Skip to main content

Melnikova, Tutkhalyan, Mustafina


Angelina Melnikova confirmed her position as Russia's leading AA gymnast today at the Russia Cup in Penza, taking gold over the two days of competition, ahead of her close colleague Seda Tutkhalyan, and Olympic champion from 2012, Aliya Mustafina.  Mustafina surprised by once again falling from her best piece, uneven bars.

'Russia Cup is primarily a step in my preparations for Rio', said Mustafina.  'As a competition, it isn't that important - I needed to try out my AA as I have not competed or trained it for a long time, including trying out my vault.  I met all of my goals, every apparatus went well today, apart from bars.  My failure there is because we have only just begun working on a new set of bars that will be used in the Olympic  Games.  There hasn't been enough time for me to get used to the way they feel, the spring and the grip.  In Rio they will be the same, but there is still time!' Rodionenko later added that Aliya had done more than expected and could have been given a bye at this final, but that the gymnast insisted on competing,

Coach Rodionenko was delighted to see Seda Tutkhalyan compete at her best in Penza.  'She is beginning to show the necessary accuracy', she said, 'she has made up what she previously lacked, and improved from yesterday to today.  I think she is maturing into a high level gymnast.'

Russian national champion, and now Russia Cup champion Angelina Melnikova, said that she was much less nervous here than she had been in the Spring Champiinships, which had been her first senior start.  She said that she still had work to do on all her apparatus.  

The Russia Cup is a qualifier for the Russian team training for the Olympic Games.  EF will take place on Saturday and Sunday, and the MAG AA tomorrow, after which we will be informed of who has made the final training teams for both men and women.


Melnikova interview -  http://rsport.ru/artist_gym/20160630/966112941.html

Full results (cumulative of two days) - http://sportgymrus.ru/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/mnogobor-e-zhenshhtny-final-summa-2-h-dnej.pdf



Comments

  1. What's Mustafina difficulty score on floor?

    ReplyDelete
  2. TASS interview wiht Mustafina about why she falling from uneven bars tow days in a row and AA in Rio to http://tass.ru/sport/3420933

    ReplyDelete
  3. Queen Elizabeth, according to Rodionenko todays interview Tytkhalyan is on Olympic team now, she will be russia's 3 aaer in Rio. Guess who is out now Spiridonova or Afanasyeva? http://stadium.ru/news/01-07-2016-valentina-rodionenko

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't see in the article where it says that Seda will be Russia's third AAer ...

      Delete
    2. I can't see why spiridonova should be on the team. She scores on averages .6-.7 higher on bars than tutkhalyan, but 2 points lower o beam. And since Paseka won't do beam and afanasyeva hasn't done beam in 3 years and is still injured, why would you put spiridonova on the team

      Delete
    3. Queen Elizabeth, here at the end of the first paragraph of article ;) " Эта тройка призёров как раз и будет нашей главной опорой на Олимпиаде." that means, these 3(Aliya, Angelina and Seda) will be russians main support at the Olympics

      Delete
    4. Thank you very much! I so hope to see this. Xx

      Delete
  4. I can't help but feel disheartened after watching both the US nationals and Russian cup. The Russians seems so weak and unprepared. The Americans seem so ready and strong. We hear excuses and injuries from Russia.
    Seda looked better but she will likely fall and cause the team a medal.
    Queen, what do you think about the difference in level of readiness between the teams? Is this due to training approach?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I prefer to think that it is the USA who are currently exceptional, rather than Russia being weak. Remember, they will be competing for medals in Rio and no weak gymnast will participate in the Games. They are still amongst the best.

      America have a psychological, reputational and physical advantage, but the margins are still relatively small. Russia does not have the D values on floor but elsewhere isn't doing badly. It would only take a small deficit from the USA to make Russia look like a threat.
      Seda has made huge strides this year and she is one of the best gymnasts in the world. They are all unpredictable but we should value these fragile young girls for what they contribute to gymnastics. Seda is just as likely to help the team perform well as she is to make errors. Which gymnast never makes mistakes? Whether we are athletes, teachers, students or whatever we do, everyone has their mistakes and moments. Let's just support the girls.

      Delete
    2. Thanks for the erudite response. I wish all the competitors well. Hopefully the Russian girls peak in Rio.
      The next quad should be even brighter for Russia. With so many promising juniors coming up.

      Delete
    3. I have a feeling Seda i going to surprise everyone at Rio. )in a good way :)

      Delete
  5. Does anyone know what's happened to Maria Kharenkova? Did she get injured or possibly lose motivation since her Olympic chances were slim (it seemed that she had fallen out of favor with the russian coaches after her poor showing on beam at worlds)?

    On another note, why did Mustafina compete a full-in at the russian cup? Is she planning to replace her double arabian with the full-in? The only reason I think this is that she hasn't competed the double arabian since 2014.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maria was present at the Russia Cup, helping the team, but she has a slight leg injury. This is unofficial.

      Don't know the reasons for Aliya's changes. I think it is likely that even she doesn't know what she will compete in Rio at this stage. She used to perform the full in as a junior (I think there is a video of her doing it around 2007).

      Delete
    2. Thanks for the reply and the insight! Ah that's too bad for Maria- she seems to be injured pretty often. Is she definitely not in contention for Rio anymore then? That would be sad; I was really rooting for her.

      Delete
    3. Just saw your most recent post- really sad for Maria as she was one of my favorites. Hope she decides to give it another go next quad after some good recovery and rest- who knows maybe she could make Tokyo as a beam specialist?

      Delete
  6. A team of Aliya, Melnikova, Paseka, Seda and Ksenia makes so much more sense in Rio than any team with Spiri on it tbh.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No ‘white flag’ - Russia chooses to miss the Olympics

I have to think very carefully about what I give exposure to on RRG, either here in the main blog, or over on X and Facebook.    I am particularly thoughtful when it comes to sharing anything that shows individual gymnasts as choosing to support the War, as that could be damaging well beyond the extent of this horrible conflict, and who knows what goes on?   Furthermore, I do not want to promote material that could inadvertently give weight to the cause of war.  All war is wrong.  The arms industry and politicians are the only winners.  The rest of us lose - we pay with our lives.   So, should I give air to this picture? What if people take this as implicit support for the War?   The picture, an internet meme created by  those working for the Russian state, is currently sitting on the Instagram site of RIA Novosti - a Russian government supported media and news outlet.    It shows three gymnasts - they look like Ablyazin, Belyavski and Dalaloyan, during an Olympic medal ceremony, but t

'Mustafina is no longer in pain' - Valentina Rodionenko

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 time for K

UPDATE 23/9 - Russian WAG team for Nanning confirmed

Daria Spiridonova will compete at her first World Championships this autumn.  Picture : RGF Natalia Kalugina has confirmed the Russian team for Nanning : Aliya Mustafina, Maria Kharenkova, Tatiana Nabieva,Ekaterina Kramarenko, Alla Sosnitskaya, Daria Spiridonova.  Reserve : Polina Fyodorova Here is a paraphrased translation of a comment by Natalia Kalugina on her Facebook page : 'Aliya has confidence in competition and she is, kind of, a coach to this team.  In Europe she succeeded in this role and she has told the coaches that she even liked it. The main fighting force will be Kharenkova, Sosnitskaya and Spiridonova.  Accordingly, the strongest apparatus will be beam (Marina Bulashenko With God!).  The Chinese women, of course, have been known to win that apparatus, but if one falls, they all fall.   Alla Sosnitskaya could compete in the vault final, and - in theory - on the floor. On bars, of course, Russia will probably lose to the Chinese women, but they should be able to hold

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more