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WAG, MAG event finals day 1, Russian Championships

Tatiana Nabieva is working hard to prepare for this summer's Universiade, and performed a strong routine today.  Photo : courtesy of the RGF.
Full results are now available at the RGF website - I'll transcribe below.

WAG Vault

1  Maria Paseka   13.475
2  Kristina Kruglikova  13.4
3  Anna Pavlova  13.05
4  Olga Bizmurkina  12.75
5  Alyona Polyan  12.625
6  Maria Smirnova  12.225
7  Anna Myzdrikova  12.175
8  Ekaterina Tsvetkova   11.30

WAG Uneven Bars

1.  Anastasia Grishina  15.10
2.  Tatiana Nabieva  14.625
3.  Aliya Mustafina  14.55
4.  Anna Dementyeva  13.975
5.  Evgeniya Shelgunova  13.625
6.  Kristina Goryunova  13.525
7.  Alla Sosnitskaya  13.5
8.  Maria Paseka  11.725

Rodionenko clapped his hands in dismay and turned his back on Maria Paseka when she had the fall on bars.  I guess this means she has made his job difficult in terms of selecting who competes at Europeans - her vault score in finals didn't live up to the promise of the previous day and perhaps Afanasyeva will provide a better chance of gold, on floor (please God ...).  Aliya Mustafina had a large form break in her routine while Nabieva performed her exercise as well as she possibly could have, for the well deserved mark of 14.625.  Anastasia Grishina showed her competitive mettle with an excellent routine, for the gold!  Davai Nastia!

Denis Ablyazin looks likely to be the big star of these Championships, with two golds already in hand and a potential gold on vault tomorrow.  Picture courtesy of the RGF.
MAG Floor

1.  Denis Ablyazin  15.35
2.  David Belyavski  15.1
3.  Daniil Kazachkov  14.65
4.  Andrei Cherkasov  14.33
5.  Kirill Prokopev  14.25
6.  Dmitri Stolyarov  13.98
7.  Igor Pakhomenko  13.18
8.  Filip Chuglasov 12.98

MAG Pommel Horse

1.  Matvei Petrov  15.68
2.  Andrei Perevoznikov  15.33
3.  Emin Garibov  15.3
4.  Nikolai Kuksenkov  15.28
5.  David Belyavski  13.83
6.  Dmitri Gogotov  13.5
7.  Grigori Zyrianov  12.88
8.  Pavel Russinyak  12.78

MAG Rings

1.  Denis Ablyazin   15.88
2.  Nikolai Kuksenkov  15.3
3.  Nikita Ignatyev  15.00
4.  Daniil Kazachkov  14.95
5.  Alexander Balandin  14.95
6.  Pavel Pavlov  14.9
7.  Nikita Lezhankin  13.93

In my opinion competition for places on the MAG team is intensifying as gymnasts like Ablyazin, Garibov and Belyavski mature and begin to show their strength.  Selection for Euros will involve the coaches in making difficult decisions.  At present of the top gymnasts only Belyavski is competing in the all around.  I suspect that in Moscow, the Russian men will begin to show their class at international level - and may well outshine their female counterparts over the coming four years.

Russia has apparently improved its performance on pommel horse with four incredibly close scores at the top of the apparatus rankings.  Newcomer, former Ukraine national team member Nikolai Kuksenkov has already integrated into the Russian team, placing fourth on pommels and achieving a silver medal on rings.  His eligibility for Euros depends on his Russian nationality coming through in time.

Comments

  1. Thanks for the recap! But unfortunately, looking at the top 2 medalists on PH they seem to be just PH specialists, I agree that Kuksenkov's addition to the team will really be helpful for their PH situation in a TF setting (Garibov, Belyavsky, Kuksenkov not shabby at all). I am also curious to see Kuksenkov can be eligible for Euros already. hmm maybe I should check out the FIG license thingy and see if he is already on the Russian list

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That would be interesting - I guess the timing may be down to the wire though and as it is an individual Europeans Kuksenkov may not be first choice anyway.
      It is a difficult selection call when there are so many specialists on one team. My guess is that Belyavski and Ablyazin are safe for Euros, after that I am not sure who I would go for ... Maybe Balandin who is good for rings and p bars and one other - who? Garibov will fight on high bar but that is another weakness for tge Russians ... Come on Emin.

      Delete
  2. Thanks for the recap. It is good that they are getting better on Pommel Horse. Grishina did good to win. Her consistency will be of importance for the Russian team.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Article with Rodioneko saying how Aliya was best athlete of Russia

    http://rsport.ru/artist_gym/20130307/649457399.html

    Also interview with Aliya - http://rsport.ru/interview/20130307/649484691.html

    ReplyDelete
  4. when it comes to bigger competition, pray hard Grishina won't crumble..

    ReplyDelete

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