06 Apr 2011, Posted by admin in Uncategorized, 2 Comments.
Europeans Qualifications wrap-up
The results of the women’s qualification competition show some very exciting finishes.
The All Around
Aliya Mustafina’s near 3 point lead over her nearest competitor, Anna Dementyeva only confirms most gym fans thoughts, that this title is hers to lose. That said, she would probably have to faceplant on at least three apparatus for that to even happen! What is perhaps far more surprising is the entry of Diana Chelaru, who had a good clean all around competition in third place. I, for one had expected to see Amelia Racea among the top AA contenders after qualifications and, of course Ana Porgras. But the two event scratch from Porgras and the two-event falls from Amelia Racea put paid to that.
Diana Chelaru, the Romanian who has blossomed most since her appearance at the 2009 European Championships in Milan has been known for her ability to hit floor and vault on a good day. She is een known for strong beam sets and passable bars. It just hasn’t been often we have seen it all happen at once. Congratulations to her for such a fine result.
Another awesome result is Elisabeth Seitz in 4th place after qualifications. She is truly one of the most improved and exciting gymnasts out there over the last year and I think she has become a fan favorite because of this. Her DTY has sealed the deal on her being able to make herself known in AA competitions. Another very welcome presence is the exciting Belgian gymnast Julie Croket. TCG has been following Julie Croket for a number of year due to her energetic and charismatic gymnastics. It is wonderful to see such a terrific result after she had such a difficult time at Worlds last year. Carlotta Ferlito has proved her mettle once again by qualifying sixth into the AA competition in her first year out as a senior. She just pipped her team mate and senior, Vanessa Ferrari. The Italians did very well in this meet, with four of their girls making it into the top 24. Of the British, Hannah Whelan and Danusia Francis triumphed. Jenni Pinches had some stumbles, while Francis used her excellent from and performance quality to take the AA spot over her team mate.
Here is the list of qualifiers. Sadly, new German star Nadine Jarosch is only second reserve for AA, following Gabriel Janik of Poland.
1 576 MUSTAFINA Aliya RUS 59.750 (1)
2 578 DEMENTYEVA Anna RUS 56.900 (2)
3 574 CHELARU Diana Maria ROU 56.350 (3)
4 536 SEITZ Elisabeth GER 55.850 (4)
5 504 CROKET Julie BEL 55.625 (5)
6 554 FERLITO Carlotta ITA 55.375 (7)
7 553 FERRARI Vanessa ITA 55.225 (8)
8 584 KAESLIN Ariella SUI 55.200 (9)
9 585 STEINGRUBER Giulia SUI 54.875 (10)
10 563 VAN GERNER Celine NED 54.675 (11)
11 530 WHELAN Hannah GBR 54.400 (12)
12 503 VANWALLEGHEM Aagje BEL 54.175 (13)
13 537 MILLOUSI Vasiliki GRE 53.925 (14)
14 567 PIHANKULESZA Marta POL 53.700 (15)
15 528 FRANCIS Danusia GBR 53.250 (17)
16 588 ADLERTEG Jonna SWE 53.175 (18)
17 525 BREVET Marine FRA 52.725 (20)
18 589 WAGNER Veronica SWE 52.675 (22)
19 543 BOCZOGO Dorina HUN 52.550 (23)
20 513 SIKULOVA Jana CZE 52.475 (24)
21 538 BISMPIKOU Stefani GRE 52.225 (25)
22 575 RACEA Elena Amelia ROU 52.000 (26)
23 561 MOSHAGE Yvette NED 51.925 (27)
24 549 MAKSIUTA Valeriia ISR 51.700 (28)
Event finals
Although she reigned supreme in the All around as expected, Mustafina wasn’t able to perform any near-sweeps of the event finals like she did in Paris last week. That, of course, didn’t stop her placing in the top three in every single event! The leaders of the event qualifications, however, were beautifully spread across the board. Swiss gymnast Giulia Steingruber topped vault, followed by Sandra Izbasa. Izbasa’s upgrades seem to have done the trick for her, rounding her out as Romania’s leg gymnast. She performed a DTY and a Podkapeyeva. Aliya Mustafina followed in third with only a DTY. Clearly her aim was AA.
She did, however, lead Elizabeth Tweddle in the bars finals by .50. According to Blythe at The Gymnastics Examiner, the World Champion pulled out a”Stalder full to immediate toe Khorkina II, inbar blind to Jager pike, inbar full to Tkatchev to Pak to half turn to toe shoot ot high, toe full to immediate 1.5 twisting double back with a small step”. Tweddle, however, made a mistake at the beginning, and should roar back to be truly competitive in finals. She is being chased by Tatiana Nabieva and Elisabeth Seitz. Kim Bui, as per my wishlist is in top five so far on this event.
Mustafina also led beam over her countrywoman Anna Dementyeva, followed by Italian upstart, Carlotta Ferlito. While Ana Porgras will be much missed in this final, this is an interesting line up, which includes the lovely Preziosa and the beam star Vasilliki Milousi. I am not sure anyone can beat Mustafina if she hits, however.
On floor Mustafina clearly made a showing but was bookended in second place by the two Romanians, Izbasa and Chelaru.
There have not been too many upsets in the event finals, bar the missing Porgras. Another surprise, and one remarked on by Blythe during her live-blog was Amelia Racea’s very low beam score, making her miss finals. I am looking forward to seeing video of this routine. Chusovitina’s 5th place finish on vault is also something of a surprise.
Credit goes to The Couch Gymnast!
Link to The Couch Gymnast-
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