Friday 11 June 2010

WOGA Training in Italy with Nastia

I was on youtube and I came across these videos of the WOGA girls training at their Italian camp this week. Nastia coaching Lizzy Leduc, Katelyn Ohashi, Grace McLaughlin, Briley Casanova and Sophia Lee on Tumbling:




Katelyn Ohashi training 2 flicks to a layout 2 feet on beam (can't believe how many people are that close to her filming!):

Thanks to youtube user 88gymnast for the videos and hopefully there will be more to come!

Monday 26 April 2010

Europeans News

All the WAG teams seem to have made it so we are in for an exciting competition!

The AllAround Gymnastics News had some notes on Junior podium training here

Some of the main points include:

Viktoria Komova: some problems on floor with triple twist and double arabian pass and overrotated her DTY. She looked good on bars though and she was the only Russian not to fall on beam. She performed an excellent routine but did not include the double arabian dismount.

Anastasia Grishina: performed a beautiful floor but with a sat down 2 1/2 at the end and showed a well executed bars routine. she fell on her full twisting tuck back and was hesitant throughout.

Violetta Malikova: She was showing the signs of her injury with a watered down floor and problems on bars. 2 falls on beam including on her layout to 2 feet.

French Juniors - problems on vault, all had good bars, the team as a whole were solid on beam with only one fall and a good amount of difficulty. Floor was not so good with some falls and average difficulty.

Swedish Juniors: One of the improving nations and showed good basics and execution throughout.

British Gymnastics have posted a few photos of Junior Podium Training on their facebook page. There is one of the Romanians and it seems that the team is now Larisa Iordache, Diana Bulimar, Madalina Neagu, Ana Maria Baicu and Beatrice Margarit. No Maria Balea which is a shame hope she is not injured.

the GB Teams have changed the Senior Team is Tweddle, Hibbert, Downie, Rippin and Hunt with Danusia Francis out from a hamstring injury. Junior Team is now Rebecca Tunney, Ruby Harold, Jessica Hogg, Billie Mckenzie and Laura Mitchell. No Venus Romaeo or Lizzie Beddoe both are my favourites, not sure if they are injured or not.

Sunday 25 April 2010

What are the best in Europe doing? - Senior Beam

Unlike bars there are a lot more gymnasts with high difficulty scores on beam, so I only included gymnasts who have proven this year that they are also able to get high execution scores. From reviewing the scores from this year I think gymnasts would need a score of mid to high 14s to make the final which low to mid 15s probably taking the medals.
The best gymnast on beam is obviously Ana Porgras and if she can hit I don't think anyone can beat her. I believe her highest score this year is 15.250 (D Score: ) at the Romanian International.
Second Place I think will go to the other Romanian qualifier whoever that may be. It's mostly likely to be Amelia Racea or Raluca Haidu, although Diana Chelaru is also capable and has more experience. Amelia Racea scored a 15.150 at the Romanian International and Raluca Haidu scored a 14.90 and if they perform up to their potential they are more than capable of winning a medal.


Another medal contender is definetley Youna Dufournet. Although I don't like her on this event and hate her Onodi! She has proven to be consistent and has a lot of difficulty (D Score: 6.1 - 6.4). Top Score this year: 15.150 at a Euro Trial. Below is her routine from the FRA/GBR/ROU meet Score 14.90:

Ksenia Semenova is also still capable of scoring well on this piece which I think is now her best piece. D Score: 5.80 Top Score this year 14.675 (Russian Championships) which can be seen here.
Last years European Beam Champion Yana Demyanchuk who is injured should still be able to make it to the final as she scored a 14.850 earlier this year at the Ukraine Cup.
Other gymnasts who should make the final include:
Elisabetta Preziosa who made the World Beam Final last year with her extreme flexibility and excellent leaps. Top Score this year 14.90 (Serie A2, D Score: 5.90):

Vanessa Ferrari is still coming back from injury but we all know she is able to fight and perform under pressure. This year she has put up some impressive performance her best being a 15.00 (Serie A2, D Score: 5.80):

Vasiliki Millousi suprised everyone by qualifying in first place for the beam final at last years Euros but unfortunately could not keep it together in the finals. She could be capable of better this year and has already had a string of good performances this year her best score being in Greece (14.60, D Score 5.70 - 6.10). Below is her routine from Paris finals Score: 14.250:

Sanne Wevers: I would love to see her and her spins make a major final! It always impresses me how easily she spins whereas nearly every other gymnast has problems with just their one spin. Top Score this year 14.550 (Euro Trial, D Score: 5.70). Check out her 3 spin combo below:

Valeriia Maksyuta: She made the final last year but has had very inconsistent performances this year with scores ranging from 12.30 to her top score of 15.10 at the Zakharova Cup. So depending on which gymnast turns up will determine if she makes the final. Below is her routine from the Cottbus final which kind of highlights her so far:

My last mention for this bean final is Aliya Mustafina who has only been able to score 14.20 this year because of injuries but I'm hoping she has recovered as I want to see as much of her gymnastics as possible!

What are the best in Europe doing? - Junior Bars

I think the Russian Team as a whole will be points ahead of everyone else on this apparatus. the top 2 should be Viktoria Komova annd Anastasia Grishina. The rest of the team are also good on bars and are worthy of the bars final if one of the top 2 messes up in qualification: Anastasia Sidorova (D Score: 5.40), Maria Paseka (D Score 5.80) and Violetta Malikova (D Score: 5.90).

Although it will be close I think Komova will win ahead of Grishina but either way they are both excellent on this piece and have start values of 6.50:
One of the best routines I have ever seen Komova do is available here

Even though the Romanians are not strong on bars I still expect Larisa Iordache and Diana Bulimar to make the final, they have improved on this piece and apart from the russians, bars is a weak piece in Europe for everyone. Of the 2 I prefer Iordache's line and she has more difficulty:


Others who have a good chance of making the final include:
Andrea Foti (ITA): She has a D Score of 5.60 and she has been hitting consistently this year.

Sara Catanzaro (SUI): D Score 5.60. She has some execution errors but there is potential if she can put it all together.

Rebecca Tunney (GB): D Score 5.50. This is more of a hopeful choice as she has potential on this event but is really inexperienced, but I'm hoping at least one Junior from the home team can make a final. She is from the same club as Beth Tweddle but with a different coach.

Julie Croket (BEL): D Score 5.40. She is a real talent, this is not her best event but she still has a chance to make the final if she can handle the pressure.

Mira Boumejmajen (FRA): D Score 5.50. Another stylish gymnast from France who has soke really great skills in her routine.
Maria Livchikova (UKR). She is also lacking experience but I really like her and recently at the Zakharova Cup she performed well woth good execution.


Wednesday 14 April 2010

What are the best in Europe doing? - Senior Bars

I decided to do a series of post on the best gymnasts in Europe on each apparatus for Seniors and Juniors in the lead up to this years Europeans in Birmingham.

SENIOR BARS

Below in no particular order are the gymnasts I think have the best chance to make the bars finals and/or medal as well as some outsiders who could sneak in:

Beth Tweddle - D Score 6.80


Youna Dufournet - D Score 6.90


Aliya Mustafina - D Score 6.60 (with potential for more if adding her new dismount)


Tatiana Nabieva - D Score 6.50


Natalia Kononenko - D Score 6.40

Ana Porgras - D Score 6.30

Serena Licchetta - D Score 5.80

Others with a chance:

Laura Svilpaite - D Score 5.80
Becky Downie - D Score 6.10 (if she can hit)
Ksenia Semenova - D Score 5.90 (I would think she needs Nabieva or Mustafina to mess up in order for her to make the final but it is possible)
Ekaterina Kurbatova - D Score 6.00 (probably needs to improve her form a lot to beat the others on her team but she has the D Score needed)
Vanessa Ferrari - D Score 5.80
Pauline Morel - D Score 5.80
Celine Van Gerner - D Score 5.80
Marie-Sophie Hindermann - D Score 5.60
Raluca Haidu - D Score 5.50
Amelia Racea - D Score 5.60?
Aagje Vanwalleghem - D Score 6.10
Elisabeth Seitz - D Score 5.70

Friday 9 April 2010

Romanian International Videos

Videos are available on Ecorn1x's Youtube Channel. For the Seniors young star Raluca Haidu won the AA scoring 58.150. She actually performed a DTY (14.700) which is impressive for someone so tiny. Beam was solid with just a few wobbles but landed her tuck back full fine (14.900) and can be seen here. Her floor routine (14.350) is below:

Ana Porgras was 2nd in the AA (57.050) after yet another inconsistent performance this time it was problems with bars (13.300). Her beam (15.150) was ok a few wobbles but nothing major:
Its weird normally I watch the Romanian floor routines for the tumbling but with Porgras (14.600) it is the opposite I watch it for the spins and bits in between the tumbling:

Amelia Racea competed well apart from a low score on floor (13.250) and earned 56.700 All Around. She performed an untidy DTY to score (14.550) and apparently she was having tropuble with it in warm ups. Her beam (14.950) was nice and interesting to watch with some different combinations then we normally see:


Cerasela Patrascu seems to be getting nearer to her best with a nice performance on beam (13.700), but she still has a watered down dismount which limits her score a little:

Sandra Izbasa returned to competition with an exhibition on beam to prove all the non believers wrong!

Diana Chelaru did not have a good day with falls on bars and beam (13.700). Beam can be seen here.

Among the Juniors Diana Bulimar won the AA. She had a very exciting upgrade on floor which was a well performed double layout! She also had a 1 1/2 step out+double tuck, piked full in and double pike in the routine and never stoppped moving. I love that she performs with a smile:

Maria Balea is so cute and tiny! Her floor routine (13.500) was tiring to watch she never stopped moving and she tumbles so fast:

Larisa Iordache seemed to have many problems with 3 falls, one that did not look good was on a double twisting front layout on floor where she seemed to miss time it. Her floor along with Patrascu and Porgras performing FTYs is available here.

Credit goes to Sri Ea for all coverage, Thank You!

Tuesday 6 April 2010

Review of Recent State Championships

A couple of weeks ago Gymnastike covered some of the State Championships including Virginia Level 8 - 10, Texas Level 9 & 10 and Illinois Level 10, and as there were so many videos I decided to post some of my favourite routines from each.
Simone Biles - She trains at Bannon's and is a real powerhouse winning 1st on Vault (9.725) and 1st on Floor (9.750) at Texas States. Her floor routine is impressive for a young junior and includes a tucked full in, 2 1/2+punch front and double pike.

Gymnastics Videos on Gymnastike


Alaina Johnson - She qualified to the National team but because on injuries is competing level 10 and will head to Florida next season and I hope she does well. Her form and presentation really impressed me winning 1st on Floor with a 9.900! as well as 1st on Vault (9.725) and 3rd AA (37.625).




Gymnastics Videos on Gymnastike


Megan Tripp - Another of WOGAs little stars who competed in the Junior A category of Level 9. She had a really nice presence on floor and I appreciated her effort to add artistry. She had a very successful meet placing 1st on Vault (9.525), 2nd Beam (9.550), Joint 1st on Floor (9.750) and Joint 1st AA (38.375).



Gymnastics Videos on Gymnastike

Samantha Kolbas - She placed forst on beam (9.70), 3rd on floor (9.575), 2nd on bars (9.50) and 2nd AA (38.425) at the Illinois Level 10 State Championships. She trains at Arena Gymnastics and has a full scholarshi[ to Arkansas. I liked her whole beam routine but the best part was her stuck double tuck back dismount!


Gymnastics Videos on Gymnastike


Justine Callis - I really liked this elegant floor routine from this level 9 Virginia State gymnast which earnt her 2nd place (9.450). She trains at Ocean Tumblers and is 12 years old.











Gymnastics Videos on Gymnastike

Alex McMurty - She is a Level 10 gymnast from Richmond Olympiad and won the AA in the 12 - 13 year old division with 38.125. She was really impressive on all events and I most liked her Floor in which she had some really good tumbling and won with 9.60. She was also competing in her first meet since October as she has had wrist surgery! Check it Out:










Gymnastics Videos on Gymnastike