1978 in Donetsk, Ukraine. who became the 1996 Olympic all-around champion. In early 1996, Podkopayeva was seriously injured when she fell from the beam in practice, breaking one rib and fracturing another. She recovered sufficiently to win three gold medals at the 1996 European Championships in the all-around, bars and floor finals. In the all-around, Lilia pushed her childhood idol Svetlana Boginskaya into second place. She also won a bronze on the vault. At the 1996 OLympics in Atlanta she won the gold medal in the all-around final. In doing this Podkopayeva also became the first female gymnast since Tourischeva to hold the European, World, and Olympic all-around titles at the same time. She also became the first, and to date, only, Olympic all-around champion to come from a team that finished outside the medals.
Below are here Vault (the Podkopayeva) and Floor routines from the All Around at the 1996 European Championships:
Podkoypayeva was often referred to as the "complete package" gymnast, possessing equal qualities of technical skill and artistic expression. Her routines were known for their combination of balletic, expressive choreography, clean execution, impeccable form and extremely difficult skills. She was the originator of two skills: the Podkopayeva vault and a double front half-out salto on the floor exercise. The montage below by AshleyakaFlicker highlights her best qualities:
Below are here Vault (the Podkopayeva) and Floor routines from the All Around at the 1996 European Championships:
Podkoypayeva was often referred to as the "complete package" gymnast, possessing equal qualities of technical skill and artistic expression. Her routines were known for their combination of balletic, expressive choreography, clean execution, impeccable form and extremely difficult skills. She was the originator of two skills: the Podkopayeva vault and a double front half-out salto on the floor exercise. The montage below by AshleyakaFlicker highlights her best qualities:
Monday, 6 April 2009
European Event Finals - Mens'
Lots of people have already posted the full results and they can be found on gymnastics results.com. So I'm just going to post a summary and my comments.
FX: 1. HAMBUECHEN 15.450 2. FAHRIG 15.400 3. KOSMIDIS 15.350
PH: 1. BERKI 15.600 2. SMITH 15.550 3. KEATINGS 15.500
SR: 1. VAN GELDER 15.750 2. VOROBIOV 15.600 3. IOVTCHEV 15.550
VT: 1. BOUHAIL 16.325 2. KOCZI 16.312 3. FAHRIG 16.225
PB: 1. CUCHERAT 15.825 2. PETKOVSEK 15.800 3. HAMBUECHEN 15.375
HB: 1. MARAS 15.375 2. CUCHERAT 15.250 3. KUKSENKOV 14.925
FX: The Germans did very well earning the gold and silver medals. Hambeuchens' routine was solid with little deductions (he had the highest E Score 9.150) and I like his 2nd pass on Round flick bk 2 1/2 into front layout 1 1/2. Fahrigs' routine was impressive with the 1st pass being front handspring+front layout 2/1+Dbl Front! The rest of the routine is full of difficulty and he only just missed out on the gold. If you haven't seen it yet take a look:
PH: The first 3 were all very close but the Hungarian had a more difficult routine than the 2 British boys. Louis seemed to have better form than last year and Keatings did what he did all week - hit his routines.
SR: Van Gelder had the highest execution score of any1 in the final (9.150) and he finished it off with a stuck dismount. It's a shame he didn't qualify for Bejiing as he looked very good in this final.
VT: Bouhail had 2 very difficult vaults Tsukahara Double Pike and Handspring Double front 1/2, the height he gets off the vault is incredible, both landings were a little high but good enough. Koczi also had 2 diificult vaults both with twists: Tsukahara 3/1 and Handspring 2 1/2 but leg form was a little untidy. Fahraig had the highest execution scores on noth his vaults 9.40 and 9.450 but his 2nd vault had lower difficulty although he certainly looked very happy with his performances.
PB: The first 2 were in a league of their own and their scores were very close. Hambuechen also earned another medal - he sure knows how to compete!
HB: This apparatus is always exciting and this was no exception, with no1 achieving an execution score int he 9.0s (the highest was 8.675). Cassina in his home country could not hold it together, he fell on a Kolman and then repeated it and fell agian! (score 10.875). At the opposite end of the scores Maras from Greece completed his diffocult routine with a nice release at the start to win the gold.
Most routines from Event Finals can been seen on 2008agwc's channel on youtube.
FX: 1. HAMBUECHEN 15.450 2. FAHRIG 15.400 3. KOSMIDIS 15.350
PH: 1. BERKI 15.600 2. SMITH 15.550 3. KEATINGS 15.500
SR: 1. VAN GELDER 15.750 2. VOROBIOV 15.600 3. IOVTCHEV 15.550
VT: 1. BOUHAIL 16.325 2. KOCZI 16.312 3. FAHRIG 16.225
PB: 1. CUCHERAT 15.825 2. PETKOVSEK 15.800 3. HAMBUECHEN 15.375
HB: 1. MARAS 15.375 2. CUCHERAT 15.250 3. KUKSENKOV 14.925
FX: The Germans did very well earning the gold and silver medals. Hambeuchens' routine was solid with little deductions (he had the highest E Score 9.150) and I like his 2nd pass on Round flick bk 2 1/2 into front layout 1 1/2. Fahrigs' routine was impressive with the 1st pass being front handspring+front layout 2/1+Dbl Front! The rest of the routine is full of difficulty and he only just missed out on the gold. If you haven't seen it yet take a look:
PH: The first 3 were all very close but the Hungarian had a more difficult routine than the 2 British boys. Louis seemed to have better form than last year and Keatings did what he did all week - hit his routines.
SR: Van Gelder had the highest execution score of any1 in the final (9.150) and he finished it off with a stuck dismount. It's a shame he didn't qualify for Bejiing as he looked very good in this final.
VT: Bouhail had 2 very difficult vaults Tsukahara Double Pike and Handspring Double front 1/2, the height he gets off the vault is incredible, both landings were a little high but good enough. Koczi also had 2 diificult vaults both with twists: Tsukahara 3/1 and Handspring 2 1/2 but leg form was a little untidy. Fahraig had the highest execution scores on noth his vaults 9.40 and 9.450 but his 2nd vault had lower difficulty although he certainly looked very happy with his performances.
PB: The first 2 were in a league of their own and their scores were very close. Hambuechen also earned another medal - he sure knows how to compete!
HB: This apparatus is always exciting and this was no exception, with no1 achieving an execution score int he 9.0s (the highest was 8.675). Cassina in his home country could not hold it together, he fell on a Kolman and then repeated it and fell agian! (score 10.875). At the opposite end of the scores Maras from Greece completed his diffocult routine with a nice release at the start to win the gold.
Most routines from Event Finals can been seen on 2008agwc's channel on youtube.
Sunday, 5 April 2009
European Event Finals - Women
Results
Vault
1. Kaeslin 14.625 - first vault was handspring front layout 1 1/2 but it was a little piked down with bent knees at the end but she gets so much height off the top and her yurchenko 1 1/2 was good and she deserved the gold medal.
2. Berger 14.325 - I like her first vault which was tsuk 1 1/2 and the second was interesting as it is different to normal vaults you see, boith were good but not quite as neat as Kaeslin.
3. Kalashnyk 14.275 - first vault was yurchenko double full but with quite untidy legs but I thought her second vault was much better and I'm glad another Ukranian got a medal.
4. Van Walleghem 14.200 - both her vaults had good form just not enough difficulty but personally I prefer to watch vaults with good form rather than difficult vaults being thrown woth bad form.
5. Bui 14.150
6. Downie 14.025
7. Masela 13.950
8. Komrskova 13.875
Bars
1. Tweddle 15.575 - I'm so glad she won! I love how many connections and releases she has and she finally won another gold.
2. Semenova 15.500 - her routine was better in finals than it has been all week and there wasn't much difference in the top two in terms of execution but Beth's slightly more difficult routine meant she won.
3. Brinker 14.800 - It's good to see her win a medal at a higher level competition and she deserved it she has been consistent all week.
4. Dufournet 14.650
5. Afanasyeva 14.650
6. Downie 14.525 - she was not happy with this routine, it wasn't really bad but in the all around final she received a 15.00 which would have put her in 3rd!
7. Koval 14.350 - she doesn't seem to be in the same form as the Olympics with a lot of missed handstands and late turns.
8. Holenkova 12.700
Beam
1. Demyanchuk 14.775 - I'm really happy that she won gold as I've said before I love this gymnasts' style and form on beam and floor. She has a really nice roundoff layout and split leap 1/1 which is a very difficult leap on beam.
2. Tamirjan 14.750 - I feel sorry for her as she must have a lot of pressure on her to perform well at the these championships and she hasn't quite produced her best. Her routine wasn't bad but one missed connection between the free walkover and the flick layout meant that she lost the gold medal.
3. Dragoi 14.650 - I liked her routine she seemed very calm and composed coping with the pressure very well and got into a good rhythm. She had some nice spins and connections.
4. Petit 14.150
5. Semenova 14.125 - she seemed a little 'wobblier' than in qualification with a lot of balance checks but her dance work was still beautiful. She had her toes taped together so perhaps she has a new injury that affected her.
6. Maksuta 13.725
7. Millousi 13.450 - unfortunately the top qualifier could not produce the same performance and had a fall on her tuck back but she is still a new hope for Greece.
8. Zimmerman 12.850
Floor
1. Tweddle 15.150 - She was just amazing this week with two gold medals, she hit nearly all her landings and leaps and definetely had the best form. I think she deserved it but maybe others should have been closer.
2. Ferrari 14.675 - I'm impressed that she was able to perform this well whilst still recovering from an injury to her ankle but she is a fighter and that is why her country love her.
3. Semenova 14.625 - this was by far my favourite routine of the finals, the choreography and how she performs it are beautiful and keeps me waching throughout. I think she deserved the silver medal I thought her tumbles were better and she should definetely get more credit for artistry, nut I'm not a judge so she has to settle for bronze!
4. Tamirjan 14.075 - she took her double layout out which I think was sensible and did two full ins in tuck and pike instead (maybe she should have done that in the AA). I like her new music and routine and I think she is still growing into it and it will improve further.
5. Izurieta 14.075
6. Holenkova 13.925
7. Izbasa 13.900- her triple twist was downgraded to a 2 1/2 and because she had already done a 2 1/2 it can't be counted again so she lost DV and dismount points so her routine was scored out of a 4.90 instead of 5.50 from qualification. I have looked at the video and the triple doesn't seem that bad, I've seen worse that have got counted! But I wasnt there to watch it live so maybe it was worse than it looked. What does everyone think? If it had been counted I think she would have got silver not gold from what I can work out.
8. Parolari 13.525
All Routines from the Event Finals can be seen on youtube at 2008agwc and The Penguin888 channels
My Favourite Floor Routine from the Floor Finals - Ksenia Semenova
Beth Tweddles' Gold Medal Winning Floor Routine
Demyanchuks' Beam Routine
Tweddles' Floor Routine
Vault
1. Kaeslin 14.625 - first vault was handspring front layout 1 1/2 but it was a little piked down with bent knees at the end but she gets so much height off the top and her yurchenko 1 1/2 was good and she deserved the gold medal.
2. Berger 14.325 - I like her first vault which was tsuk 1 1/2 and the second was interesting as it is different to normal vaults you see, boith were good but not quite as neat as Kaeslin.
3. Kalashnyk 14.275 - first vault was yurchenko double full but with quite untidy legs but I thought her second vault was much better and I'm glad another Ukranian got a medal.
4. Van Walleghem 14.200 - both her vaults had good form just not enough difficulty but personally I prefer to watch vaults with good form rather than difficult vaults being thrown woth bad form.
5. Bui 14.150
6. Downie 14.025
7. Masela 13.950
8. Komrskova 13.875
Bars
1. Tweddle 15.575 - I'm so glad she won! I love how many connections and releases she has and she finally won another gold.
2. Semenova 15.500 - her routine was better in finals than it has been all week and there wasn't much difference in the top two in terms of execution but Beth's slightly more difficult routine meant she won.
3. Brinker 14.800 - It's good to see her win a medal at a higher level competition and she deserved it she has been consistent all week.
4. Dufournet 14.650
5. Afanasyeva 14.650
6. Downie 14.525 - she was not happy with this routine, it wasn't really bad but in the all around final she received a 15.00 which would have put her in 3rd!
7. Koval 14.350 - she doesn't seem to be in the same form as the Olympics with a lot of missed handstands and late turns.
8. Holenkova 12.700
Beam
1. Demyanchuk 14.775 - I'm really happy that she won gold as I've said before I love this gymnasts' style and form on beam and floor. She has a really nice roundoff layout and split leap 1/1 which is a very difficult leap on beam.
2. Tamirjan 14.750 - I feel sorry for her as she must have a lot of pressure on her to perform well at the these championships and she hasn't quite produced her best. Her routine wasn't bad but one missed connection between the free walkover and the flick layout meant that she lost the gold medal.
3. Dragoi 14.650 - I liked her routine she seemed very calm and composed coping with the pressure very well and got into a good rhythm. She had some nice spins and connections.
4. Petit 14.150
5. Semenova 14.125 - she seemed a little 'wobblier' than in qualification with a lot of balance checks but her dance work was still beautiful. She had her toes taped together so perhaps she has a new injury that affected her.
6. Maksuta 13.725
7. Millousi 13.450 - unfortunately the top qualifier could not produce the same performance and had a fall on her tuck back but she is still a new hope for Greece.
8. Zimmerman 12.850
Floor
1. Tweddle 15.150 - She was just amazing this week with two gold medals, she hit nearly all her landings and leaps and definetely had the best form. I think she deserved it but maybe others should have been closer.
2. Ferrari 14.675 - I'm impressed that she was able to perform this well whilst still recovering from an injury to her ankle but she is a fighter and that is why her country love her.
3. Semenova 14.625 - this was by far my favourite routine of the finals, the choreography and how she performs it are beautiful and keeps me waching throughout. I think she deserved the silver medal I thought her tumbles were better and she should definetely get more credit for artistry, nut I'm not a judge so she has to settle for bronze!
4. Tamirjan 14.075 - she took her double layout out which I think was sensible and did two full ins in tuck and pike instead (maybe she should have done that in the AA). I like her new music and routine and I think she is still growing into it and it will improve further.
5. Izurieta 14.075
6. Holenkova 13.925
7. Izbasa 13.900- her triple twist was downgraded to a 2 1/2 and because she had already done a 2 1/2 it can't be counted again so she lost DV and dismount points so her routine was scored out of a 4.90 instead of 5.50 from qualification. I have looked at the video and the triple doesn't seem that bad, I've seen worse that have got counted! But I wasnt there to watch it live so maybe it was worse than it looked. What does everyone think? If it had been counted I think she would have got silver not gold from what I can work out.
8. Parolari 13.525
All Routines from the Event Finals can be seen on youtube at 2008agwc and The Penguin888 channels
My Favourite Floor Routine from the Floor Finals - Ksenia Semenova
Beth Tweddles' Gold Medal Winning Floor Routine
Demyanchuks' Beam Routine
Tweddles' Floor Routine
Men's European All Around Results
Summary
1. Hambuechen
2. Keatings
3. Ryazanov
4. Boy
5. Koczi
6. Pozzo
7. Purvis
8. Shatilov
Full results here
Well Done Fabian for pulling it all together when it counts, shame he won't be in the High Bar final though.
Congratulations to Daniel Keatings 2nd is a very good result fro Great Britain and he was only 0.9 behind so he looks good for the future. A mention of Daniel Purvis who jumped from 12th in qualification to 7th in the final.
More comments and details to follow.
1. Hambuechen
2. Keatings
3. Ryazanov
4. Boy
5. Koczi
6. Pozzo
7. Purvis
8. Shatilov
Full results here
Well Done Fabian for pulling it all together when it counts, shame he won't be in the High Bar final though.
Congratulations to Daniel Keatings 2nd is a very good result fro Great Britain and he was only 0.9 behind so he looks good for the future. A mention of Daniel Purvis who jumped from 12th in qualification to 7th in the final.
More comments and details to follow.
Women's Europeans All Around Results
Summary
1. Semenova
2. Afanaseyeva
3. Kaeslin
4. Izurieta
5. Tamirjan
6. Van Walleghem
7. Petit
8. Brinker
Full results available here
Congratulations to Semenova, by all accounts a solid but not exactly 'inspiring' performance but still good enough. She still had problems with her bars and will need to improve for event finals to beat Beth and others.
Also Congratulations to Afanasyeva the late substitution for finally keeping it together for all 4 pieces and earning the silver medal.
sory to hear of Downie's dissappointment as a 11.700! on beam put her right out but big scores on bars (15.00 & higher than Semenova) and floor (14.050) were still impressive.
Ariella Kaeslin performed solidly as she has done all week and received a well earned bronze in my opinion and I think another medal will be on the way in the Vault final tommorow.
More comments and results to follow but for now you can watch the coverage from British Eurosport on GYMANGELS youtube channel, it is basic but shows all of Semenova's routines as well as some others.
1. Semenova
2. Afanaseyeva
3. Kaeslin
4. Izurieta
5. Tamirjan
6. Van Walleghem
7. Petit
8. Brinker
Full results available here
Congratulations to Semenova, by all accounts a solid but not exactly 'inspiring' performance but still good enough. She still had problems with her bars and will need to improve for event finals to beat Beth and others.
Also Congratulations to Afanasyeva the late substitution for finally keeping it together for all 4 pieces and earning the silver medal.
sory to hear of Downie's dissappointment as a 11.700! on beam put her right out but big scores on bars (15.00 & higher than Semenova) and floor (14.050) were still impressive.
Ariella Kaeslin performed solidly as she has done all week and received a well earned bronze in my opinion and I think another medal will be on the way in the Vault final tommorow.
More comments and results to follow but for now you can watch the coverage from British Eurosport on GYMANGELS youtube channel, it is basic but shows all of Semenova's routines as well as some others.
Friday, 3 April 2009
European Mens' Qualification Results
Full results are not yet up on the official site but they are available on the-all-around blog at the bottom.
Summary
AA
1. Daniel Keatings 89.150 - Well done hope he can win the gold in the final.
2. Fabian Hambuechen 89.050 - he had a fall on his best piece High Bar so unfortunately won't be in the final but hopefully he will hit in the all around.
3. Yuri Ryazanov 88.900
4. Benoit Caranobe 87.775
5. Flavius Koczi 86.950
6. Alexander Shatilov 86.050
7. Jeffrey Wammes 86.025
8. Dimitry Savitski 86.025
FX
1. Lefteris Kosmidis 15.575
2. Alexander Shatilov 15.475
3. Fabian Hambuchen 15.375
4. Matthias Fahrig 15.350
5. Eddie Penev 15.300
6. Anton Golotsutskov 15.250
7. Enrico Pozzo 15.175
8. Oleksandr Yakubovsky 14.950
PH
1. Daniel Keatings 15.500
2. Louis Smith 15.500
3. Daniel Popescu 15.500
4. Kristian Berki 15.475
5. Donna-Donny Truyens 15.225
6. Perevoznikov 15.225
7. Saso Bertoncelj 15.200
8. Alberto Busnari 15.100
SR
1. Matteo Morandi 15.625
2. Yuri Van Gelder 15.425
3. Oleksander Vorobyov 15.425
4. Matteo Angioletti 15.375
5. Konstantin Pluzhnikov 15.150
6. Daniel Rodrigues 15.150
7. Domesthinos Tambakos 15.125
8. Jordan Jovtchev 15.025
VT
1. Dimitri Kaspiarovich 16.312
2. Jeffrey Wammes 16.137
3. Flavius Koczi 16.125
4. Thomas Bouhail 16.075
5. Matthias Fahrig 16.025
6. Daniel Popescu 15.950
7. Marek Lysczarez 15.912
8. Fabian Hambuchen 15.787
PB
1. Mitja Petkovsek 15.750
2. Yann Cucherat 15.700
3. Adam Kierzkowski 15.400
4. Daniel Keatings 15.350
5. Cosmin Popescu 15.150
6. Samuel Piasecky 15.050
7. Nicolas Boeschenstein 15.050
8. Fabian Hambuchen 15.050
HB
1. Igor Cassina 15.800
2. Vlasios Maras 15.625
3. Epke Zonderland 15.600
4. Yann Cucherat 14.925
5. Mykola Kuksenkov 14.850
6. Alexander Tsarevich 14.750
7. Martin Konecny 14.625
8. Jeffrey Wammes 14.600
Well done to the British boys: Daniel Keatings - 1st AA, 1st PH, 3th PB; Louis Smith - 2nd PH, Daniel Purvis - 12AA.
Summary
AA
1. Daniel Keatings 89.150 - Well done hope he can win the gold in the final.
2. Fabian Hambuechen 89.050 - he had a fall on his best piece High Bar so unfortunately won't be in the final but hopefully he will hit in the all around.
3. Yuri Ryazanov 88.900
4. Benoit Caranobe 87.775
5. Flavius Koczi 86.950
6. Alexander Shatilov 86.050
7. Jeffrey Wammes 86.025
8. Dimitry Savitski 86.025
FX
1. Lefteris Kosmidis 15.575
2. Alexander Shatilov 15.475
3. Fabian Hambuchen 15.375
4. Matthias Fahrig 15.350
5. Eddie Penev 15.300
6. Anton Golotsutskov 15.250
7. Enrico Pozzo 15.175
8. Oleksandr Yakubovsky 14.950
PH
1. Daniel Keatings 15.500
2. Louis Smith 15.500
3. Daniel Popescu 15.500
4. Kristian Berki 15.475
5. Donna-Donny Truyens 15.225
6. Perevoznikov 15.225
7. Saso Bertoncelj 15.200
8. Alberto Busnari 15.100
SR
1. Matteo Morandi 15.625
2. Yuri Van Gelder 15.425
3. Oleksander Vorobyov 15.425
4. Matteo Angioletti 15.375
5. Konstantin Pluzhnikov 15.150
6. Daniel Rodrigues 15.150
7. Domesthinos Tambakos 15.125
8. Jordan Jovtchev 15.025
VT
1. Dimitri Kaspiarovich 16.312
2. Jeffrey Wammes 16.137
3. Flavius Koczi 16.125
4. Thomas Bouhail 16.075
5. Matthias Fahrig 16.025
6. Daniel Popescu 15.950
7. Marek Lysczarez 15.912
8. Fabian Hambuchen 15.787
PB
1. Mitja Petkovsek 15.750
2. Yann Cucherat 15.700
3. Adam Kierzkowski 15.400
4. Daniel Keatings 15.350
5. Cosmin Popescu 15.150
6. Samuel Piasecky 15.050
7. Nicolas Boeschenstein 15.050
8. Fabian Hambuchen 15.050
HB
1. Igor Cassina 15.800
2. Vlasios Maras 15.625
3. Epke Zonderland 15.600
4. Yann Cucherat 14.925
5. Mykola Kuksenkov 14.850
6. Alexander Tsarevich 14.750
7. Martin Konecny 14.625
8. Jeffrey Wammes 14.600
Well done to the British boys: Daniel Keatings - 1st AA, 1st PH, 3th PB; Louis Smith - 2nd PH, Daniel Purvis - 12AA.
Europeans Qualification Videos
Some interesting videos from the top qualifiers have been put on youtube on 88YaYa88's channel.
Some of my favourite routines were Demyanchuk on floor I love the routine and the crowd seemed to as well, she just needs to put harder tumbling in. Her beam routine scored higher and she got in a really good rhythm with only minor wobbles, I think she has a chance at a medal maybe only bronze though. Diana Chelaru suprised me with a lot of upgrades from last year and her floor routine is very cute with some powerful tumbling, form just needs a little improving.
Demyanchuk Floor
Chelaru Floor
I have to mention Beth Tweddle's floor routine, the tumbling is very impressive and the leaps are neat but I prefer her routine from last year and I really wish she could dance! Her Bars routine I did really like it is full of difficult skills and combinations and I actually prefer it to Semenova's.
Hannah Whelan's (GBR) new floor is available to watch, an interesting note is that she is using Nastia Liukin's old floor music I think it suits Hannah, she's not quite Nastia but she does look more elegant and mature out there. Take a look for yourself here.
Some of my favourite routines were Demyanchuk on floor I love the routine and the crowd seemed to as well, she just needs to put harder tumbling in. Her beam routine scored higher and she got in a really good rhythm with only minor wobbles, I think she has a chance at a medal maybe only bronze though. Diana Chelaru suprised me with a lot of upgrades from last year and her floor routine is very cute with some powerful tumbling, form just needs a little improving.
Demyanchuk Floor
Chelaru Floor
I have to mention Beth Tweddle's floor routine, the tumbling is very impressive and the leaps are neat but I prefer her routine from last year and I really wish she could dance! Her Bars routine I did really like it is full of difficult skills and combinations and I actually prefer it to Semenova's.
Hannah Whelan's (GBR) new floor is available to watch, an interesting note is that she is using Nastia Liukin's old floor music I think it suits Hannah, she's not quite Nastia but she does look more elegant and mature out there. Take a look for yourself here.
Update on the All Around Final
Krisitna Goryunova will not compete in the final due to ankle injuries so this means ahe will be replaced by Ksenia Afanaseyeva who will get a second chnce to prove she can be consistent. This news cme from Krisitna's official site so i presume it is reliable.
Europeans - Qualification results - Event Finals
VAULT
1. Y. Berger RUS 14.287
2. J. Komrskova CZE 14.225
3. A. Kalashnyk UKR 14.112
4. K. Bui GER 14.087
5. A. Van Walleghem BEL 14.075
6. A. Kaeslin SUI 14.062
7. R. Downie GBR 14.025
8. W. Masela NED 14.025
Not too many suprises here apart from Kaeslin who I thought would be in 1st, but her 1st vault only scored 13.950 out of 16.300! so there must have been a fall as she scored around 15.00 at Cottbus. I'm happy to see Becky Downie make the final and it's also nice to see another Ukrainian there as well.
UNEVEN BARS
1. E. Tweddle GBR 15.275
2. A. Brinker GER 15.025
3. K. Afanaseva RUS 14.825
4. Y. Dufournet FRA 14.750
5. A. Koval UKR 14.625
6. V. Holenkova UKR 14.500
7. R. Downie GBR 14.475
8. K. Semenova RUS 14.425
Again not too may shocks apart from Semenova with her fall which I talked about in my previous post. Well done to Beth I hope she can win us a gold in the finals. Its good to see Dufournet hit and Afansyeva. This final looks competitive with any of them able to win if they hit, although highest D Scores were Tweddle (6.7) and Semenova (6.5),
BEAM
1. V. Millousi GRE 14.725
2. A. Tamirjan ROU 14.525
3. K. Semenova RUS 14.475
4. Y. Demyanchuk UKR 14.450
5. V. Maksuta ISR 14.375
6. G. Dragoi ROU 14.350
7. M. Petit FRA 14.050
8. Y. Zimmermann SUI 14.025
A few suprises for this apparatus first the top qualifier Millousi from Greece! I did not expect that but she had one on the highest D scores(6.0) and I would really like to see her routine. I also expected Izbasa to make the final but she was down in 28th place with 13.075 and also Dufournet who is only reserve and I assume her fom let her down as usual. Others who had trouble were Ferrari, Pihan and Kaeslin. I like Demyanchuk on beam she has nice form and difficult acro moves (Straight back). I think it is good that a lot of different nations will be represented in this final rather than the same countries like normal.
FLOOR
1. E. Tweddle GBR 14.975
2. S. Izbasa ROU 14.475
3. V. Ferrari ITA 14.425
4. K. Semenova RUS 14.400
5. A. Tamirjan ROU 14.200
6. A. Izurieta ESP 14.050
7. L. Parolari ITA 14.025
8. V. Holenkova UKR 13.950
I'm very impressed that Beth qualified in 1st again and I hope she can do the same on Sunday. Im glad Izbasa is up there it looks like her fitness has improved since Jesolo. Another who impressed me was Vanessa Ferrari qualifying in 3rd following reports that she didnt look good and being a last minute addition (I'm also glad she didnt compete the yurchenko double full). It is available to watch below from youtube:
Parolari's routine was a nice change with more dance and less tumbles (3):
1. Y. Berger RUS 14.287
2. J. Komrskova CZE 14.225
3. A. Kalashnyk UKR 14.112
4. K. Bui GER 14.087
5. A. Van Walleghem BEL 14.075
6. A. Kaeslin SUI 14.062
7. R. Downie GBR 14.025
8. W. Masela NED 14.025
Not too many suprises here apart from Kaeslin who I thought would be in 1st, but her 1st vault only scored 13.950 out of 16.300! so there must have been a fall as she scored around 15.00 at Cottbus. I'm happy to see Becky Downie make the final and it's also nice to see another Ukrainian there as well.
UNEVEN BARS
1. E. Tweddle GBR 15.275
2. A. Brinker GER 15.025
3. K. Afanaseva RUS 14.825
4. Y. Dufournet FRA 14.750
5. A. Koval UKR 14.625
6. V. Holenkova UKR 14.500
7. R. Downie GBR 14.475
8. K. Semenova RUS 14.425
Again not too may shocks apart from Semenova with her fall which I talked about in my previous post. Well done to Beth I hope she can win us a gold in the finals. Its good to see Dufournet hit and Afansyeva. This final looks competitive with any of them able to win if they hit, although highest D Scores were Tweddle (6.7) and Semenova (6.5),
BEAM
1. V. Millousi GRE 14.725
2. A. Tamirjan ROU 14.525
3. K. Semenova RUS 14.475
4. Y. Demyanchuk UKR 14.450
5. V. Maksuta ISR 14.375
6. G. Dragoi ROU 14.350
7. M. Petit FRA 14.050
8. Y. Zimmermann SUI 14.025
A few suprises for this apparatus first the top qualifier Millousi from Greece! I did not expect that but she had one on the highest D scores(6.0) and I would really like to see her routine. I also expected Izbasa to make the final but she was down in 28th place with 13.075 and also Dufournet who is only reserve and I assume her fom let her down as usual. Others who had trouble were Ferrari, Pihan and Kaeslin. I like Demyanchuk on beam she has nice form and difficult acro moves (Straight back). I think it is good that a lot of different nations will be represented in this final rather than the same countries like normal.
FLOOR
1. E. Tweddle GBR 14.975
2. S. Izbasa ROU 14.475
3. V. Ferrari ITA 14.425
4. K. Semenova RUS 14.400
5. A. Tamirjan ROU 14.200
6. A. Izurieta ESP 14.050
7. L. Parolari ITA 14.025
8. V. Holenkova UKR 13.950
I'm very impressed that Beth qualified in 1st again and I hope she can do the same on Sunday. Im glad Izbasa is up there it looks like her fitness has improved since Jesolo. Another who impressed me was Vanessa Ferrari qualifying in 3rd following reports that she didnt look good and being a last minute addition (I'm also glad she didnt compete the yurchenko double full). It is available to watch below from youtube:
Parolari's routine was a nice change with more dance and less tumbles (3):
Europeans - Womens Qualification Results All Around
The full results can be found here but a summary and my comments can be found below.
All Around
Top 8:
1. Semenova
2. Tamirjan
3. Van Walleghem
4. Demyanchuk
5. Downie
6. Holenkova
7. Brinker
8. Masela
Semenova and Tamirjan were close with Semenovas bars just getting her in front (and she had an off day) and these two were nore than a point ahead of third place. I really liked Semenova's new floor she has matured and there is lots more dance and cleaner tumbling and for these reasons she also qualified for the floor final in 4th. Her bars had lots of complex pirouttes with a few arched backs though and she had a fall on her pak which she repeated again and she still qualified for the bars final in 8th. Beam was solid only small wobbles and some nice connections including ondi into flick layout (14.475).
I havent yet seen Tamirjan's routines but she seemed to have a solid competition except bars which she will need to improve to keep up with Semenova if she hits.
I'm pleased to see Becky Downie, Holenkova and Demyanchuk qualify in the top8 as I like all 3 of their gymnastics and its nice to see Ukrainian gymnastics is not dead despite the problems. Van Walleghem has had a very good qualifier to be in 3rd and I hope she can repeat it in finals. Also a mention to Hannah Whelan from Great Britain who made the final in 9th place just ahead in Ferrari, Congratulations Hannah!
Noticeable ones who didnt make it:
Afanasyeva: Semenova and Goryunova qualified ahead of her therefore she will not compete in the all around final. With a score of 12.025 on beam that is not suprising, her first fall was on the free walkover+flick+pike back combination and sfter that she seemed to fall apart and lose concentration with a 2nd fall on her split leap 1/2 and big wobbles on the spin and onodi. She also got 13.250 on floor because of a fall on her double pike at the end but she did have some lovely dance work and leaps in the middle section. Although she may be able to gain a little compensation in the Bars final as she qualified in 3rd.
Some vieos are up on youtube here
All Around
Top 8:
1. Semenova
2. Tamirjan
3. Van Walleghem
4. Demyanchuk
5. Downie
6. Holenkova
7. Brinker
8. Masela
Semenova and Tamirjan were close with Semenovas bars just getting her in front (and she had an off day) and these two were nore than a point ahead of third place. I really liked Semenova's new floor she has matured and there is lots more dance and cleaner tumbling and for these reasons she also qualified for the floor final in 4th. Her bars had lots of complex pirouttes with a few arched backs though and she had a fall on her pak which she repeated again and she still qualified for the bars final in 8th. Beam was solid only small wobbles and some nice connections including ondi into flick layout (14.475).
I havent yet seen Tamirjan's routines but she seemed to have a solid competition except bars which she will need to improve to keep up with Semenova if she hits.
I'm pleased to see Becky Downie, Holenkova and Demyanchuk qualify in the top8 as I like all 3 of their gymnastics and its nice to see Ukrainian gymnastics is not dead despite the problems. Van Walleghem has had a very good qualifier to be in 3rd and I hope she can repeat it in finals. Also a mention to Hannah Whelan from Great Britain who made the final in 9th place just ahead in Ferrari, Congratulations Hannah!
Noticeable ones who didnt make it:
Afanasyeva: Semenova and Goryunova qualified ahead of her therefore she will not compete in the all around final. With a score of 12.025 on beam that is not suprising, her first fall was on the free walkover+flick+pike back combination and sfter that she seemed to fall apart and lose concentration with a 2nd fall on her split leap 1/2 and big wobbles on the spin and onodi. She also got 13.250 on floor because of a fall on her double pike at the end but she did have some lovely dance work and leaps in the middle section. Although she may be able to gain a little compensation in the Bars final as she qualified in 3rd.
Some vieos are up on youtube here
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Round Up of all the news from European Podium Training
There has been many reports now on podium training so I decided to do a summary of all of them. The links to the full reports are at the end of this post.
Summary
Russia
Paul Ziert on Intl Gymnast reports that the whole team looks better and seems happier - good news to us all!
Semenova - Training DLO on floor, beautiful beam, didnt make her handstands on bbut overall seemed well prepared and more medals seemed destined to be in her future.
Afanasyeva - The Couch Gymnast had some interesting comments "She was falling all over the place, although her dances work on beam and floor was gorgeous. She was even falling off beam, climbing up, standing there for a second, and then just dropping off! It was almost entertaining, except that she seemed to be in a FOUL mood. She only had smiles for Semenova, but when any of her coaches tried to address her she would either ignore them or scowl. I was very, very surprised. She still worked very hard, even getting up to do a few quick side somis after their session was over."
The Couch Gymnast also noted that both looking absolutely polished and lovely and both have become more womanly.
Yulia Berger - Vault looks good she seems to have upgraded them and difficult tumbles on floor.
Kristina Goryunova - Gym Media says that Goryunova & Berger both had good technique especially regarding acrobatics and techniques on the balance beam.
Romania
They basically took over the show, while the girls in their training rotation prowled nervously around them. Some evn asked for pics with Izbasa, who happily complied (couch gymnast).
Izbasa - only training floor and beam, is using her Olympics floor routine becasue she thinks it suits her personality better and with all the old tumbling although it was noted a little more strained than last year. Beam was solid but dance work not as good as Semenova.
Tamirjan - Looked good on all pieces even bars, trained a DLO on floor which was good when landed!, Fast paced, solid beam routine.
Chelaru - showed good skils and form, should be a factor in the all arounf, has 2 good vaults and is hoping to make the final on her favourite piece.
Dragoi - nice beam and bars, hoping for a place in the beam final.
Ukraine
Overall they had a lower level of skill but beautiful form and dance work.
Holenkova - "her work was pretty and she smiled all the time, laughed with her coach, but was working really hard."(couch gymnast)
France
Dufournet - Impressive tumbling, not so with the dance (suprise, suprise!)
Petit and Dufournet good on floor less impressive in beam.
Great Britain
Tweddle - She still has her Gienger + Markelov connection but also showed a new connection of Tkatchev + Tkatchev with half twist. On floor she had good form and high difficulty level.
Italy
Ferrari - She did compete all 4 pieces som with more success than others. On vault she trained a slightly scary looking yurchenko double full by all accounts. Beam was better with her nice plance mount. Bars seemed laboured and some mpves were being 'muscled'. Floor with her old music not the one with voices! Tumbles were tucked full-in, then 1 1/2 to a front full, tucked double back and ended with a piked double back. There have been commets of her body changing and a possible weight gain but she is a fighter so can't be counted out of anything.
The Netherlands
Wevers - more on her injury it happened on a balance beam dismount where she didnt end her legs! There will be no replacement for Wevers so the team will remain with 3 gymnasts. I pesonally think they should bring in Natasja Blind especially with her Bars routine.
Germany
Bui and Brinker - both showed a good performance. Bui had a good handspring straight with a half turn on vault.
Switzerland
Kaeslin - There were many comments on how good she looked not only on vault but on all 4 piees with solid routines so ahe wll definetley hope to be up there in the all around final.
Check out the links below which have so very good reports in more deail from podium training.
http://gymmedia.com/AG/ECh/Milan09/
http://www.intlgymnast.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=831:ziert-alert-european-championships-podium-training&catid=5:competition-reports&Itemid=164
http://couch-gymnast.blogspot.com/
Summary
Russia
Paul Ziert on Intl Gymnast reports that the whole team looks better and seems happier - good news to us all!
Semenova - Training DLO on floor, beautiful beam, didnt make her handstands on bbut overall seemed well prepared and more medals seemed destined to be in her future.
Afanasyeva - The Couch Gymnast had some interesting comments "She was falling all over the place, although her dances work on beam and floor was gorgeous. She was even falling off beam, climbing up, standing there for a second, and then just dropping off! It was almost entertaining, except that she seemed to be in a FOUL mood. She only had smiles for Semenova, but when any of her coaches tried to address her she would either ignore them or scowl. I was very, very surprised. She still worked very hard, even getting up to do a few quick side somis after their session was over."
The Couch Gymnast also noted that both looking absolutely polished and lovely and both have become more womanly.
Yulia Berger - Vault looks good she seems to have upgraded them and difficult tumbles on floor.
Kristina Goryunova - Gym Media says that Goryunova & Berger both had good technique especially regarding acrobatics and techniques on the balance beam.
Romania
They basically took over the show, while the girls in their training rotation prowled nervously around them. Some evn asked for pics with Izbasa, who happily complied (couch gymnast).
Izbasa - only training floor and beam, is using her Olympics floor routine becasue she thinks it suits her personality better and with all the old tumbling although it was noted a little more strained than last year. Beam was solid but dance work not as good as Semenova.
Tamirjan - Looked good on all pieces even bars, trained a DLO on floor which was good when landed!, Fast paced, solid beam routine.
Chelaru - showed good skils and form, should be a factor in the all arounf, has 2 good vaults and is hoping to make the final on her favourite piece.
Dragoi - nice beam and bars, hoping for a place in the beam final.
Ukraine
Overall they had a lower level of skill but beautiful form and dance work.
Holenkova - "her work was pretty and she smiled all the time, laughed with her coach, but was working really hard."(couch gymnast)
France
Dufournet - Impressive tumbling, not so with the dance (suprise, suprise!)
Petit and Dufournet good on floor less impressive in beam.
Great Britain
Tweddle - She still has her Gienger + Markelov connection but also showed a new connection of Tkatchev + Tkatchev with half twist. On floor she had good form and high difficulty level.
Italy
Ferrari - She did compete all 4 pieces som with more success than others. On vault she trained a slightly scary looking yurchenko double full by all accounts. Beam was better with her nice plance mount. Bars seemed laboured and some mpves were being 'muscled'. Floor with her old music not the one with voices! Tumbles were tucked full-in, then 1 1/2 to a front full, tucked double back and ended with a piked double back. There have been commets of her body changing and a possible weight gain but she is a fighter so can't be counted out of anything.
The Netherlands
Wevers - more on her injury it happened on a balance beam dismount where she didnt end her legs! There will be no replacement for Wevers so the team will remain with 3 gymnasts. I pesonally think they should bring in Natasja Blind especially with her Bars routine.
Germany
Bui and Brinker - both showed a good performance. Bui had a good handspring straight with a half turn on vault.
Switzerland
Kaeslin - There were many comments on how good she looked not only on vault but on all 4 piees with solid routines so ahe wll definetley hope to be up there in the all around final.
Check out the links below which have so very good reports in more deail from podium training.
http://gymmedia.com/AG/ECh/Milan09/
http://www.intlgymnast.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=831:ziert-alert-european-championships-podium-training&catid=5:competition-reports&Itemid=164
http://couch-gymnast.blogspot.com/
European Championships Podium Training
There are a few notes about podium training today on The All Around Blog. It was reported that Sandra Izabasa didn't train vault or uneven bars so I doubt she will be competing all around and also on the Fan Gymnastics Romanian blog it was posted that Diana Chelaru will compete the all around with Tamirjan.
Exciting news that Semenova may debut a DLO on floor but fell during podium training. The reporter noted that Semenova and Afanaseyeva looked good so hopefully they will both hit in finals!
Vanessa Ferrari was selected for the Italian team at the last minute and it seems like she is not quite ready from the comments and there is no news as to whether she will compete all around.
Another comment was that "Switzerland made good impression with solid routines." so this sounds good for Ariella Kaeslin and the vault final and maybe all around?
BAD NEWS - especially to me and The Netherlands, Lieke Wevers has had to withdraw due to a knee injury I was looking forward to her (hopefully) making the bars and maybe beam finals but that will not happen now so I wish her a speedy recovery.
The comment that stood out to me was "Women's Podium Training finished today in Milan without brilliance. Falls were common rather than isolated and the general skills level was not impressive," maybe the new code isnt quite doing its job improving form and removing falls I just hope the actual competition is better.
Exciting news that Semenova may debut a DLO on floor but fell during podium training. The reporter noted that Semenova and Afanaseyeva looked good so hopefully they will both hit in finals!
Vanessa Ferrari was selected for the Italian team at the last minute and it seems like she is not quite ready from the comments and there is no news as to whether she will compete all around.
Another comment was that "Switzerland made good impression with solid routines." so this sounds good for Ariella Kaeslin and the vault final and maybe all around?
BAD NEWS - especially to me and The Netherlands, Lieke Wevers has had to withdraw due to a knee injury I was looking forward to her (hopefully) making the bars and maybe beam finals but that will not happen now so I wish her a speedy recovery.
The comment that stood out to me was "Women's Podium Training finished today in Milan without brilliance. Falls were common rather than isolated and the general skills level was not impressive," maybe the new code isnt quite doing its job improving form and removing falls I just hope the actual competition is better.
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
European Championships Live Online
Since I found out the BBC will not be covering the Europeans I've been trying to find websites where I can watch it live online. On a forum there was a comment reporting that through this link on the TVSLO2 Slovenian channel you will be able to watch it live on Saturday.
There is also the possiblity on the Romanian Tv Channel TVR2 online here that the gymnastics will be on I presume for the finals on Saturday ans Sunday, but I thinkyou have to download a specific player perhaps te VLC player.
If any1 knows anywhere else where I can watch it live please could you let me know - Thanks!
There is also the possiblity on the Romanian Tv Channel TVR2 online here that the gymnastics will be on I presume for the finals on Saturday ans Sunday, but I thinkyou have to download a specific player perhaps te VLC player.
If any1 knows anywhere else where I can watch it live please could you let me know - Thanks!
European Gymnastics Championships Predictions
These are my predictions for the top 8 qualifiers for each of the finals at the upcoming Europeans (not in any order):
All Around
Ksenia Semenova, Ksenia Afanaseyeva, Ana-Maria Tamirjan, Lia Parolari, Becky Downie, Youna Dufournet, Marine Petit, Kim Bui. (Other possibles: Sandra Izbasa, Diana Chelaru, Vanessa Ferrari, Marta Pihan-Kulesza, Yana Demyanchuk).
Vault
Aagje Wallaghem, Ariella Kaeslin, Youna Dufournet,Becky Downie, Diana Chelaru, Yasmin Zimmerman, Yulia Berger, Kim Bui.
Bars
Ksenia Semonova, Beth Tweddle, Anastasia Koval, Youna Dufournet, Anja Brinker, Becky Downie, Paola Galante, Vanessa Ferrari. (Other possibles could be Lia Parolari, Lieke Wevers).
Beam
Sandra Izbasa, Ksenia Semenova, Youna Dufournet, Marta Pihan-Kulesza, Ana-Maria Tamirjan, Lieke Wevers, Vanessa Ferrari, Yana Demyanchuk. (Other possibles: Gabriela Dragoi, Ksenia Afanaseyeva, Marine Petit).
Floor
Sandra Izbasa, Beth Tweddle, Ksenia Afanaseyeva, Ana-Maria Tamirjan, Youna Dufournet, Kim Bui, Kristina Goryunova,Becky Downie. (Other possibles: Yana Demyanchuk, Naomi Ruiz)
All Around
Ksenia Semenova, Ksenia Afanaseyeva, Ana-Maria Tamirjan, Lia Parolari, Becky Downie, Youna Dufournet, Marine Petit, Kim Bui. (Other possibles: Sandra Izbasa, Diana Chelaru, Vanessa Ferrari, Marta Pihan-Kulesza, Yana Demyanchuk).
Vault
Aagje Wallaghem, Ariella Kaeslin, Youna Dufournet,Becky Downie, Diana Chelaru, Yasmin Zimmerman, Yulia Berger, Kim Bui.
Bars
Ksenia Semonova, Beth Tweddle, Anastasia Koval, Youna Dufournet, Anja Brinker, Becky Downie, Paola Galante, Vanessa Ferrari. (Other possibles could be Lia Parolari, Lieke Wevers).
Beam
Sandra Izbasa, Ksenia Semenova, Youna Dufournet, Marta Pihan-Kulesza, Ana-Maria Tamirjan, Lieke Wevers, Vanessa Ferrari, Yana Demyanchuk. (Other possibles: Gabriela Dragoi, Ksenia Afanaseyeva, Marine Petit).
Floor
Sandra Izbasa, Beth Tweddle, Ksenia Afanaseyeva, Ana-Maria Tamirjan, Youna Dufournet, Kim Bui, Kristina Goryunova,Becky Downie. (Other possibles: Yana Demyanchuk, Naomi Ruiz)
Personally I hope Becky Downie wins the All Around because I'm British, but if not I want Sandra Izbasa to win if she does 4 pieces if not maybe Semenova. For vault I think Kaeslin will win but I hope Dufournet performs well enough for a medal in vault, bars or floor. I want Beth Tweddle to win bars but I'm not sure about her consistency and handstands! So maybe Koval or Semenova will win but there are lots of possibilities. The Beam final will probably come down to consistency so I think a Romanian will win or Semenova. As long as Izbasa hits on floor and is in better shape than at Jesolo I think she should win but there will be other contenders like Bui, Tamirjan and the Russians if she makes mistakes.
Saturday, 28 March 2009
Icelandic Gymnasts at the Europeans
This week the youtube channel alliboga has put videos up of the 4 National Team members from Iceland as they prepare for the upcoming European Championships. There is not much news around about gymnasts from lesser known countries such as Iceland so I thought I would give them a mention and wish them luck at the Europeans.
The gymnasts are Thelma Rut Hermannsdóttir, Fríða Rún Einarsdóttir, Dóra Sigurbjörg Guðmundsdóttir and Sigrún Dís Tryggvadóttir. Their best pieces seem to be floor and beam where they have reasonable start values. Bars I think is their worst piece and they all do somersault vaults with good from. Below is their rotation on beam the rest of their routines can seen on alliboga's channel.
The gymnasts are Thelma Rut Hermannsdóttir, Fríða Rún Einarsdóttir, Dóra Sigurbjörg Guðmundsdóttir and Sigrún Dís Tryggvadóttir. Their best pieces seem to be floor and beam where they have reasonable start values. Bars I think is their worst piece and they all do somersault vaults with good from. Below is their rotation on beam the rest of their routines can seen on alliboga's channel.
Before they were famous...
I decided to post some photos of European gymnasts before they were famous most of whom will feature at the upcoming European championships but some that are just for fun!
Ksenia Semenova age 12 at the RTB Pokal 2004 - Check out that Handstand!
Anja Brinker age 13 RTB Pokal 2004 & German Olympian Joeline Mobius age 12 at German Youth Champs 2004
Yvette Moshage age 9 NK Instap
Violetta Malikova age 12 & Oksana Chusovitina
Kristina Goryunova & Viktoria Komova
Ekaterina Kramarenko
Sanne & Lieke Wevers Linda Stampfli from Switzerland
Ksenia Semenova age 12 at the RTB Pokal 2004 - Check out that Handstand!
Anja Brinker age 13 RTB Pokal 2004 & German Olympian Joeline Mobius age 12 at German Youth Champs 2004
Yvette Moshage age 9 NK Instap
Violetta Malikova age 12 & Oksana Chusovitina
Kristina Goryunova & Viktoria Komova
Ekaterina Kramarenko
Sanne & Lieke Wevers Linda Stampfli from Switzerland
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
3rd Post in the Gymnast Series - Katja Roll
Katja was born in 1995 and trains at TG Söllingen with her sister Maike who is a first year senior. In 2008 Katja placed 5th All Around and earnd a silver medal on floor and a bronze on beam at the German youth championship 2008 in the AK13 category. She doesn't have the highest difficulty but has really good form and a nice style on floor. I really like her floor routines, her new routine can be seen on the website German Gymnastics which also has lots of videos of the German seniors and juniors.
Below is her beam routine from Torneig Vic 2007 where she won silver all aroud. Apart from the fall the routine has potential to get a good score.
She has had an injury recently so this could be why she hasn't increased her difficulty. Although she has still been competing in the BundesLiga for her club where she usually does all 4 pieces.
In the 2008 Deutschland Pokal team competition, Katja was a member of the silver placed team and she had the highest score of all the 13 year olds with 47.00P. At the
International Bänfer Cup 2008 out of nearly 40 gymnasts from Germany, Portugal, Slovenia and Romania Katja earned a score of of 50.85P and a bronze medal as one of the youngest gymnasts.
Cottbus 2009 Results
I decided not to report much on Cottbus because every1 else was but full results can be found here. I wasnt really impressed with the Bars competition the scores seemed low apart from Anja Brinker's routine which looked clean and tidy and I especially liked her first combination of toe on tkatchev into pak. It was a shame about Lieke Wevers' bars routine she seemed to loose her grip at the start but she made up for it in the Beam final earning a silver medal.
I also liked Sui Lu on floor it wasn't as exciting as some of the other chinese gymnasts on floor but she has good form and her triple twist and triple spin were very nice. She doen't seem to have her full difficulty back from last year and she only competed floor so maybe she has been injured. I look forward to seeing her at chinese nationals and other international comps this year.
Lots of videos from Cottbus are on the 2008agwc channel on youtube.
I also liked Sui Lu on floor it wasn't as exciting as some of the other chinese gymnasts on floor but she has good form and her triple twist and triple spin were very nice. She doen't seem to have her full difficulty back from last year and she only competed floor so maybe she has been injured. I look forward to seeing her at chinese nationals and other international comps this year.
Lots of videos from Cottbus are on the 2008agwc channel on youtube.
Vanessa Ferrari
International Gymnast reports that Vanessa Ferrari may still compete at the European Championships even though she is not on the official roster. Coach Enrico Casella told IG on Saturday "Vanessa is [doing] very well in her recovery process and is not yet decided if she will compete or not in Milan," said Casella, who trains Ferrari in nearby Brixia. "We'll make a decision at the last minute, and it may be possible to make a big surprise to everyone."
This year Ferrari has competed Vault, Bars and Beam in Serie A for her club Brixia.
There is also a new book called "Polvere di Magnesio" ("Chalk") available that features stories from lots of Italy's famous gymnasts and their personal struggles, more information here.
This year Ferrari has competed Vault, Bars and Beam in Serie A for her club Brixia.
There is also a new book called "Polvere di Magnesio" ("Chalk") available that features stories from lots of Italy's famous gymnasts and their personal struggles, more information here.
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Romanian Gymnastics Training Documentary
To go with my earlier post I found this Documentary about Onesti on a message board. The first part I don't really understand but it has Octavian Belu and Andreea Raducan being interviewed, but the later parts have interviews with Larisa Iordache and Diana Bulimar who seems very cute to me! There is also training clips with the National Junior Team and younger girls. Translations of any of the video would be greatly appreciated.
British Gymnastics has also published the event finals results from this weekends friendly they are available here.
Summary
Vault
1. Larisa Iordache Romania 13.900
2. Nicole Hibbert Great Britain 13.875
3. Jocelyn Hunt Great Britain 13.850
Bars
1. Nicole Hibbert Great Britain 13.550
2. Danusia Francis Great Britain 13.100
3. Diana Bulimar Romania 13.050
Beam
1. Danusia Francis Great Britain 14.300
2. Larisa Iordache Romania 13.500
3. Diana Bulimar Romania 13.200
Floor
1. Diana Bulimar Romania 14.200
1. Larisa Iordache Romania 14.200
3. Danusia Francis Great Britain 13.650
British Gymnastics has also published the event finals results from this weekends friendly they are available here.
Summary
Vault
1. Larisa Iordache Romania 13.900
2. Nicole Hibbert Great Britain 13.875
3. Jocelyn Hunt Great Britain 13.850
Bars
1. Nicole Hibbert Great Britain 13.550
2. Danusia Francis Great Britain 13.100
3. Diana Bulimar Romania 13.050
Beam
1. Danusia Francis Great Britain 14.300
2. Larisa Iordache Romania 13.500
3. Diana Bulimar Romania 13.200
Floor
1. Diana Bulimar Romania 14.200
1. Larisa Iordache Romania 14.200
3. Danusia Francis Great Britain 13.650
GBR Vs ROM Friendly
It seems that the friendly between the juniors was not cancelled like IG reported. It took place this weekend in Northern Ireland. The results were:
Team
1. Great Britain 160.250
2. Romania 157.400
All Around
1. Danusia Francis GBR 54.350
2. Diana Bulimar ROM 53.500
3. Nicole Hibbert GBR 53.300
4. Larisa Iordache ROM 53.000
5. Lizzie Beddoe GBR 51.150
6. Jessica Hogg GBR 51.150
7. Madalina Neagu ROM 50.900
8. Jocelyn Hunt GBR 50.000
9. Ruby Straw GBR 49.200
10. Ana Maria Baicu ROM 33.550
11. Adina Bordeianu ROM 22.400
This looks good for the British team although I know the Romania team were a lot younger and more inexperienced. I really like the Romanian juniors Diana, Larisa and Madalina. I love Diana and Larisa's floor routines I just hope Larisa has improved her bars and Diana needs to get more stable on beam.
Team
1. Great Britain 160.250
2. Romania 157.400
All Around
1. Danusia Francis GBR 54.350
2. Diana Bulimar ROM 53.500
3. Nicole Hibbert GBR 53.300
4. Larisa Iordache ROM 53.000
5. Lizzie Beddoe GBR 51.150
6. Jessica Hogg GBR 51.150
7. Madalina Neagu ROM 50.900
8. Jocelyn Hunt GBR 50.000
9. Ruby Straw GBR 49.200
10. Ana Maria Baicu ROM 33.550
11. Adina Bordeianu ROM 22.400
This looks good for the British team although I know the Romania team were a lot younger and more inexperienced. I really like the Romanian juniors Diana, Larisa and Madalina. I love Diana and Larisa's floor routines I just hope Larisa has improved her bars and Diana needs to get more stable on beam.
Friday, 20 March 2009
2nd Post in the Gymnast Series
ROXANA POPA
She was born in 1997 in Constanta, Romania where she trained until she was 9 years old and then she moved to Spain where she now trains in Madrid at CGA Pozuelo and is one of their most promising gymnasts.
She competes in the alevin category where she was awarded the highest score at the Third Tournament of the Federation of Gymnastics Madrid - 50.60 and won gold on all 4 apparatus. Her coach Silvia García believes there is a real opportunities to reach the national team of Spain. Roxana was granted Spanish Citizenship by the Government of Spain in June 2008 and has decided to compete for them rather than Romania.
Last year a programme was made about her which is available here. It is in Spanish but has interesting features including training videos and competition routines as well as interviews with various people including Jesus Carballo the Spanish National Coach. At the end of the video it shows her winning 4 Golds at the Individual National Championships.
Below from youtube is a video of her routines at the National Championships I don't think she competed full difficulty as I've seen her compete harder skils but I still like her floor and she gets into a nice rhythm on beam.
She was born in 1997 in Constanta, Romania where she trained until she was 9 years old and then she moved to Spain where she now trains in Madrid at CGA Pozuelo and is one of their most promising gymnasts.She competes in the alevin category where she was awarded the highest score at the Third Tournament of the Federation of Gymnastics Madrid - 50.60 and won gold on all 4 apparatus. Her coach Silvia García believes there is a real opportunities to reach the national team of Spain. Roxana was granted Spanish Citizenship by the Government of Spain in June 2008 and has decided to compete for them rather than Romania.
Last year a programme was made about her which is available here. It is in Spanish but has interesting features including training videos and competition routines as well as interviews with various people including Jesus Carballo the Spanish National Coach. At the end of the video it shows her winning 4 Golds at the Individual National Championships.
Below from youtube is a video of her routines at the National Championships I don't think she competed full difficulty as I've seen her compete harder skils but I still like her floor and she gets into a nice rhythm on beam.
Thursday, 19 March 2009
First Post in the Gymnast Series
VENUS AND ANGEL ROMAEO
The sisters train at Cardiff Central in Wales under coach Tracey Skirton.
Venus will be 13 this year and has already has a successful gymnastics career being British Espoir Champion on Vault at age 12 and British Schools Champion 2008. She currently has 28 golds to her name!
Angel will be 12 this year and makes her British Championship debut in the Espoir division. She was British National Champion at age 10 and 11 and has been even more successful than her sister with 40 gold medals!
This year they will compete against each other at the British Championships so it will be interesting to see who comes out on top. Last year in the run up to the Olympic Games they were both featured in a BBC programme called Olympic Dreams focusing on Britains medals hopes for 2012. The 2 segments below features their whole family - very dedicated or a little obsessive what do you think?
The rest of the programme can be seen on youtube and there is also a video of them working legs at age 6 and 5 Check it out!
The sisters train at Cardiff Central in Wales under coach Tracey Skirton.
Venus will be 13 this year and has already has a successful gymnastics career being British Espoir Champion on Vault at age 12 and British Schools Champion 2008. She currently has 28 golds to her name!
Angel will be 12 this year and makes her British Championship debut in the Espoir division. She was British National Champion at age 10 and 11 and has been even more successful than her sister with 40 gold medals!
This year they will compete against each other at the British Championships so it will be interesting to see who comes out on top. Last year in the run up to the Olympic Games they were both featured in a BBC programme called Olympic Dreams focusing on Britains medals hopes for 2012. The 2 segments below features their whole family - very dedicated or a little obsessive what do you think?
The rest of the programme can be seen on youtube and there is also a video of them working legs at age 6 and 5 Check it out!
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
European Gymnasts Series
I've decided to start a series of posts featuring relatively unknown junior gymnasts and new senior gymnasts from europe especially those from countries who don't get a lot of recognition but work just as hard as everyone else. If any1 has any gymnasts who they think should be included let me know and I will try my best to get information on them.
Spanish Championships
This weekend in Madrid there is the Spanish Championships where the women compete for their regions. Competitors include Mercedes Alcaide, Anna Serra, Vanesa Sánchez, Lenika de Simone and Naomi Ruiz. Below is a video of Lenika training this week at the High Performance Centre in Madrid. I think she looks well prepared so hopefully she will do herself justice this weekend.
Gymnastics Friendly GBR vs ROM March 21 Cancelled
This weekend in Northern Ireland there was meant to be is a gymnastics friendly between the Juniors of Great Britain and Romania. However International Gymnast reports here that it has been cancelled because Romania do not have a team to bring. This is a real shame I hope this is just a short term thing perhaps with injuries and Romania's Juniors are back soon. Anyone else have any more information?
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Cottbus 2009
The tournament of masters in Cottbus will take place on 20-22 March. The entries for the Women's Competition only includes 32 participants with Romania, Russia, Great Briatain and France among others not sending anyone. Particpants of interest include Hu Yuhong and Sui Lu of China. Sui Lu has a difficult beam routine including a barani, front pike and double pike dismount and a very nice floor routine with a back 2 and 1/2 twist into front layout with full twist.
Representing Brazil will be Bruna Leal and Ethiene Franco and for Belgium Jolien Eggermont and Aagje Vanwalleghem. Jolien has a very expressive floor routine with good tumbling.
The Netherlands team will be Wyomi Masela and Lieke Wevers. Lieke is Sanne Wevers twin sister and has strong routines on bars and beam and an elegant floor routine. Like her sister she has difficult turns on beam. This is her bars routine from the recent Dutch Euro Trials even though she fell she has potential to score highly and I hope she gets into the final this weekend.
UPDATE: Lieke Wevers has been selected to the Netherlands Team for the Europeans in April along with Wyomi Masela, Marya Kroonen and Marrit Ewald.
Representing Brazil will be Bruna Leal and Ethiene Franco and for Belgium Jolien Eggermont and Aagje Vanwalleghem. Jolien has a very expressive floor routine with good tumbling.
The Netherlands team will be Wyomi Masela and Lieke Wevers. Lieke is Sanne Wevers twin sister and has strong routines on bars and beam and an elegant floor routine. Like her sister she has difficult turns on beam. This is her bars routine from the recent Dutch Euro Trials even though she fell she has potential to score highly and I hope she gets into the final this weekend.
UPDATE: Lieke Wevers has been selected to the Netherlands Team for the Europeans in April along with Wyomi Masela, Marya Kroonen and Marrit Ewald.
Jesolo 2009 Results
Im not going into detail about the results as many blogs have already reported them and all results can be found here
http://www.federginnastica.it/immagini/archivio/articoli/foto_articolo_4468.pdf
http://www.federginnastica.it/immagini/archivio/articoli/foto_articolo_4470.pdf
Instead I thought I would give some information on the lesser known gymnasts from Great Britain that competed. One of my favourite juniors is Lizzie Beddoe I have watched her compete since her first grades competitions when she was nine and I have always loved her style and form. Now she is finally age eligible for International Junior Competitons and made her debut for Great Britain. She was Nationl champion at age 9,10,11 and 13 years old and is coached by Tracey Skirton and is a member of the Welsh Squad. This is her bars routine from Jesolo
She doesnt yet have high difficulty but I love te way she performs especially on floor. This is her floor routine when she was 11. I will post her floor from jesolo when it appears on youtube.
http://www.federginnastica.it/immagini/archivio/articoli/foto_articolo_4468.pdf
http://www.federginnastica.it/immagini/archivio/articoli/foto_articolo_4470.pdf
Instead I thought I would give some information on the lesser known gymnasts from Great Britain that competed. One of my favourite juniors is Lizzie Beddoe I have watched her compete since her first grades competitions when she was nine and I have always loved her style and form. Now she is finally age eligible for International Junior Competitons and made her debut for Great Britain. She was Nationl champion at age 9,10,11 and 13 years old and is coached by Tracey Skirton and is a member of the Welsh Squad. This is her bars routine from Jesolo
She doesnt yet have high difficulty but I love te way she performs especially on floor. This is her floor routine when she was 11. I will post her floor from jesolo when it appears on youtube.
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