Europeans coming closer!!

It's been a while since my last entry...European Championships are only a few days away!!! I hope coverage goes up quickly...we get NOTHING here in NZ.

Adrian Stan (Great Britain): “This line up of four gymnasts (Tweddle, Downie, Hannah Whelan, Rebecca Wing) offers us the most balance and possibilities to achieve the targets we set out for. Beth Tweddle has got real chances to medal on both Asymmetric Bars and Floor whilst we should also not minimize the chances of Becky Downie in the All-around, Vault and Bars; depending on the opposition's performance obviously. With the changes to the code of points in the first year of the new Olympic cycle, normally the European standard won’t be quite as high as at the end of the cycle, nevertheless we except that Russia will be very strong and having seen Romania recently we know they will be very competitive, as will France.”

Romania seems hopeful of success even though all their gymnasts are injured, including Sandra. Nooo Sandra, you can't be injured!!! I guess that's why her fx at Jesolo was pretty bad. Gabriela Dragoi and Anamaria Tamarjan are also injured. Grrrr. On the men's side, Razvan Selariu has had to withdraw due to a recurring back problem.

Aljaz Pegan from Slovakia withdrew because of a wrist injury.

And Vanessa Ferrari is competing after all!!! With her will be Emily Army, Lia Parolari and new senior Paola Galante with her new move on UB ( inward stalder? to tkatchev). She missed it last year at JunEuros but caught it at Jesolo.
At the Italian Clubs earlier on this year, Vanessa competed only a yurchenko full and didn't do her Comaneci on bars. I hope she's improved since then...

Russian team are sounding strong! Article from their website:
Yesterday the team left for Milan where the first competition of the new quadrennium will begin on the 2nd of April. The last training sessions were held on Friday at Round Lake; the girls in the afternoon, the men in the evening.

First, the personal impressions of the training. Three were doing very well - Afansayeva, Semenova and Yuri Ryazanov. There were very motivated, very stable, and completely concentrated on their routines. Ksenia Afanasyeva did her routines as though she was already competing. Yuri Ryaznov was the same. Ksenia Semenova was malicious and coquettish (?! must mean something different in Russian!) They were in the best condition for competition. There were errors, but only small ones, which there should be before a competition.

Andrei Perevoznikov was a little nervous. It is not enough to merely compete the routines, but to win with them. But he is very new to the team - he was unknown in a school near Moscow, and he has literally flown into a national team. And from there to the European Championships!! But he will do well.

Even in comparison with the Russian Championships progress is unusual. It was pleasant to observe everything, except, perhaps, Kristina Goryunova. She was not doing so well.

"Andrey Fedorovich, are you worried about Kristina Goryunova?"

No. She is always tense in training, to prove that she is capable of competing. She proved at the national championships that she has the right to represent her country.

"Will Perevoznikov handle the pressure, do you think?"

I think he will. He showed reliability at the national championships. He is also stable in training. In training, we talk, we work on things so they are able (the gymnasts). No more than that. Also understand - this guy should start! Even if he does not turn out very well right now. He will understand that, at the international competitions, he will learn to compete. Basically, these championships will be an experiment for all participants, not just ours. We will compete for the first time under new rules, with new routines; we will see new faces, such as Andrei - it is not just us who have new competitors! And we are proud especially of Andrei - we have had problems (can't understand next bit), and we have solved them. For the World Championships, we are also preparing Volodju Olennikova and Dmitry Gogotov (he will also be at Euros.)

"What is known about the contenders?"

We have looked at the results of the World Cup competitions while we held our championships. We have looked at our competitiveness. I can tell you that in most cases, we march in step (haha.) Our gymnasts show a normal level of preparation. Though we do not exclude unexpectedness - it is a new season, which means that we have new contenders; new routines are being prepared. We will watch. And we will prepare for the World Championships.

Cottbus Cup results

Stupid university computer won't display the results again...but what I have managed to glean:
Sui Lu won the floor after placing first in qualifications. She wasn't on the Olympic team (probably due to her inconsistency) but looks like she's making up for lost time now...
Ariella Kaslin won vault (I'm expecting her to win in Milan); Aagje Vanwalleghem and Yasmin Zimmermann took second and third. Anja Brinker won the uneven bars with a very nice routine, but I preferred Vanwalleghem's, which won her silver - not as clean, but more interesting.
First on beam was Marta Pihan of Poland; second was Lieke Wevers (NED).

Fabian Hambuchen crashed off the high bar and did not finish his routine, but says that he is okay now:)

ThePenguin888 has started putting routines up.

Men's results:

FLOOR
Kohei Uchimura JPN 15.700
Diego Hypolito BRA 15.125
Dimitrios Markousis GRE 14.975

POMMEL HORSE
Donna-Donny Truyens BEL 15.575 2.
Robert Weber GER 14.775
Saso Bertoncelj SLO (6.0) 14.625

RINGS
Yuri van Gelder NED 15.850
Dimosthenis Tambakos GRE 15.700
Danny Pinheiro-Rodrigues FRA 15.600

VAULT
Jeffrey Wammes (NED) took gold.

PARALLEL BARS
Mitja Petkovsek (Slovakia)

Great Britain-Romania junior meet

The GBR team won the meet with 160.25 points (Romania 157.40.) Danusia Francis won the all-around!!!
The Romanian juniors aren't looking very strong, which is worrying. They came in fourth at the Junior Europeans last year, and seem to be having major problems on bars (worse than usual, I mean).

All-Around Results
Danusia Francis GBR 54.35
Diana Bulimar ROM 53.50
Nicole Hibbert GBR 53.30
Larisa Iordache ROM 53.00
Lizzie Beddoe GBR 51.15
Jessica Hogg GBR 51.15
Madalina Neagu ROM 50.90
Jocelyn Hunt GBR 50.00
Ruby Straw GBR 49.20
Ana Maria Baicu ROM 33.55
Adina Bordeianu ROM 22.40

'Twas in parliament...

I wrote this in Year 10.

'Twas in Parliament
they were having an argument.
The Prime Minister -
Helen Clark to be exact -
said,
"I want it my way,
It just can't go your way.
Why can't you see what I'm trying to say?"
The Honourable Phil Goff
said,
"Helen, just listen.
What you're saying is true, but it's not quite refined.
If you see it my way,
you'll see my way is better -
we can compromise, see,
with ninety percent my idea
and ten percent yours.
But Helen got angry.
She said, "You cheating swindler!
Bah! Ninety percent your idea and ten percent mine.
What a liar you are!
What a swine! What a fraud!
How they voted you into parliament
I really can't see."
Then Phil got angry.
He said, "Helen, you biased creature!
You're biased for yourself
and prejudiced against me!
You could be the next Hitler,
the way you want to run this country.
How they voted you into parliament
I really can't see."
There was uproar in the chamber
and the Speaker called for order,
but nobody heard him
in all the commotion.
And they jumped on the tables,
and brutalised each other,
and then parliament was gone,
and so was democracy,
and so New Zealand became an anarchist state.

Roster for Europeans

Turns out Italy is not sending Vanessa after all. And Russia is not sending Maxim Devyatovsky. I'm not surprised, actually, especially after he did very poorly at the Russian championships.

The list is far too long to post here (and I can't recognise all the flags) so here is the link.

I'm looking forward to seeing Ksenia defend her two titles from last year, and also new French senior Youna Dufournet. Hopefully she'll do better than in the American Cup.

Second World Cup Competition in Cottbus begins

The qualification round was held yesterday, with the top 8 gymnasts advancing to finals. 80 men and 31 women competed, mostly from European nations. Absent was Russia, as it has just held its national championships, and Ukraine, for reasons we all know about. (But they will be at Europeans!) And Chusovitina is still recovering from surgery:(

Qualification Results - Women

VAULT
Ariella Käslin SUI 14.425
Aagje Vanwalleghem BEL 14.325
Sidney Sanabria PUR 13.725
Kim Bui GER 13.725
Laura Gombas HUN 13.475
Wyomi Masela NED 13.275
Ildiko Forkas HUN 13.275

UNEVEN BARS
Kim Bui GER 14.150
Wyomi Masela NED 13.450
Aagje Vanwalleghem BEL 13.350
Ethiene Franco BRA 13.250
Lucia Tacchelli SUI 13.200
Anja Brinker GER 13.200
Hu Yuhong CHN 13.000
Lieke Wevers NED 12.900

9. Ivana Kovacova SVK 12.850
10. Vasiliki Millousi GRE 12.700
11. Ariella Käslin SUI 12.600
12. Marta Pihan-Kulesza POL 12.500
13. Bruna Leal BRA 12.400
14. Monika Frandofert POL 12.100
15. Denise Karahodzic AUT 11.350
16. Luiza Galiulina UZB 10.550
17. Andrea Rührlinger AUT 9.350
18. Sandra Ostad NOR 8.350

BEAM
Hu Yuhong CHN 14.750
Luiza Galiulina UZB 13.950
Ethiene Franco BRA 13.750
Lieke Wevers NED 13.550
Ariella Käslin SUI 13.300
Anja Brinker GER 13.250
Marta Pihan-Kulesza POL 13.250
Wyomi Masela NED 13.100

9. Sui Lu CHN 12.850
10. Sidney Sanabria PUR 12.800
11. Lisa Ecker AUT 12.650
12. Yasmin Zimmermann SUI 12.500
13. Adela Sajn SLO 12.450
14. Bruna Leal BRA 12.250
15. Ivana Kovacova SVK 12.050
16. Vasiliki Millousi GRE 12.050
17. Laura Gombas HUN 11.950
18. Sasa Golob SLO 11.900
19. Sandra Ostad NOR 11.850
20. Emrina Abduvalieva UZB 11.750
21. Monika Frandofert POL 11.200
22. Andrea Rührlinger AUT 10.850
23. Paschalina Mitrakou GRE 10.850
24. Karoline Sondov NOR 10.500

FLOOR
Sui Lu CHN 14.150
Kim Bui GER 13.750
Wyomi Masela NED 13.600
Aagje Vanwalleghem BEL 13.600
Marta Pihan-Kulesza POL 13.250
Adela Sajn SLO 13.200
Ethiene Franco BRA 13.200
Bruna Leal BRA 13.000

9. Anja Brinker GER 12.950
10. Yasmin Zimmermann SUI 12.950
11. Karoline Sondov NOR 12.650
12. Monika Frandofert POL 12.500
13. Lisa Ecker AUT 12.500
14. Emrina Abduvalieva UZB 12.500
15. Sasa Golob SLO 12.450
16. Linda Stämpfli SUI 12.400
17. Ildiko Forkas HUN 12.300
18. Laura Gombas HUN 12.300
19. Denise Karahodzic AUT 11.800
20. Luiza Galiulina UZB 11.800
21. Sidney Sanabria PUR 11.200
22. Paschalina Mitrakou GRE 11.050

Men

VAULT
Jeffrey Wammes NED 16.016
Tomi Tuuha FIN 15.866
Matthias Fahrig GER 15.833
Diego Hypolito BRA 15.733
Marek Lyszczarz POL 15.699
Niki Böschenstein SUI 15.650
Benoit Caranobe FRA 15.516
Istvan Szalontai HUN 15.516

9. Kohei Uchimura JPN 15.483
10. Fabian Hambüchen GER 15.183
11. Arthur Zanetti BRA 15.149
12. Sergio Ramos PUR 15.099
13. Timo Niemela FIN 15.033
14. Luis Rivera PUR 14.966
15. Carlo van Minde NED 14.916
16. Ali Al-Asi JOR 14.749
17. Claudio Capelli SUI 14.649
18. Georgeos Spanos CYP 14.566
19. Marcus Conradi NOR 13.699
20. Ruslan Irgashev UZB 12.799

FLOOR
Kohei Uchimura JPN 15.466
Diego Hypolito BRA 15.433
-- Marcel Nguyen GER 15.100 (exhibition competitor only)
Matthias Fahrig GER 15.066
Shun Nishimura JPN 14.833
Eleftherios Kosmidis GRE 14.800
Dimitrios Markousis GRE 14.766
Tomislav Markovic CRO 14.733
Roland Häuptli SUI 14.533

9. Alexander Shatilov ISR 14.466
10. Fabian Hambüchen GER 14.466
11. Jeffrey Wammes NED 14.466
12. Arthur Zanetti BRA 14.400
13. Benoit Caranobe FRA 14.233
15. Robert Gal HUN 14.100
16. Tomi Tuuha FIN 14.066
14. Claudio Capelli SUI 14.233
17. Istvan Szalontai HUN 13.733
18. Samuel Piasecky SVK 13.533
19. Ziga Silc SLO 13.366
20. Carlo van Minde NED 13.100
21. Georgios Georgiou CYP 13.033
22. Sergio Ramos PUR 13.033
23. Angel Ramos PUR 12.966
24. Marcus Conradi NOR 12.866
25. Espen Jansen NOR 12.533
26. Eetu Lahti FIN 12.433
27. Rok Klavora SLO 12.266
28. Felix Aronovich ISR 12.066
29. Barend Verbeke BEL 11.900
32. Thomas Taranu GER 12.133
30. Ali Al-Asi JOR 7.066

POMMEL HORSE
Saso Bertoncelj SLO 15.300
Donna-Donny Truyens BEL 15.166
Robert Weber GER 14.600
Hamilton Sabot FRA 14.366
Roland Häuptli SUI 14.266
Shun Nishimura JPN 14.166
Zoltan Kallai HUN 14.066
Angel Ramos PUR 14.000

9. Felix Aronovich ISR 14.000
10. Roman Gisi SUI 13.966
11. Hisashi Mizutori JPN 13.633
12. Luis Rivera PUR 13.566
13. Robert Gal HUN 13.533
14. Xenofon Kosmidis GRE 13.533
15. Robert Juckel GER 13.400
16. Ziga Britovsek SLO 13.233
17. Koen van Damme BEL 13.200
18. Benoit Caranobe FRA 13.066
19. Anthony van Assche NED 12.966
20. Alexander Shatilov ISR 12.700
21. Mosiah Rodrigues BRA 12.400
22. Samuel Piasecky SVK 11.900
23. Tariq Abuayad JOR 11.066
24. Kalle Maatta FIN 10.566
25. Giannos Parpas CYP 10.466
26. Ruslan Irgashev UZB 10.066
27. Christian Eggesbo NOR 9.666 ?!
28. Georgios Georgiou CYP 9.666 ?!

RINGS
Dimosthenis Tambakos GRE 15.800
Danny Pinheiro-Rodrigues FRA 15.700
Yuri van Gelder NED 15.400
Irodotos Georgallas CYP 15.333
-- Fabian Hambüchen GER 15.266 (exhibition competitor)
Eleftherios Petrounias GRE 15.166
Samir Ait Said FRA 15.133
Eduard Gholub ISR 14.800
Koen van Damme BEL 14.800

9. Fabian Leimlehner AUT 14.466
10. Arthur Zanetti BRA 14.466
11. Niki Böschenstein SUI 14.366
12. Thomas Taranu GER 14.333
13. Luis Rivera PUR 14.233
14. Olli Torkkel FIN 14.133
15. Jonas Toeback BEL 14.066
-- Robert Juckel GER 14.066*
16. Robert Weber GER 14.000
17. Robert Gal HUN 13.966
18. Anthony van Assche NED 13.900
19. Georgeos Spanos CYP 13.766
20. Felix Aronovich ISR 13.700
21. Markku Leinonen FIN 13.600
22. Christian Eggesbo NOR 12.866
23. Ali Al-Asi JOR 12.700
24. Espen Jansen NOR 11.466

PARALLEL BARS
Fabian Hambüchen GER 15.600
Yann Cucherat FRA 15.500
Niki Böschenstein SUI 15.066
Marcel Nguyen GER 15.000
Kazuhito Tanaka JPN 14.866
Mitja Petkovsek SLO 14.766
Claudio Capelli SUI 14.766
Adam Kierzkowski POL 14.766

9. Benoit Caranobe FRA 14.400
10. Kohei Uchimura JPN 14.400
11. Vasileios Tsolakidis GRE 14.366
12. Alen Dimic SLO 14.300
-- Matthias Fahrig GER 14.266 (exhibition competitor)
13. Samuel Piasecky SVK 14.166
14. Fabian Leimlehner AUT 13.933
15. Robert Gal HUN 13.900
16. Roman Kulesza POL 13.366
17. Felix Aronovich ISR 13.333
18. Markku Leinonen FIN 13.266
19. Herre Zonderland NED 12.833
20. Marcus Conradi NOR 12.033
21. Christian Eggesbo NOR 11.966
22. Emmanuel Gomez PUR 11.700
23. Ali Al-Asi JOR 11.266
24. Tariq Abuayad JOR 10.800

HIGH BAR
Yann Cucherat FRA 15.500
Fabian Hambüchen GER 15.266
Kazuhito Tanaka JPN 15.233
Hisashi Mizutori JPN 15.133
Hamilton Sabot FRA 15.133
Epke Zonderland NED 15.033
Jeffrey Wammes NED 15.000
Marco Baldauf AUT 14.800

9. Robert Weber GER 14.766
10. Fabian Leimlehner AUT 14.700
11. Marijo Moznik CRO 14.600
12. Mosiah Rodrigues BRA 14.566
13. Samuel Piasecky SVK 14.533
14. Angel Ramos PUR 14.500
-- Robert Juckel GER 14.466 (exhibition competitor)
15. Niki Böschenstein SUI 14.300
-- Marcel Nguyen GER 14.200 (exhibition competitor)
16. Claudio Capelli SUI 13.933
17. Umit Samiloglu TUR 13.833
18. Alexander Shatilov ISR 13.500
19. Istvan Szalontai HUN 13.333
20. Emmanuel Gomez PUR 13.300
21. Christian Eggesbo NOR 13.133
22. Diego Hypolito BRA 13.033
23. Roman Kulesza POL 13.000
24. Timo Niemela FIN 12.833
25. Alen Dimic SLO 12.733
26. Espen Jansen NOR 12.466
27. Robert Gal HUN 12.366
28. Kalle Maatta FIN 11.300

Amelia Racea wins junior all-around at Jesolo

At the Jesolo meet on Saturday, Olympian Lia Parolari won the senior all-around title, while Amelia Racea won the all-around in the junior section. The Italian team as a whole performed very well, but Vanessa Ferrari wasn't there after all! EuroEmily Army and Paola Galante also performed very well, both scoring less than a point below Parolari. Elisabetta Preziosa and Serena Licchetta both took falls.
The officials were hoping to use Ferrari in two events at Europeans, but the team here performed very well without her, so she may not be included in the team.

The Brazilians performed all right, but not brilliantly. Dos Santos, Barbosa and Souza are still too injured to compete.

My computer won't display any more of the article, but here are results from the all-around:

Senior AA
Lia Parolari 54.75
He Ning 54.6
Bruna Leal 54.5 (despite a fall on beam)
Paola Galante 54.5
Ana Maria Tamarjan 54.15
Emily Army 53.9
Ethiene Franco 53.25
Serena Licchetta 53.05
Diana Chelaru 52.7
E. Rando (ITA) 51.95

Junior AA
Amelia Racea 55.55
C. Ferlito (ITA) 54.85
E. Fasana (ITA) 54.6
F. de Agostini (ITA) 53.6
Niamh Rippin (GBR) 53.5
Nicole Hibbert (GBR) 53.05
J. Silva (BRA) 52.0
Danusia Francis (GBR) 52.9
Raluca Haidu (ROM) 52.7
A. Rupini (ITA) 52.25

Sandra performed her new floor routine as she did in the Nadia Comaneci Invitational, but didn't do very well, ending up with only 13.7.

amc81 has many of the routines posted.