Russia Cup wrap-up/who could make Worlds?

One of two standout winners at last week's Russia Cup - Nikita Ignatyev, with personal coach Chunusov

It has been one of the most interesting Russia Cup competitions in some years, both MAG and WAG.  MAG saw the emergence of a new leader in the all around, while WAG saw the confirmation of a long-term leader.  Both teams are settling into a new cycle, with a new sense of internal rivallry developing, especially in MAG, but also in evidence in WAG.  There haven't been any miracles; Russia isn't suddenly going to win all the gold in Nanning - they may not win any.  But the main aim this year, as emphasised by senior MAG coach Alfosov and head coach Rodionenko, is to do enough in Nanning to qualify for next year's Worlds, and onwards to the Rio Olympics.  Nothing else really matters,

MAG

The identity of the six champions on the apparatus (Belyavski, Kuksenkov, Ablyazin, Britan, Kuksenkov, Ignatyev) doesn't especially give much away, and the main news is that Russia's strongest gold potential, Denis Ablyazin, has a painful knee that requires immediate investigation.  This meant that he couldn't contend on his best pieces, floor and vault.  If his injury is problematic and he is excluded from China, this will be a severe blow to the Russian team's medal hopes, but it is not disastrous - others will gain experience in his absence and the team should still be able to do enough to reach team finals.  Senior MAG coach Alfosov was not half as philosophical as me, though, saying that he was not at all happy; to put this into context, both Britain and the USA are looking strong and Ablyazin's absence does realistically cut Russia's scoring potentially quite harshly and probably leave them well out of the medals.

The team has a number of promising, ambitious, up and coming gymnasts.  One of them, 1996 born Viktor Britan from Chelyabinsk, qualified to floor and vault, taking gold in one of the weaker finals in the Russia Cup,  Britan's two vaults (double Tsuk piked/handspring double front) were fairly well performed, but there was only one other gymnast in the final (Roman Suetin) who could match him for difficulty.  Russia does have stronger vaulters not present in this final, so for the team final at Worlds this result may not be particularly significant.

Ignatyev's emergence as a super reliable all arounder here may surprise some, but he has been working himself up to a crescendo since his victory as Russian Champion in 2012, and has always himself said that he is an all arounder.  He may not have the aesthetic flair of compatriot Belyavski (who had a bad week) but he does have the mark of a leader in his humourous yet determined mindset.  His gold medal on high bar yesterday put an exclamation mark on the end of his Russia Cup performances. 

The consequence in Nanning of Ignatyev's dominance may be that Nikolai Kuksenkov (suffering from a back injury) participates as a specialist on pommels, high bar and parallel bars only.  Kuksenkov has made himself indispensable to the Russian team with strong performances on two of their weakest apparatus (pommels/high bar), and his two gold medals matched Ignatyev's.  The number of all around places available on the worlds team are limited, and if Kuksenkov had seen Ignatyev's rise coming, he could not be blamed for deciding to emphasise his training on his strongest pieces to ensure selection as a specialist regardless of whether his back was hurting.

The provisional team for Nanning is Kuksenkov, Ignatyev, Belyavski, Ablyazin, with Polyashov (5th on parallel bars, silver on floor),Suetin (7th floor, 8th rings, 2nd vault. 3rd parallel bars) and Kazachkov (5th floor. 4th rings, 6th high bar) fighting for the remaining two places.  1996 born Ivan Stretovich, 5th place in the all around, 3rd place on the pommel horse. and 4th on the high bar) also impressed head coach Alfosov and may be in with a chance if he can prove himself in training, and if Ablyazin in the end is out for the count.

WAG

The four gold medallists in EF were Sosnitskaya, Komova, Mustafina, Mustafina.

Did I say that a long-term leader 'confirmed' her position?  That was a bit of an understatement!  Surprising us all by competing in the all around - when she was barely out of recovery following clean-up surgery to her ankle joint - and winning, then taking medals on every event final for which she contended. including two golds and a silver, the greatest Russian of this generation positioned herself ready to assault the final hike to Nanning in the leadership position she seems to want as much as earn.  I haven't mentioned her name yet, but it hardly seems necessary ... Aliya Mustafina. 

Aliya didn't achieve her gold medals in a vacuum, either; on beam she was given strong competition from first year senior, the ambitious and focussed Maria Kharenkova.  Returning senior Viktoria Komova gave a good final performance on the uneven bars, beating Aliya to the gold, and was backed up by Muscovite Daria Spiridinova, who is becoming valuable to the Russian national team for her solid work on both bars and beam.  On perhaps her most surprising gold, floor, Mustafina should have faced stronger competition from vault champion and floor specialist Alla Sosnitskaya, but Alla has looked a little subdued here.  It is a pity as she is clearly working hard and improving everywhere, but a tear-stained face in podium training and a picture of her icing her ankle perhaps tells more than the results.  Kharenkova, in her final performance at the Cup, seemed to grow in confidence, recalling some of the better moments of her Junior European Championships gold medal winning floor from 2012, especially in the rapid, powerful tempo of her whip-whip to triple twist pass.

Aliya is looking to be on fine form and still has another six weeks to complete her final preparations for China.  It is four years since she won her first major all around title in Rotterdam.  Since then she has suffered the career-changing injury in Berlin, and has tempered her skills in Olympic Games, Universiade. European and further World Championships.  Like the veteran Nelli Kim in 1979, she no longer possesses the firepower of the youngsters, but what she does possess is an incredible competitive steel, a unique combination of strength, line and rhythm, and that amazing philosophical determination that makes it possible for her to knowingly give it her all at precisely the right moment. 

Each great leader leaves behind a legacy: it is very premature to speak of Mustafina in these terms, but the fire in the eyes can already be seen in a supportive rivallry with the down to earth Kharenkova and in the growing confidence of such gymnasts as Spiridinova, Sosnitskaya and Youth Olympics champion Seda Tutkhalyan.

Expect upgrades to her bars, which she always seems to leave till last.  Since 2013, her beam and floor routines have been transformed.  Will she be performing that exquisitely soft, skillfully composed beam as one long combination by Nanning?  Only time will tell. but that exercise tells not only of the skill and strength of the performer, but also of the genius of an outstanding coach, Raisa Ganina, who watches over Aliya with such tenderness each time she hits the beam.  The same coaching has also reformed Aliya's floor into a performance of growing beauty.  We will have to wait a few more weeks to see it in full glory, accompanied by music, and wish the best for Aliya, the jewel in Russia's crown who is bucking the trend of this Olympic cycle and finding a creative way forward that satisfies both gymnastic and acrobatic idiom.

There has been a lot of talk about the composition of the WAG team for Nanning, and the only certain thing seems to be that the list won't be finalised until the very last minute.  Nominative registrations are due in by the 4th September, but everything can change right up to the moment that the gymnasts travel, in Russia's case the 27th September.  As with the men, the main aim is the Rio Olympics, the results don't matter here too much so long as the gymnasts are in the position to qualify at next year's Worlds. 

The official announcement says that Mustafina, Kharenkova, Sosnitskaya, Paseka, Spiridonova and Kramarenko will all train for the Championships, with Nabiyeva and Rodionova in reserve positions.  Komova will have a chance to make the team if she can prove herself on at least one other apparatus as well as bars.  There is some discussion on the internet as to whether this is beam or vault.  It may be both.  In the video interview translated on this blog on Friday, Mustafina said that it would be helpful to the team if Komova could get back her double twisting Yurchenko vault,  Valentina Rodionenko has also since then confirmed that vault could be a useful further contribution from Komova.  The gymternet (the community, not the blog of the same name) has erupted with concern that this may be too much for the 2012 Olympian, but I'm certain Vika will only attempt this if and when she is ready.  Perhaps Komova has been quietly doing more behind the scenes than she has shown in Penza; or perhaps the preparation of a single vault will be less stressful than getting back a whole routine of skills on beam.  All we can do is wait and see.

Then again, Valentina Rodionenko went on record some time yesterday, during a phone interview with R Sport, saying that Afanasyeva might be ready for vault and floor at Worlds, which stretches the boundaries of credibility given Ksenia's May interview in which she outlined the severity of her injury and said she wouldn't be back for at least a year.  Perhaps the discussion was misreported; or maybe Russia have been trying to pull the wool over our eyes, and sneak up on the Americans for a stealthy gold this October :-)

Whatever happens, the Russians, men and women, have clearly been preparing carefully for these Worlds and beyond.  Without Ablyazin - and Balandin, who I mentioned last week was out with injury - the men may struggle to make much of an impression, but should still qualify to various finals.  The women's competition will still be determined largely by the form of the Americans, who as ever are the clear favourites, but the Russian team should also have something to say as the new generation make their way forward for captain Mustafina, and she makes her way forward for them.

You can find full English language results of all the competition at the International Gymnast website (English) and at the RGF (Russian).

Don't forget that the RGF now has a Youtube channel.  There is an English language translation of the main news piece here; can anyone help with translations of the Kharenkova and Ablyazin interviews?

Igor Ivanov has done a fantastic job of uploading the complete videos of the live streams on his channel.