Barely two weeks will elapse before the WAG European Championships begin in Berne, Switzerland, and the news we had been fearing has been confirmed : world vault gold medallist Maria Paseka is off the Russian team while she nurses a back injury. This leaves Russia significantly weakened for the coming competition, with co-star Viktoria Komova also missing from the line-up. It is a little disappointing, but it seems the right decision to rest the gymnasts so that they can be at their best when and where it really matters.
Who will replace Paseka? Valentina Rodionenko says that the youngster Natalia Kapitonova, who trains in Penza, has been chosen on the basis of her solid performances at national championships. Well, we will have to wait and see - these announcements often turn out to be unreliable.
I personally would prefer to see the dynamic Seda Tutkhalyan be given a chance at this level, but Kapitonova has certainly shown herself to be more reliable in recent competitions, and so is a predictable favourite with the ultra-careful Rodionenkos. Perhaps she will avoid error and keep a silver or bronze medal safe for the team, but she is not an out and out game changer like Tutkhalyan could be. Well, that is just my opinion, but maybe Natalia will prove me wrong!
The Russian WAG team for Berne will now be - Melnikova, Mustafina, Afanasyeva, Spiridonova, Kapitonova
I am trying to find details of TV coverage at the Europeans. Can anyone help?
Source - http://www.newizv.ru/lenta/2016-05-18/239551-che-po-sportivnoj-gimnastike-propustit-ne-tolko-komova-no-i-paseka.html
I am so sorry to hear about Maria's injury...there are so many back injuries in Russia right now. Still, I'm excited that Natalia Kapitonova will get a chance! I think she is one of the top gymnasts right now; her bars are so elegant and I love her floor. I think she has a better chance of medaling on bars at the Olympics than any of the Russians, with the exception of perhaps Daria Spiridonova. What are your thoughts?
ReplyDeleteBuddy Musty not only will medal on bars , but she will win the gold in Rio! Remember my words!
DeleteShe does not have a bigger chance than Alyia and Vika.
DeleteDoes Kapitonova perform a double twist on vault???
DeleteNo! Kapitonova only do fty on vault
DeleteI like the idea of Kapitonova going too. However I would also like Tutkhalyan to be on the team. I think she should replace Spiridonova, who really only contributes on bars.
ReplyDeleteExactly. That would be the perfect team (with all the resources existing right now).
DeleteSeda would be more useful, esp as a replacement for Paseka, since Kapitonova cannot be used on vault. They alrady have 3 excellent bar workers and Seda can make vault finals + Kapitonova really hasn’t been any more consistent on floor or beam. Stupid decision
ReplyDeleteLOL :D Russia’s vault lineup now is more awful than even floor lineup....
ReplyDeleteAnd the substitute fest begin...
ReplyDeleteMustafina will have to vaut then, three DTY. Three 15's on bars. Godd beam and good floor. They won't win.
ReplyDeleteMustafina in not vaulting by now, and Spiridonova/Kapitonova only do FTY that meen LOL vaul lineup for russia :/
DeleteMaybe it is convenient that they lose in Bern, so that they take more seriously their general weakness as a potential catastrophe in Olympics, and so, put more effort.
DeleteOh please Valentina and serious things does not combine well...that mean forget about it once and forever, Amen!
DeleteKapitonova not only trainings in Penza, but more important is that she is trained by Sergey Starkin wife. But in any way it is awful news for Seda and whole russian gymnastics team bcz fair principle again gave way to dishonest(((((
ReplyDeleteSad news
ReplyDeleteI'm pleased to see Kapitonova will be getting some big-time competition experience. I think she is going to be a future star.
ReplyDeleteHey Valentina SEND SEDA TO EUROS!
ReplyDeletethat vault lineup has gone to shit! hahaha…its basically Afanasyeva, GMelnikova and Spiridonova with her fty vaulting
ReplyDeleteEah :/ Kapitonova is the same future star like Grishina was...
ReplyDeleteOK in VK Sedas brother wrote that it is not accurate information about Kapitonova going at ECh instead of Paseka, and then he deleted his message
ReplyDeleteI don’t understand this substitution at all, if Paseka is replaced then it should be with Tutkhalyan
ReplyDeleteI am certainly not the biggest fan of Seda, but for God sake SEND HER TO EUROS VALENTINA. She'll go on vault, possibly beam if she dosen't fall in qual, and floor.
ReplyDeleteshouldn't Maria Kharenkova have been considered?
ReplyDeleteBecause she fell multiple times in her last comp.
DeleteWhat would be the line up then?
ReplyDeleteVT - Melnikova, Afanasyeva, ?
UB - Spiridonova, Mustafina, Kapitonova
BB - Mustafina, Melnikova, ? (Afan I hope?)
FX - Afanasyeva, Melnikova, Mustafina
I don't get why people want Seda on the team, seriously when has she hit in team final? Why repeat the same mistake and expect to get different results than what she's shown and is showing. This is not just for beam but for floor and bars. Seda needs to prove she can hit and then expect to get on the team.
ReplyDeleteSeda usually hits in team comps (eg European Games, Russian nationals. Her worst crashes have been in individual competitions. She did fall in Worlds team final last year, but all gymnasts fall and most only learn with experience. I'm not saying Seda is the most reliable gymnast in the world - far from it. But She does have the potential to add a lot to Russia's team score. I like Kapitonova and I do not consider her selection a disaster for the Russian team, but she duplicates some of the strengths already represented there and is more untested than Seda in high pressure situations.
DeleteWell hey ho, there will probably be further team changes anyway - that's gymnastics anyway.
She has hit quite a lot this year. It's mostly on that basis that people think she deserves to be given another shot at a team competition, especially because if she hits she can contribute significant scores on pieces which Russia isn't particularly strong.
DeleteRemember she was only a first year senior last year. Plenty of girls are very inconsistent in their initial years as senior and then become incredibly consistent later. Look at Sui Lu and Deng Linlin, both inconsistent as juniors (in Sui Lu's case incredibly so), and they became the backbone of China's 2009-2012 quad and along with He Kexin, China's most successful in that quad.
Queen Elizabeth, do the ECh TQ format is 5-3-3? If yes, then stupid choice tbh
DeleteYou're right R - and another example of someone who grew more consistent over time is Ksenia Afanasyeva! She used to be so inconsistent that in 2010 she was left off the Euros team despite being good enough to go. But she started proving she could hit eventually. I have hope that Seda will be the same.
DeleteYou're right Anon, Afan is a really good example here. Even though this is Afan's third Olympic cycle and despite all the injuries she's had this quad, she has actually performed the best in this quad compared to the previous two. She was so inconsistent last quad, even in London, and she only won her Worlds FX gold in 2011 because the coaches subbed Komova out and she went in as reserve! In contrast she's hardly fallen in an international competition this quad.
DeleteI thought Russia was the clear favorite to win Euros but people here seem to think they are barely contending for silver and bronze. Am I missing something? The Romanian team is the hottest mess I've ever seen. I don't doubt that they will do much better than they did at the test event but it would be crazy to say they are seriously in contention for Gold. And I think it goes without saying that no other team can contend for the gold except maybe GB. Though they have the edge over Russia on vault, Russia is better on the 3 other events and GB is as inconsistent as Russia is. Are people predicting their win based on their bronze last year? Because it is so incredibly unlikely that Russia will have 4 falls again (unless they bring Seda) and now they have Melnikova. Despite losing Paseka and having some injuries, I still see them as a clear favorite.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, NO SEDA ever. Can anyone name a competition where she hasn't fallen? She shouldn't be anywhere near a major international competition. Difficulty is completely irrelevant if every other routine includes a fall.
BBC Coverage
ReplyDeleteSaturday 28th May: Men's Team live BBC1, 1.30pm-4.15pm
Sunday 29th May: Apparatus finals live on Red Button and BBC online, 9.30am-1pm
Sunday 29th May: Highlights BBC2, 3.30pm-6pm
Saturday 4th June: Women's Team live on Red Button and BBC online, 4pm-5.50pm
Sunday 5th June: Apparatus Finals live on Red Button and BBC online, 10.00am-12.00pm
Sunday 5th June: Highlights BBC2, 4-6pm
BBC Coverage
ReplyDeleteSaturday 28th May: Men's Team live BBC1, 1.30pm-4.15pm
Sunday 29th May: Apparatus finals live on Red Button and BBC online, 9.30am-1pm
Sunday 29th May: Highlights BBC2, 3.30pm-6pm
Saturday 4th June: Women's Team live on Red Button and BBC online, 4pm-5.50pm
Sunday 5th June: Apparatus Finals live on Red Button and BBC online, 10.00am-12.00pm
Sunday 5th June: Highlights BBC2, 4-6pm
By Choosing Kapi I fear that they are pushing Aylia and Afan to do VT and BB respectively... I don't think now is the right time for a gymnast to peak in an Olympics year, and I don't think that Euros is important this year also because the looming Olympics, so just send the first year seniors and the others who don't have a real chance to go to the Olympics in the presence of the accomplished veterans, because if Alyia or Afan got injured, it will be hard to condone the Rods and the coaches.
ReplyDeleteJohn
It would be very unwise to send a team to the Olympics where most of them have barely competed since last year. I'm already concerned about Komova and Paseka missing this competition when neither of them is super consistent to begin with. I don't think the other two will be peaked at all - I am actually worried about Melnikova possibly peaking too soon - but they need to be there if healthy. I don't think anyone is being pushed to compete events they aren't ready to do right now.
Delete& if Afan is going to do beam at the Olympics, which she most likely will need to at least in the qualifying round (bc if Paseka goes, Paseka does not do beam), then she absolutely should do beam here if possible. Otherwise when is the last time she's done beam in a major competition? 2013?
Yes, last time Afan done beam in individual AA at Universiade in Kazan in 2013 :/
DeleteThe Veterans must have developed a reasonable experience to compete after a pause in major competitions and I remember that Afan didn't compete at all in Euros 2012 in Brussels, yet she competed BB,FX in London and qualified to EF in both of them ... and Komova didn't compete in Euros last year (if I remember correctly) but she competed after a long pause in last year Worlds and earned a Gold medal in Bars, right?
DeleteI'm just curios about the veterans'health before a major competition like the Olympics specially it may be the last appearence for some of them and I want to see them all in Rio.
John
Oh please! Remember last year WCh TF and especially Komova UB and BB, with the typical "I'll take the fall for 100, Alex" moment from Komova. No fight at all for her team!
DeleteWell well ,after yesterday test trainings Seda finally will go to Bern as team member! Kapitonova will be reserve! sours Russian Team VK page
ReplyDelete