Rodionenko sums up the Russian championships

"We have held the first competitions of a new season. And not just a new season, but an Olympic quadrennium. The first competitions with the new rules put in place by the FIG. The first thing I wanted to see in these championships is new programs, and how the gymnasts cope with these new combinations. We have intentionally held these championships with the full program (team, all around and event finals), as it was important to look at the structure under this format.(?) It is also necessary that each personal trainer, including those who are not working with the national team, to understand the format - three gymnasts per event (for team competition). Secondly, we have included in the championships gymnasts born in the year 1994, that is, gymnasts who are one year too young for senior competition. We have done this intentionally, to prepare them. I am very happy; the younger ones have brought variety and freshness."

Are there any areas in which you are dissatisfied?

"Firstly, there are weak areas, which should be taken seriously. For the women, it is the vault; for the men, the vault and pommel horse."

Speaking of the men, do you wish to mention the weakness on rings? For example, Pluzhnikov's score?

"Rings is an apparatus where the rules are very different now. And, owing to these rule changes, the scores will change also. For example, specialist Pluzhnikov's routine last year had a difficulty score of 7.3, and now it is about 6.6. All-arounder Ryazanov had a difficulty of 5.9 and now it is 6.2. So it is not possible to draw such unequivocal conclusions, as you are doing."

In your opinion, why is there a problem with the formation of the women's European team?

"We already spoke of the demographic "hole" of the start of the 1990's. The country left this hole at the start of 1994.(???) But we cannot take the fifteen-year-olds to the European championships. I am disturbed more by other situations. Here, the 12-16 year olds in a team are much stronger than the other gymnasts."

Do you think it is necessary to work more on the difficulty of the routines?
"I think the routines are ready in terms of difficulty. Now it is necessary to work on the execution."

Russian Championships - Event finals - Semenova wins bars and floor

Ksenia Semenova won the gold on uneven bars and floor exercise yesterday at the Russian Championships, posting the highest score of the competition on the bars. Yulia Berger won the vault, and all-around champion Aliya Mustafina tied with Afanasyeva for the balance beam.

Results - Women

VAULT
Yulia Berger 14.562
Kristina Goryunova 13.65
Anna Dementyeva 13.475
Ramilja Musin 13.375
Yekaterina Korodumova 13.325
Maria Chibiskova 13.312
Tatiana Nabieva 7.287
Alexandra Telitsina 6.9

UNEVEN BARS
Ksenia Semenova 15.8
Aliya Mustafina 15.3
Ksenia Afanasyeva 14.7
Tatiana Nabieva 14.5
Yulia Berger 14.25
Kristina Goryunova 14.125
Anna Dementyeva 14.0
Yekaterina Kurbatov 13.65

BEAM
Aliya Mustafina and Ksenia Afanasyeva 14.95
Ksenia Semenova 14.725
Kristina Goryunova 14.675
Diana Sapronova 13.85
Svetlana Klyukina 13.475
Tatiana Solovyeva 13.425
Maria Chibiskova 11.4

FLOOR
Ksenia Semenova 14.925
Kristina Goryunova 14.825
Aliya Mustafina 14.7
Anna Dementyeva 14.275
Anna Myzdrikova 14.2
Ksenia Afanasyeva 13.85
Yulia Berger 13.825
Tatiana Solovyeva 12.675

MEN

POMMEL HORSE
Andrei Perevoznikov 15.0
Andrei Lihovitsky 14.375
Dmitry Stoljarov 13.7

RINGS
Konstantin Pluzhnikov 15.475
Yuri Ryazanov 15.225
Ruslan Nigmadzjanov 14.425

VAULT
Denis Abljazin 15.825
Anton Golotsutskov 15.737
Anton Lobachyov 15.625

PARALLEL BARS
Nikolai Kryukov 15.475
Maxim Devyatovsky 14.8 (finally!)
Nikita Ignatyev 14.55

HIGH BAR
Sergei Horohordin 15.25
Yuri Ryazanov 15.075
Maxim Devyatovsky 14.6

FLOOR
Yuri Ryazanov (Vladimir) 14.85
Anton Golotsutskov 14.725
Anton Neudakina 14.625
Vladimir Olennikov 14.5
Dmitry Gogotov 13.35
Anton Lobachyov 13.15
Nikita Ignatyev 13.075
Michael Bodnar 12.55

Moscow team wins Russian Championships and 2009 Euro team named

In first place was the team from Moscow with 17.05 points (Aliya Mustafina, Yulia Berger, Anna Myzdrikova, Maria Chibiskova, Elena Syrnikova and ZAMO!!! yay!!!) Second was from the Central Federal district, 169.1 points (Ksenia Afanasyeva, Ksenia Semenova, Dariya Goncharov, Tamara Kohadze, Anastas Cherepina, Evgenia Klimov) and third from Petersburg with 161.4 points (Tatiana Nabieva, Diana Sapronova, Irina Sazonov, Olga Alekseeva, Ekaterina Krylova and Alina Rybalova).
The Moscow and Central teams fought it out well for first place, the Ksenias leading their team, and it wasn't until the last rotation that Moscow came out on top. Afanasyeva made errors on the balance beam, costing her team one and a half points (ouch! but she was sick so we forgive her). Even after this, they were still in the lead! And then came the floor exercise. For the Moscow team to win, they would need to score an average of 14.5 points. Double world all-around champion Yuri Korolev was watching (the representative of the Central team) and he remarked, "It is not possible. They won't win."

First up was Yulia Berger from the CSKA school, trained by Elena and Vladimir Kuznetsov. He has said about her in the past, "She is talented, but very timid. The main thing to overcome is her fear, and then she will begin to grow as a gymnast." And, it seems as though this has been accomplished. Yulia got to the national team last year. Most of the time she remained in the shadows, training, but wasn't involved in any major competitions. She started her team off with a 14.4. She did not have quite enough difficulty, but got her team off to a great start.

Next was fifteen-year-old Aliya Mustafina. She scored a 14.8! And finally was Anna Myzdrikova. Frankly speaking, it was difficult to believe that Anna would hold up under such pressure. This would be a test not only of her ability, but also of stability. She also scored a 14.8! She did not only perform under the pressure, but performed with honour! In one rotation, the Moscow team won back over two points.
Competing for the Central team on floor were the two Ksenias and Dariya Goncharov, but they could not retake the lead.

The team which placed fourth was from the Volga region, including Anna Dementyeva, Kristina Goryunova, and Svetlana Klyukina (who has recovered from her injuries).

At the end of the competition, the national trainer Alexandrov was very happy. "I am pleased with the results, first of all because we can look at the competitive readiness of teh gymnasts. They work on competitions, work on results. Readiness for the beginning of the international season is visible.

He named Ksenia Semenova, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Kristina Goryunova and Yulia Berger for the European team - the Ksenias and Kristina as all-arounders, and Yulia to compete on vault and floor. "I want to make particular not of Semenova and Afanasyeva - they are the unconditional leaders of this national team. They are very hardworking, very focused on results. Their results here are despite the injuries which plagued them previously. Afanasyeva was not on the podium for the all-around only because she was sick. Also look at Anna Myzdrikova's performance which clinched the victory for the Moscow team - she has performed for the first time as required as a member of the national team. She still needs to prove herself.."

(Sorry about the last bit being muddly - I couldn't quite understand it.)

Results of the men's team competition:

Central Region - 262.45 (Dmitry Barkalov, Timur Kuzmin, Anton Neudakin, Alexander Kalabin, Sergei Khorokhorkin, Yuri Ryazanov)
Siberia - 256.8 (Andrei Cherkasov, Maxin Devyatovsky, Anton Golotsutskov, Nikita Ignatyev, Konstantin Pluzhnikov)
Moscow - 254.225 (Mikhail Bodnar, Emin Garbiov, Dmitry Gogotov, Vladimir Olennikov, Dmitry Stolyarov, Dmitry Takubovsky)