Showing posts with label all around. Show all posts
Showing posts with label all around. Show all posts

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Coverage of AA

GYMANGELS has it here.




Russian coaches on Semenova and Afanasyeva's victory

OK this is really hard to make sense of, but here's what I can understand:

Ksenia Semenova, from near Moscow, became the all-around European champion. In second place was her friend - Ksenia Afanasyeva. They both train with Marina Nazarovoj.

It seems that even Marina Nazarovoj has not taken in what has happened. She is completely exhausted, hardly speaking.

The girls have not simply won. They have done much more than is possible. They have not only won the European championships, they shown the absolute result under the regulations - only two gymnasts per country. One took the gold, the other - silver!

Valentina Rodionenko's state trainer cries: "How many humiliations were there after the Olympic games! And there will be no magic wands - there will be times of victory, but not before times of defeat. [something about Alexandrov] He (Alexandrov) has created a miracle - which the Russian gymnasts have never managed - not to be confused with the Soviets.

Semenova began with bars. She fell in qualifications, so we simplified a combination. It was not a case of reproaches, but of tactics. In the all-around it is not necessary to have full difficulty to win. She got a good score - 14.925. Then she came to the beam. I'm not sure, but it seemed that the hall was dead silent while Semenova performed. She made a few errors, but very small ones. 14.8, and she was comfortably in the lead. After her bar routine, Afanasyeva was in second.

Many, last year, have considered that Semenova has acted on her best pieces. But they have not seen the new routines? of the new champion. Ksenia loves her floor routine (I think) and in Bryansk had a leotard to show the routine more brightly, but also in a feminine way. (Argh, translation muddly. sorry.) However, that leotard did not come under the regulations (I wonder what it was!!) so she could not wear it at the European championships. After floor Semenova had 43.95. And it was almost quiet. Her vault - all she had to do was land it accurately. No more than that.

Afanasyeva had fallen on beam to take the score of 13.575. But the lead she had gained in the first half of the competition allowed her to stay in second.

And then there was the last rotation. Semenova vaulted near the start. 14.225 - and she was unbeatable! In some minutes the winner of the silver medal was known. With Afanasyeva's finishing performance, "unique, the most complicated and extraordinarily expressive," as one of our colleagues from a gymmedia site put it, her floor exercise put her up to 57.6.

And we have burst into tears and have burst out laughing...

SEMENOVA EUROPEAN AA CHAMPION!!!!!!!!

And Afanasyeva got put in because Goryunova was injured and came in second behind her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Third was Ariella Kaeslin.

On the men's side, Yuri Ryazanov (Russia) was 3rd:D; Fabian Hambüchen first and Daniel Keatings from GBR second.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Aliya Mustafina wins Russian Championships!!!

Aliya Mustafina 58.55
Ksenia Semenova 58.2
Tatiana Nabieva 56.9
Anna Dementyeva 55.55
Kristina Goryunova 55.55
Ksenia Afanasyeva 55.2

Alexandrov said, "I cannot say these results were unexpected. After the Olympics both Ksenias were injured and could not train to full capacity, although they worked a lot. Therefore the errors which they made here could be predicted. Nothing dreadful - it is all reparable. In particular, Ksenia Semenova was leading the competition in three rotations of the competition - she made mistakes only in the floor exercise, where she dropped to second. The rules were adhered to rigidly, with deductions for the slightest error. The results of the younger ones also did not surprise me. The girls are very diligent and hardworking. Before this championship, there was one goal - to get to the national team. This has been achieved. But for me is the important problem - we cannot take the girls born in 1994 to the Europeans. So we have only two Olympians - Semenova and Afanasyeva. We also have Goryunova, who is improving, but that is still not enough. Berger also made mistakes. [I can't understand the last sentence.]
Men's All-Around:
Yuri Ryazanov 88.225
Vladimir Alennikova 86.775
Dmitry Barkalov 86.325
Anton Lihovitsky 85.825
Anton Neudakin 85.0
Nikita Ignatyev 84.4

Maxim Devyatovskim ended up 25th :O he is not doing well is he. But Alexandrov is not giving up on him yet, saying, "However, I think that we should not dismiss Maxim. He is still not over the tragedy which has shaken him (the death of his mother), and serious work should help. He has sufficient potential."
Alexandrov did not comment on who would prepare for the European team, but that it would be decided after the event finals tomorrow.