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| Anastasia Grishina at the Russian Championships in Penza earlier this month. Picture courtesy of RGF |
Women : Aliya Mustafina, Anastasia Grishina, Maria Paseka, Ksenia Afanasyeva
I'm delighted to see Afanasyeva on the team - to me, she is the natural selection over the still developing Evgeniya Shelgunova, whose selection could really only be justified on developmental grounds - and perhaps this could be seen as rather indulgent given the current competitive climate in world gymnastics. Afanasyeva really adds clout to what is a mature and classy Russian team. She was also looking on good acrobatic form at the French International recently - perhaps less focussed on her dance, but then since when did this really matter to the scores?
Aliya Mustafina is reportedly competing at the Stella Zakharova Cup in Ukraine this weekend so we shall have a chance to see how her preparations are going. Both Anastasia Grishina and Ksenia Afanasyeva have put in convincing showings at recent competitions, with Grishina looking much stronger and more confident than in London, in my opinion a legitimate contender for the all around gold, and Afanasyeva hopefully able to fight for a European floor gold to add to her World medal from 2011.
But remember what happened last time Europeans were staged in Moscow - 1987? There the graceful young Daniela Silivas came in and stole the all around title from young pretender, Alleftina Priakhina, leaving veteran Elena Shushunova with a bronze medal. I would love to see Romanian Larissa Iordache make a similar impact at this competition and compete closely for a medal in the all around. European gymnastics needs and deserves a higher profile than it gets and a beautiful podium of Grishina, Mustafina and Iordache would really emphasise the classical artistry that is still so much a characteristic of the sport in these parts of the world.
The Russian men's team includes Denis Ablyazin, David Belyavski, Alexander Balandin, Emin Garibov, newcomer Matvei Petrov and Nikita Ignatyev. Belyavski and Ignatyeva are going for the all around.
Enjoy Anastasia Grishina's gold medal winning beam routine from last weekend's Cottbus Cup.
Appreciate Ksenia Afanasyeva's floor routine from the French International of two weeks ago:
Really pleased with Grishina this weekend! While during the Olympics cycle I liked her, I wanted Komova and Mustafina in the AA. But now, I would really like to see Grishina develop into a consistent performer and shake things up in Russia. Haha, as much as I like her I will have a hard time rooting for her to beat Komova or Mustafina this cycle!
ReplyDeleteNo Nabs? :(
ReplyDeleteIt was obvious that Afan would get picked.
ReplyDeleteEuropeans will be interesting. Hopefully everyone can hit,
Grishina looks good! A little lack of difficulty tho, but that can be added later for important competitions. No point in getting hurt now.
ReplyDeleteI saw Grishina's performance in Cottbus, I think she's getting along with her new coach and more confident than before... but I think she penalized severely on UB Final, I mean 8.275 E-score for that routine is just unfair.
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ReplyDeleteI wanted Nabs to be selected. I don't know how she is doing now, but why hadn't she made it? Did they just don't need her or was she not good enough?
ReplyDeleteI too believe that Tanya should be selected for every national team on grounds of her entertainment value.
DeleteHowever, I think she is in training for this summer's Universiade rather than in contention for the first team for major competitions. Valentina R has reported that she is training hard with this goal in mind.
Tatiana is eligible for the Universiade as she attends the Lesgaft Institute. The age restrictions make such gymnasts as Komova and Grishina ineligible, meaning that competition to reach the team is less fierce than for competitions such as Worlds and Euros. I guess that the Universiade may be Nabieva's last major competition, if she makes it.