Skip to main content

Anna Pavlova (AZE) takes gold at Ljubljana World Cup

Image
By

Nico Jackson writes:


Two-time Olympic bronze-medalist, Anna Pavlova, won Azerbaijan’s first World Cup medal in artistic gymnastics by taking gold on uneven bars at the World Challenge Cup in Ljubljana, Slovenia this past weekend. In a fairly weak women’s field, Pavlova easily won gold with low difficulty but superb execution scoring 12.825 (4.5/8.325). To the surprise of many, Pavlova even upgraded her dismount to a double pike after competing a simple layout flyaway the past few years. It was certainly interesting to see her win on what has been her weakest apparatus throughout her career.

 

Unfortunately the balance beam final did not go quite as well for Pavlova where she showed obvious signs of nerves, wobbling after a number of elements and sitting down her 5/2 twist dismount. Nevertheless, Pavlova’s lines and presence were as strong as ever despite the mistakes. Her Omelianchik (back handspring with 3/4 turn to handstand) was a highlight skill with lovely precision and control.

 

Pavlova’s teammate, Marina Nekrasova, had steady performances but not enough to challenge for the medals.  Nekrasova placed fourth in both the vault and floor final with 13.412 and 12.675 respectively.

 

The Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation hails Pavlova’s win as a major achievement in the country’s developing artistic gymnastics programme.  Azerbaijan’s last major star in artistic gymnastics was Valery Belenky, who contributed to the success of the Soviet and Unified team in the early ‘90s. Belenky later moved to Germany and competed for that team during the rest of his career. Since then he has become well known for his success as a personal coach to German Olympic medalist, Marcel Nguyen.

 

Next on Azerbaijan’s agenda is the Osijek Grand Prix in Croatia, April 24-27. Here Oleg Stepko is slated to make his international debut for Azerbaijan where he plans to compete in all six apparatuses. Also quickly approaching is the European Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria where Azerbaijan’s women’s team will include Anna Pavlova, Marina Nekrasova, Yulia Inshina and Maria Smirnova for the seniors and Anatasia Bolshova for the juniors.  


Watch Anna's bars routine : http://youtu.be/jENNYiynrbY

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Russian WAG at the 2014 World Championships

By
The Russians during a team talk in training for the World Championships.  Courtesy RGF Bronze all the way for Russia then.  Beyond the euphoria and surprise of this morning's competition there doesn't really seem to be much to write home about. I am delighted for Aliya personally that the efforts she has made to help the team have provided her with some tangible result, but the principal feeling at the end of the competition is that of relief.  As Vaitsekhovskaya said in her article last week, there were no moments of shock and awe from the Russians, and that's what will be needed if they are to compete for gold medals in Rio (translation available here ). Let's consider a timeline of the competition : before, during and after. BEFORE The promise of a return to the Worlds stage by Viktoria Komova gave Russia a feeling of optimism pre-Russia Cup.  However, Viktoria's performance at this important competition gave little reason for celebra...
43 comments
Read more

‘My daughter likes gymnastics. For us, this is the big success’. Aliya Mustafina talks to Match TV

By
Via VK.com.  Google translate A big interview with Aliya Mustafina was published on MATCH!. We provide a small excerpt below, and the full version is available on the website at the link below  ❓ Aliya, you are now the head coach of the junior artistic gymnastics team. What does your typical day look like? 💜 My current life is similar to what it was when I was competing. In the morning, I have breakfast and go to work by 9:00, we train for four hours, have lunch, rest and train for another three hours. During the training camp, the athletes live at the base. They live and train on the same territory. ❓ Do you manage the gymnasts' personal trainers or do you evenly distribute the responsibilities? 💜 We work in contact with the personal trainers, I listen to their opinions. For example, if the trainer believes that their athlete needs to be given a little rest or do fewer repetitions of a particular exercise, we do so. ❓ Describe the current generation of children. Do they nee...
3 comments
Read more

Who really won the WAG All Around?

By
You will find a link to the FIG's newly published book of results at the Olympic Games here .  This year, they have broken down the judge's execution scores so you can see exactly how each judge evaluated the gymnasts' performances.  It makes for interesting reading - if only I had more time to analyse each judge's marking.  A skim reading already highlights multiple inconsistencies in individual judges' marks and makes you wonder why they bother with the jury at all. I have taken the time to look at the reference judges' scores for the top four in the women's all around.  The FIG explains here what their role is, and how they are selected.  I even used my calculator, which is a risky thing in my hands.  My, how I wish we could have seen a similar document for the Tokyo World Championships. I wonder if anyone can explain how, if the FIG's Code of Points is so objective and fair, it is possible to come up with two different results using two differ...
70 comments
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more