Skip to main content

Russian ace Denis Ablyazin ... can he rival Kenzo Shirai?

By
Denis Ablyazin with coach Valeri Starkin at Lake Krugloye this week.  Courtesy RIA Novosti
More information on the Russian men's programme has been released after this week's press day at the national training centre, and much of it centres on opinions of the amazing Japanese floor specialist Kenzo Shirai.

European Champion David Belyavski and Universiade Champion Nikolai Kuksenkov have now both commented favourably on the Japan athlete's prowess on floor, and his astounding difficulty.   'Shirai can perform on the floor mat, what others cannot even do on a trampoline', says Kuksenkov.  In competition so far this has included a quadruple twisting somersault and a mountain of other superior twisting skills in combination, although we must be careful to note the absence - to date - of any double somersaults in his work.

Kuksenkov was quick to point out the relative ease with which a specialist on one piece can rise to the top of the sport, emphasising his admiration for such competitors as Alexei Nemov and Vitaly Scherbo, who worked at the very highest level on all six apparatus.  'Very few are willing to go that way, because it is so hard', he added.  So can the Russian men rival Japanese all arounder Kohei Uchimura? Belyavski replied that he believed Uchimura to be working on new routines but that as Uchimura's current competitive form was an unknown quantity, the all around final was likely to be very unpredictable.  Both Russian all arounders were quick to emphasise their readiness for the competition in Antwerp, playing down recent injuries (Belyavski - ankle, Kuksenkov - finger). 

With the focus back on floor, though, the big question for all followers of Russian men's gymnastics is, can Olympian Denis Ablyazin rival Shirai on the world stage?  MAG head coach Valery Alfosov warns against underestimating the 21 year old.  Denis is currently practicing a floor routine with a 7.3 D value, only .1 behind Shirai and has enough difficulty up his sleeve to be able to attempt a 7.4 routine, says Alfosov.


Labels:

Comments

  1. Jay Jaxon21 September 2013 at 17:27

    Who is Koichi Uchimura? Any relation to Kohei Uchimura? Just kidding.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Queen Elizabeth21 September 2013 at 18:54

      :-) My brain hurts ... to much blogging. Thanks!!

      Delete
    2. Jay Jaxon22 September 2013 at 20:19

      No problem :-). Love your blogs so keep them coming.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous21 September 2013 at 20:52

    Videos have surface of Kenzo training a triple double and double double layout. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj49EgkZw3s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPlZpNTdVI

    ReplyDelete
  3. LoveRGMusic1 October 2013 at 02:55

    now im crying because he didnt make finals :(

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nelli Kim - 'Russian gymnastics has closed in on itself' - Lupita translates

By
Lupita has translated this ITAR-TASS interview with Nelli Kim.  It's controversial, to say the least. Ed's note : much of the initial response to this interview - both here and in the wider gymternet -  has focussed on the detail of Kim's words and especially her comments about Viktoria Komova, and smiling.  But I think these have to be taken in context, and not too literally. Don't forget that just a day ago Andrei Rodionenko complained bitterly about the judging in Antwerp, calling Kim's behaviour 'aggressive'. Kim is responding to this here, and to the wider current context of Russian gymnastics.  What she is essentially saying to the Russian coach is 'get your own house in order, produce confident, disciplined, well trained gymnasts - stop complaining, do your job, and I will do mine.'   She goes about saying this in a somewhat long winded way and says some things along the way that seem contradictory, unfair, inappropriate even for th...
30 comments
Read more

'Mustafina is no longer in pain' - Valentina Rodionenko

By
Picture of Aliya Mustafina, courtesy of RGF Valentina Rodionenko has provided some updates on the Russian teams and how their preparation for Worlds (Nanning, China, 3 to 12 October) is progressing, via Allsports (http://www.allsportinfo.ru/index.php?id=84328) - The teams are now at camp in Italy, in two small towns close to Milan, by the sea, where the girls travelled on 29th June and the men on 1 July.  The athletes aren't only training, they can also relax. - Komova is working out at Round Lake, she didn't go to Italy.  We will see how she does at the Russia Cup, which will be held late August in Penza. Tatiana Nabiyeva is looking good in training and the other girls are also working.  Ksenia Afanasyeva won't have time to prepare for Worlds, and Anastasia Grishina's participation is also in doubt, we just don't know if she will qualify for the team.   We have hopes for Aliya Mustafina.  As always, she is our number one.  It would be great if there were t...
30 comments
Read more

Fact or fiction? The press, gymnastics and pregnancy doping

By
It was a Sunday morning.  I was drinking my coffee and contemplating the day ahead - a workout at the gym, shopping for groceries, an evening reading a book, or catching up on last night's episodes of crime thriller The Bridge .  How nice it was not to have to think about work for a day. Then I saw it - a story about the history of doping in The Observer .  Interesting reading. Of course, cheating is as old as the hills.  It is, unfortunately, human nature for some people to try to gain easy advantage in any kind of competition.  That is why we have laws, rules, ethical guidelines.  People who cheat should face justice and shouldn't complain when they are found out. But the story about pregnancy doping bothered me.  Hadn't that been found to be fictional?  The author began with Olga Kovalenko's allegations made in 1994 - but the rumours had started way back in 1991 with the documentary series More Than A Game .  The practice...
3 comments
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more