European Championships WAG and MAG 2010

[ioanavol]

I have decided to open a thread for the EC in Birmingham also on the English forum.

I remind you the program, which for MAG has been delayed one day because of the recent events in Iceland:

MAG
- April: 20, 21: podium training;
- April 22: Qualifications juniors for CE and YOG;
- April 23: Qualifications seniors;
- April 24: AA juniors & Team finals seniors;
- April 25: EFs (juniors+seniors).

WAG:
- April 26&27: Podium training;
- April 28: Qualifications juniors for CE and YOG;
- April 29: Qualifications seniors;
- April 30: AA juniors;
- May 1st: Team final seniors;
- May 2nd: EFs (juniors+seniors);

Official site: http://www.europeangymnastics2010.org/Default.aspx

Participants:
WAG http://www.ueg-gymnastics.com/commstore/objekt.pl?katalog=downloads&Feld=datei&ID=900&inline
MAG http://www.ueg-gymnastics.com/commstore/objekt.pl?katalog=downloads&Feld=datei&ID=899&inline

From Romania:

MAG juniors: Andrei Muntean, Daniel Radeanu, Laurentiu Ioan Nistor, Andrei Groza, Adelin Kotrong;
MAG seniors: Flavius Koczi, Alin Jivan, Ovidiu Buidoso, Adrian Bucur, Cosmin Iancu (replacing Cristian Bataga);

WAG juniors: Larisa Iordache, Diana Bulimar, Maria Balea, Madalina Neagu, Beatrice Margarit (replacing Ana Maria Baicu);
WAG seniors: Ana Porgras, Amelia Racea, Diana Chelaru, Raluca Haidu and Cerasela Patrascu.

The EC will be broadcasted by TVR. (where online?)

[ioanavol]

Apparently both the guys and the girls haven't left yet, and since it takes about 3 days by bus/train/ferry from Romania to UK, I guess at least the guys won't be able to arrive at all :( I don't think this ash cloud situation will be gone this week...
Such a weird situation...also for the EC rythmic gymnastics in Bremen (but at least that's more in the middle) and for the EC trampoline in Bulgaria.

[ioanavol]

The MAG team has left today from Bucharest by train in the direction Budapest. They should arrive in the UK on Tuesday.
(thx to Marianne for the news)

[Sri Ea]

Great! ... at the same time not so great that they will have lost some days of training and let's not count out the tiredness caused by such a long and not very comfortable travel.

[ioanavol]

I think they will be broken...and they will only have one day for training (if any). Hope everything goes ok for them!

Apparently the Russians have much bigger problems, since they would need visa for every country they cross...so for them bus/train/ferry is no real option.
Marty, if you have more info, pls let us know.

[Marty R.]

No more... I'll be glad to give more information, but that's all I know.

[ioanavol]

Apparently Mircea Apolzan (secretary of RGF) gave an interview at a local radio station. He said that our team will arrive tomorrow eve and that the competition will start on Thursday, as planned. (thx Marianne)

Up to now the following teams arrived or are on their way to Birmingham (20 out of 37):
UK, Belgium, France, Irland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovacia, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Croatia, Luxemburg, Norway, Serbia, Slovenia, Romania, Danemark, Finland, Italy

Unfortunatelly there are teams which already announced they won't come: Georgia, Belarus and Portugal

(source TAAF)

I personally really hope the Russians and Ucraineans will manage to come (although if they haven't left yet it's virtually impossible at the moment). The Europeans are really not the same without them!:(

UPDATE:
Israel, Turkey and Greece announced that they won't participate unless they can travel by plane. (source: Nora, TAAF)

[ioanavol]

http://www.europeangymnastics2010.org/Default.aspx

Due to the disruptions to the European Gymnastics Championships schedule, the following amendments have been made to the programme for the men’s competition only.

Wednesday’s competition has been moved to Thursday
Thursday’s competition has been moved to Friday
Friday’s competition will now take place on Saturday morning

Competition Times
Thursday 22 April - 10am to 9.45pm
Friday 23 April - 10am to 8.30pm
Saturday 24 April – 11am to 1pm, Junior Team final
2pm to 5pm, Senior Team final
Sunday 25 April - 9.30am to 12.10pm, Junior Apparatus final
1.45pm to 4.45pm, Senior Apparatus final

[Clau93]

My best advice would be that FIG should postpone these championships for at least one week, or in the worst case 2 weeks! It wouldn't harm anyone, would it? They have to take in consideration that these are important championships, the first team competition for 2 years and qualifications for the youth olympics!

[ioanavol]

Today at 10.00 hs (Local time) the MAG junior competition is planned to start. The competition will last the whole day and eve, till ~21.45 hs (local time).

The competition today will count for:
- the European team final
- the qualifications for the AA and EFs this weekend
- the qualifications for the YOG in Singapore (if it still goes through)

The Romanian team members are: Andrei Muntean, Daniel Radeanu, Andrei Groza, Adelin Kotrong and Laurentiu Nistor.
They will compete on: PB, HB, FX, PH, SR and VT. (in this order)

We won't be able to see much on TV, so we'll have to totally rely on the German live ticker: http://gt-em2010.liveticker.dtb-online.de/ticker.php#latest

Go Romania!!!

[Clau93]

Aren't they competing on floor?

BAFTA BOYS!!

[ioanavol]

Sorry, you're right, I forgot it :D
Thanx for the correction.

[Serena2010]

Noroc Bun Romanian MAG Seniors and Juniors. It feels like I haven't been on here forever but thanks for the update.
I hear the skies are open for flying so I hope this means the women will be able to fly to UK. I hope the Russian women can fly as well since Euros will be weird without Romania's biggest rivals going (ha ha).

Thanks for the updates.....

[MartinaE]

Yep the skies are open again here - saw lots of planes up there today!!! Most airlines are back on shedule, but they are still bringing all the people back to places who were stuck somewhere also....

[ioanavol]

Results qualification and team finals juniors:

Final ranking:

1. UK - 252,975
2. Switzerland - 248,525
3. France- 244,550
4. Romania - 244,500
5. Germany 244,350
6. Belgium 242,650
7. Spain 241,600
8. Italy 241,050

We had at the end 7 qualifications in the finals this weekend:

AA: Andrei Muntean and Daniel Radeanu
FX: Andrei Groza and Adelin Kotrong
SR: Andrei Muntean
VT: Daniel Radeanu
UB: Andrei Muntean

The complete results here: http://www.longinestiming.com/sports/gym/ag_ec2k10mj/C53A_ListOfQualifiers_GA%20Men%20Junior_Concours%2 0II.pdf and http://www.longinestiming.com/sports/gym/ag_ec2k10mj/C53B_ListOfQualifiers_GA%20Men%20Junior_Concours%2 0III.pdf

Congratulations and good luck in the finals!!!

---------------------

For the MAG senior qualifications today Romania (Flavius Koczi, Ovidiu Buidoso, Cosmin Iancu, Adrian Bucur and Alin Jivan) will compete in the first subdivision, together with Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Portugal, Austria, Irland, Turkey and Finland.

Starting list: http://longinestiming.com/sports/gym/ag_ec2k10ms/C51A_StartList_GA%20Men%20Senior_Concours%20I.pdf

The order of the events: rings, vault, bars, high bar, floor and pommel horse.

The competition will start at 10hs GMT.

Go Romaniaaa!

[Serena2010]

Howdy everyone,

Official results of Romanian men at Europeans (senior)

Vault - Flavius Koczi - bronze

Junior Men - Parallel Bars - Andrei Muntean - Gold
Junior Men - Floor - Adelin Kotrong - Silver

Congratulations

I am so excited for the women's competition.

Thanks Ioanavol for regular updates. Is there any chance of watching the Euros online outside of Europe ????

[Sri Ea]

Phew! I'm so relieved that Flavius got at least one medal (I didn't care for the colour) because since all the retirements of last year and the sad string of injuries among the stars of the team, he's the one who has been basically supporting the whole team on his shoulders all along these championships.
His colleagues still lack experience (except for Alin but until now he hasn't been back to his pre-injury level).
I know it is perfectly unfair because you can't compare what was asked back then and what is asked of them now but while seeing the guys struggle during TF, I couldn't help remembering the 2004 Olympic stars (Dragulescu, Urzica, Suciu, Popescu, Potra) with a little pinch in my heart. Ah nostalgia...

Congrats to te Juniors also of course, especially that I was so disappointed with Andrei not hitting the AA competition after a great qualie, his gold was like redemption and a gold on PB for Romania especially!

[ioanavol]

Firstly, thanks Serena and SriEa for writting also here...I was starting to think that there are no English-speaking fans here anymore, since everybody's trying to learn Romanian nowadays:P

I would also like to congratulate Flavius, first of all, for taking his role of a team leader seriously (and he's only 23 years old!!). It could have ended up better, but I am sure that for him it will only get better during the following competitions. He makes fewer and fewer mistakes each year!
Congratulations to Adrian for qulifying in an European final, it should be a good confidence boost for him.
Congratulations also to the other guys for doing everything they could, I know that Romania could have gotten very close to the podium without the falls...this will serve as an experience and at the qualifications in Rotterdam they will do much better (and qualify for the OGs)!
...and, of course I should congratulate the juniors, especially Andrei and Adelin, for their medals and for showing that Romanian team's future is in good hands!

[MartinaE]

Oh I am still here as well! :) I just did not get to see that much on TV.......:( Well I saw Eurosport`s coverage of the team final - but they hardly showed any Romanian routines in it so I can`t comment much. Then for EF they decided to completely change their shedule which caused me to miss that coverage completely. :(
I really wish I will be more lucky for the women!!!! Sri Ea, do you know if Rai Sports might show something?? I hope Eurosport won`t be my only source for the competition.....

[ioanavol]

For the ones who didn't watch everything (like me) here it is the Romanian coverage of the MAG competition (huge thanks to Amalia!!):

team final - part 1 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=R1TV2QIE
team final - part 2 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4DTOBA7Z
team final - part 3 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=U3T49I68

FX: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FAB7QWZ1
PH: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7NX6WBXW
VT: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SQI83QYX
PB: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PEM9LD5N
HB: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7R2NR5WN
SR: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=O17FR8Y0

medal awarding ceremony: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SER9Y2V1

[Sri Ea]

Sri Ea, do you know if Rai Sports might show something?? I hope Eurosport won`t be my only source for the competition.....

I know that Raisport will show the WAG TF on saturday (but it will be at night, at 10:30 pm italian time) I still don't know for the EF on sunday... but I hope they show them even with some days of delay.

[Serena2010]

[QUOTE=ioanavol;3018491]Firstly, thanks Serena and SriEa for writting also here...I was starting to think that there are no English-speaking fans here anymore, since everybody's trying to learn Romanian nowadays:P


Ha ha ha, Ioanavol - that is so funny. I am learning to speak Romanian but not fast enough so I surf between here and the Romanian speaking threads.

By the way, I want to share a link to a story written by a reporter who was lucky enough to see the Romanian juniors (WAG) at one of their training sessions. The article has great praise for our beloved juniors and this really makes me excited about the big showdown between Romania and Russia - like the glory old days (ha ha).


http://www.examiner.com/x-19152-Gymnastics-Examiner~y2010m4d26-2010-European-Championships-Jots-from-junior-womens-podium-training


Take a minute to read the article but a couple of things interesting...

- the reporter says the Romanian girls are not bad on UB which means she can see progress on UB

- Bulimar trained the most out of everyone and was doing the most repetitions

- Iordache great floor

- Solid stuck landings from Bulimar - she oozes CHARM

- Reporter was not sure of 2 of the girls on floor and asks "who are they?". If you read the article i think she is talking about Balea and beatrice margarit on floor.

Happy reading, I am happy to share stories in order to keep this thread updated.

I am more excited about this competition than I was for the 2008 Beijing games. Roll on the showdown!!

[Tess_AN]

Poza cu junioarele noastre de la antrenamentul oficial : http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/photo.php?pid=4097085&id=280059768493
Nu e Mariuta :(
Romanian Juniors as they are in the picture in the link posted by Mihai: Madalina Neagu, Diana Rusu, Diana Bulimar, Beatrice Margarit, Larisa Iordache.

http://www.examiner.com/x-19152-Gymnastics-Examiner~y2010m4d26-2010-European-Championships-Jots-from-junior-womens-podium-training
- Reporter was not sure of 2 of the girls on floor and asks "who are they?"
"Romanian no. 2 on floor has dramatic Arabian/Egyptian music" is Beatrice Margarit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWLwMeCPbKo and the one "who does Bond" I guess it is Diana Rusu.

Thank you Serena for the link and your comments as well as for your highly addictive enthusiasm :ok: I also can not wait for the competition to begin!

[Sri Ea]

The article has great praise for our beloved juniors and this really makes me excited about the big showdown between Romania and Russia - like the glory old days (ha ha).


I don't think it is possible alas as much as I would love too. The Russian Juniors are miles ahead of the Romanians in the D score on both VT (they have 3 DTYs and one of them could be transformed into an Amanar -from Komova-) and UB sets.
Their BB sets are as difficult as the Romanians and both teams show inconsistency on this apparatus. Maybe FX is the only event in which Romania has a slight advantage because they are usually more consistent in the tumbling.
The format 5-5-3 won't help the Romanians much either.
Good luck to the girls though,I would just be happy if they get on the podium after their 2008 4th place finish.

[ioanavol]

Ana Porgras has broken hands from the bars, while she still has pain in her ankle.
Forminte is afraid that she won't be able to do bars (and they really count on her for that) and that she won't be able to stay on the landings at FX and BB.
http://www.prosport.ro/alte-sporturi/gimnastica/cu-mainile-sangerande-6066240

I already have a déjà-vu...

[Sri Ea]

Thanks ioanavol!
For the opened palms, it is a very common accident on UB and usually heals quickly, but it is very unfortunate that it happens now. The ankle is more worrying at this point imo.
Good health to Ana and have a speedy recovery.

[ioanavol]

I remember Andreea Raducan saying that before the OG 2000 she only did bars one time in the podium training, just because of preventing this to happen...
I really don't get why they don't teach them with the...(how do you call them..."palmiere"in Romanian) since they are little kids? It's so much more modern way of performing...I know the Russians don't do it either, but still...poor hands.

EDIT: I'm really glad that the juniors impressed during training, I hope they'll say at least the same about the seniors today. We have such a great tem, a bit unexperienced, but how many beautiful and talented girls...we haven't had that since 2005. Go Ana, go Romania!

[Cata_RB]

I really don't get why they don't teach them with the...(how do you call them..."palmiere"in Romanian) since they are little kids? It's so much more modern way of performing...I know the Russians don't do it either, but still...poor hands.


Grips in english.
I agree, it would be much easier for them. Someone [a coach, a believe] once said in an interview that they are pretty expensive and that's why the little girls don't learn working on bars with them.

[Sri Ea]

Some girls had grips in the past I think (Andreea Munteanu ???)
Like you said, in the little clubs, they are quite expensive and then when the girls switch to bigger clubs or to the national team they are not used to them and many gymnasts think that it is not comfortable not to feel the apparatus.

[ioanavol]

Well, if that's what keeps them from performing well in an European, World or OG final, then they loose much more than money...our dear Federation should see the big frame, investing in the little gymnasts secures the future (but when do they do that?!?)

Honestly, if that'd change sth, I (and surely I wouldn't be the only one) would just donate them to a club where little girls are training. But I really don't think that's the real problem.



Anyway, the first impressions from the podium training session appeared on the TAAF, for now only about Ukraine, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark and Croatia:
http://www.the-all-around.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=97

[Sri Ea]

Russia is training now (Subdivision 2) and Romania later (Subdivision 3)...

[ioanavol]

Thanks, Sri Ea. Can't wait to hear how they did.

[Sri Ea]

Romania's training is 15.15 to 17.15 GBR time. Can't wait either!

[MartinaE]

I know that Raisport will show the WAG TF on saturday (but it will be at night, at 10:30 pm italian time) I still don't know for the EF on sunday... but I hope they show them even with some days of delay.

Oh yay thank you so much Sri Ea - that are great news!! I will make sure to watch and tape that. And I also keep my fingers crossed for them to show EF as well!! :) If they do combined with Eurosport that should be a pretty decent coverage I hope!


And ioanavol - thank you soooo much for those videos!! :) I hope we will be able to get this on WAG as well esp. in case Rai won`t show EF.....

[ioanavol]

You're welcome, but don't thank me, Amalia is the great recorder here:) We count on her also for the WAG competition.

[TessaW]

Thanks for all the info guys! I was not able to follow the men's competition much, hope I will for the girls. Happy for Koczi and the juniors! I wonder why Maria Balea was replaced at last notice. Hope she is not injured. A shame, I would have loved to see that little piece of dynamite at Europeans.

Good luck to all the girls tomorrow!

[MartinaE]

OK regarding coverage on Rai Sports for WAG this is what I found on the internet.....

Saturday:
21:00 Qualificazione europei femminile
22:30 Campionati Europei Femminili


Sunday:
13:45 Qualificazione europei femminile
22:00 Campionato femminile
23:45 Campionato europeo femminile

I just don`t know if all of this is gymnastics or not as they kind of do not mention the sport it is about on the website........!?!?!

[mikeyy]

The qualification-rounds will be broadcasted on Rai Sports? :shocked:
This would be amazing...

Thanks Martina!

[Serena2010]

Hey All

Taken from the ALLROUND - notes from Senior woman's training observations on Russia and Romania

TEAM RUSSIA TRAINING SENIOR WAG

Russia started in which one is one of their best apparatus nowadays, uneven bars. Aliya Mustafina is the starter but she struggled connecting a stalder 1/1 - Tkatchev - Pak - stalder 1/2 combo, at the end, she was able to do it succesfully; her routine also includes a stalder 1/1 on low bar to toe on shaposhnikova 1/2, inside stalder 1/2 - pikded Jaeger. Tatiana Nabieyva was the second with a stalder 1/1, shaposhnikova, giant 1/1 - Pak, shaposhnikova 1/2, inside stalder 1/2 - Jaeger, stalder 1/1 - full in. The dismount combo didn't work the second try. Ekaterina Kurbatova did a clear hip shaposhnikova, giant 1/1 - Tkatchev - Pak (twice too close to the bar), shaposhnikova 1/2, Ono - full in off. On beam, Semyonova was unstable with a fall on the onodi - flic - layout combo, she also had a big wobble out of the free aerial - flic - whip, that prevented her to connect it to the sheep jump, her routine also had a free cartwheel, a side somi and a ro - double pike dismount. Mustafina did a beautiful double turn, arabian, switch ring leap, flic, free aerial - side somi, side somi, onodi, ro - 2 1/2 off. Secure. The decision for the Russian coaches is who to use for the last beam position during team finals. Kurbatova performed a switch ring leap, free aerial - flic - layout, Kochetkova, turn with leg at head, ro - double back (close to beam). In my opinion, Myzdrikova did a much better effor with a free aeral - flic - layout, switch 1/1 leap, side somi, switch leap - back tuck, 1 1/2 turn, split jump - wolf jump, ro - double pike off. It's a tough decision. On floor, Semyonova surprised with a double layout opening tumble that watered down to a double back at the moment of tumbling with the music, her routine also included a 2 1/2 - barani - stag jump, 1 1/2 - 1/1, doulbe pike off. Ekaterina Kurbatova did a double arabian, 1 1/2 - 1/1, double back, double pike. Aliya Mustafina, surprisingly, did floor with a doulbe arabian (stuck with a beautiful position to open it), 2 1/2 - 1/1, turn with leg at head, 1 1/2 - 1 1/2 and 3/1 off. Anna Myzdrikova performed a whip - double arabian, 3/1 - back tuck, 2 1/2 - barani - stag jump, double pike off. This must be the most beautiful floor line up in recent history. Russia finished on vault where Mustafina, Nabieva, Kurbatova and Myzdrikova all vaulted double twisting Yurchenko. Out of all of them, Mustafina's was the best one followed by Nabiyeva, Kurbatova and Myzdrikova. The last three gymnast had second vaults, piked podkopayeva that turned into layout for most of them. Myzdrikova even tried to add an extra 1/2 twist on it but she couldn't land it. It will be difficult to choose the three vaulting gymnasts since Myzdrikova's second vault is the best of all of them, but her Yurchenko double twist is really bad and full of deductions. As a curious note, Semyonova changed her leotard after floor although she didn't have to perform on vault.

TRAINING NOTES ON ROMANIAN SENIOR WAG

Romania started in her worst apparatus, uneven bars, Ana Porgras struggled quite a bit unable to hit a single routine. At the end, she managed to connect the stalder 1 1/2 - Jaeger, but she had problems on the change from high to low bar, she dismounted with a double layout. Other routines included a stalder 1/1 - Jaeger with a Tuskahara dismout, Jaeger, giant 1 1/2 - double front off (fall all the times) and a giant 1/1 - Gienger with a tuskahara dismount. Ana Porgras missed the foot in her ff - ff - double back off, and only did a back tuck; she also did a free aerial - flic - layout, switch leap - back tuck and side somi. The first up fell on a flic - shishova that managed to hit later on, she also had a silivas mount, fre aerial - back tuck, sheep jump, back pike, flic - flic - double pike off. The second had a flic - back tuck, free aerial, blic - back pike, switch leap - side somi, flic - flic - double pike off. On floor, things started badly for Romania with a Tuskahara, 2 1/2 punch front, 3/1 (underrotated), double pike (fall) from Raluca Haidu. Amelia Racea did a Tsuakahara, 2 1/2 punch front, double pike off; while Diana Chelaru had a double layout, whip - 3/1, 2 1/2 punch layout (saved) and Tsuakahra dismount. Ana Porgras, who won't do floor, did a 2/1, 2 1/2, 2/1, 2/1... On vault, Raluca Haidu crashed all of her attempts of a double twisting Yurchenko, Diana Chelaru did a handspring front pike and a handspringt front tuck 1/1 and a double twisting Yurchenko; aiming for vault finals. Amerlia Racea also did a double twisting Yurchenko with some knee issues and an Omelianchik.

The full article can be read here

http://www.the-all-around.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=97

Sad news about Ana. I hope when I woke up tomorrow (its nearly midnight where I am) I will hear good news on here about Ana.

Can I see Rai Sports TV channels from the USA?? Is it online?? Are the Europeans being broadcasted on TVR??

[Sri Ea]

OK regarding coverage on Rai Sports for WAG this is what I found on the internet.....

Saturday:
21:00 Qualificazione europei femminile
22:30 Campionati Europei Femminili


Sunday:
13:45 Qualificazione europei femminile
22:00 Campionato femminile
23:45 Campionato europeo femminile

I just don`t know if all of this is gymnastics or not as they kind of do not mention the sport it is about on the website........!?!?!

I'm quite frightened it's not all gymnastics only the 2 last programs. Pretty stupid from them not to mention the sport, isn't it?
The only Raisport page that always mentions the sport is this one but they never put the programs in advance:
http://www2.raisport.rai.it/news/tv.htm
(BTW at the moment,they still have yesterday's program :()

@ Serena : I know there was a way to watch Raisport online a few years ago but I don't know if it is not possible now.

[Sri Ea]

Qualies are over for the Romanian Juniors... I have very mixed feelings although frustration has to be the dominant one.
Well, if we take the positive side, girls were brilliant on FX (although I do wonder why Diana Bulimar had such a little D score... she must have messed sthing up).
For the rest, I'm quite devastated about BB (except for Madalina Neagu, with her current SV I doubt that she could do much more). Bars were -let's be honest- quite mediocre, so was vault (it seems that Rusu threw a lovely FTY that was not really rewarded).
Let's hope they can grab the podium although there are still 3 subdivisions to go and that they do better during AA and EF (they will surely enter the FX final; for the BB final, there is alas no guarantee at all.)

[Tess_AN]

As I said in the Romanina thread, I am sorry that Didi did not qualified for BB final and for Beatrice she did not reach any finals in spite of good performance at two apparatus. I see a lot of potential on Beatrice for VT and FX. (She is our Williams :D with better artistics- we may see her a VT world champ! :) )

Over all, in a positive note, if Romanians get 2 gymnasts per final - Iordache, Bulimar, Neagu and Rusu are there and it is nice to have 4 girls in finals. Diana Rusu (forget about bars, she is a 3 apparatus gymnast) it was a nice surprise.

The FX was thrilled! (except I did not understand why only 5.5 D score for Bulimar ???) The BB in the opposite side! Those are our dearest juniors girls! As kids, one good attitude should be balance with a bad one! I hope they stay healthy and mature before they become seniors. And I hope they'll continue to work with the same technicians - it looks like the overall juniors girls attitude is nice and productive one!

[ioanavol]

The Romanian results (thanks Mona):

VT
Larisa: 13.875/13.875
Diana R: 13.575/13.225
Betty: 13.625/13.125
Didi: 13.250/13.525

UB
Didi 13.650 (E:8.250 D:5.4)
Larisa 13.275 (E:7.675 D:5.6)
Mada 12.650 (E:7.750 D:4.9)
Diana R 9.925 (E:5.925 D:4)

BB
Mada 13.950 (E:8.350 D 5.6)
Larisa 13.625 (E: 7.625 D 6.0)
Didi 13.200 (E:7.500 D 5.7)
Diana 13.150 (D:5.2 E:7.950)
Betty 12.850 (E:8.150 D:4.7)

FX
Didi 14.425 (E:8.925 D:5.5)
Larisa 14.775 (E:8.775 D:6.0)
Betty 14.075 (E:8.375 D:5.7)
Diana R 13.600 (E:8.5 D:5.1)



Maybe I am not completely up to date, but except for BB I didn't expect much more...unfortunately that's our level on UB and VT at the moment. While with one weak event we could live (and even win), with two weak ones there is virtually no chance.
I think that the girls did their best and I applaud the way they performed on FX after the falls on the BB. I personally think that they will qualify in the BB final...but we'll see.
For the rest, I think we still have a pretty good chance at silver on TF (more than silver would have been anyhow difficult) and a chance to medal on the AA, although I agree that 55p is a bit too low.

We'll live and see...can't wait to "see" the Russians:)

[TessaW]

Here are my 2 cents, for what it is worth. To start with the positive: They must have rocked on floor! Diana B.'s D-score is a bit low, maybe some leaps were not counted? But a double layout and a full-in in the 3rd run is good! Both Larisa and Diana must be in floor final. It is a pitty they counted both a fall on beam. Larisa probably has a chance to reache the final, hope she can do better then. And Madalina keeps surprising. That 13.950 is a pretty good score after being injured for such a long time. I am happy Beatrice scored above 14 on floor. That is a good prospect. If she can add a twist on vault next year, she can be a VT/FX specialist.

Actually I am pretty pleased with the UB scores of Larisa and Diana B. If you look at the scores of the recent meets, they were mostly in de 12, so they at leat delivered at the moment it counted. This is just the best they can do at the moment.

I am sure these championships are a good experience for them, especially for Beatrice, Diana R and Madalina, as they have not competed as much as the other 2 yet. Diana B and Larisa can only do better in AA finals (on beam) and I hope they can reach some other EF's than floor.

I only wonder what's up with Maria Balea and GG?

If I counted well Italy received 161.450, so stayed far away from Romania. Italy only scored higher than Romania at bars, but only 0.175 more. The other differences were in favour of Romania: beam: 0.500, floor: 2.325 and vault: 0.600

[TessaW]

standings per apparatus after 3rd sub division, (no vault) and only 2 per country
. Diana is still on top on bars!
UB

Diana Bulimar ROM 13.650
Erika Fasana ITA 13.400
Giulia Leni ITA 13.375
Larisa Iordache ROM 13.275
Elisavet Tsakou GRE 13.200
Rebecca Tunney GBR 12.850
Maria Paula Vargas ESP 12.775
Tessa Gerrits NED 12.750



BB

Tess Moonen NED 14.175
Carlotta Ferlito ITA 14.050
Madalina Neagu ROM 13.950
Larisa Iordache ROM 13.625
Leilah Mackenzie GBR 13.500
Kristina Sankova UKR 13.450
Erika Fasana ITA 13.400
Frances Jacobs BEL 13.150




FX
Larisa Iordache ROM 14.775
Diana Bulimar ROM 14.425
Erika Fasana ITA 13.900
Lisa Top NED 13.800
Kristina Sankova UKR 13.750
Francesca De Agostini ITA 13.550
Ruby Harrold GBR 13.500
Daryna Liubytska UKR 13.225

[MartinaE]

I'm quite frightened it's not all gymnastics only the 2 last programs. Pretty stupid from them not to mention the sport, isn't it?
The only Raisport page that always mentions the sport is this one but they never put the programs in advance:
http://www2.raisport.rai.it/news/tv.htm
(BTW at the moment,they still have yesterday's program :()

@ Serena : I know there was a way to watch Raisport online a few years ago but I don't know if it is not possible now.


Unfortunately I fear the same thing.....:( But well, at least they show something!!
Eurosport will have some coverage too - but also delayed. From what I saw they have something up in their shedule for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday morning - Monday and Tuesday might even be repetitions.....

I agree it is really stupid from them to not mention the sport at all on that website.....how should people know what it is?!?
That is the good thing about the video text site definitely though it is kind of complicated to only be able and see things one day in beforehand or even only on the same day if at all....But thanks a lot for that link anyway Sri Ea cause I had lost it somehow....:)

Sadly I also have no knowledge about where to watch Rai Sport online - I am sorry. :(

[TessaW]

A silver medal for the girls! Russia was miles ahead, but Romania had over 3 point more than number 3 Italy, so also a big gap.

And at least event finals for Diana B (bars, floor), Larisa (beam, floor) and Madalina (beam). And maybe one or two in vault. Congratulations to the team!

[Sri Ea]

Congrats to the girls for their deserved silver medal, I have to say that I was nervous almost until the very end!
I'm really happy for them because in front of those AMAZING Russian Juniors, they stood simply no chance of ranking better ( I'm still somehow frustrated though as I had wished the score difference could have been smaller with less mistakes on BB and deep down I think I'm also fulminating at the huge widening gap on VT and UB, well especially on UB... I think I sound like a broken record as I have been repeating the same thing for the past 10 years.)
But they'll certainly enjoy their medals tonight, they did much better than the beautiful team of 2008.
In the end, do we know for sure if Diana could reach UB Final and if Larissa could reach BB?

A little sad thought though for the past great nations of gymnastics that are slowly disappearing : Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria. A sad thought also for little Andrea Foti, the best italian AAer who couldn't compete and help her team due to an injury.... I wish her much health and better days will come...

[TessaW]

Yes, Diana is in bars final, Larisa in beam and Larisa and Diana R in vault. So 7 out of the possible 8 finals (with Larisa being first reserve on bars). But I do agree, they have a lot of work to do to catch up with the Russian. I actually do not think it is possible. The Russians are a planet away.

Personally I am very happy for Tess Moonen (bb-final) and Lisa Top (floor final). I am very very sad about Ukraine. With Romania that is my favorite team and it is so sad to see them slipping through the ranks. Every 2 years it is worse. I will love them always, Ukraine is my sentimental favorite since Lilia won in Atlanta (one of my first gymnastics memories) but it will be painful I'm afraid.

About vault: Beatrice Margarit and Diana Bulimar are still in front of the number 8th qualified for the final, so it is not that bad.

[Serena2010]

I am very proud of our girls for their silver medal win.
We all knew it was going to be VERY hard to pass Russia on VT and UB but what surprises today. First the coaches made the wise decision to use Diana Rusu instead of Maria Balea and now we are looking at Diana Rusu in Vault finals - this is a good thing. Second, the coaches decide to use Beatrice Margarit in place of Ana Maria Baicu and even though Beatrice didn't make a final, she scored a great score on vault (could have made finals had the 2 per country rule not be in place) and a great result on floor (14.075).

I understand the frustrations from Sri Ea and others in terms of UB and VT and although things may be frustrating it's not all downhill for Romania unlike Belarus and Ukraine (where they are heading). Let's take a peek at the Junior teams from 2004 onwards and see what progress this team has made on UB. I'm proud of the result - I wanted a Gold medal for girls and amazing UB routines but needless there are some good signs ahead, especially on UB. I found the total scores on each apparatus and the ones we are all concerned on - VT and UB,I compared the total from past teams to todays girls. Look at the progress on UB and also the progress from last Junior Euros (08) on VT. The totals are after the Junior team final and the ranking for Romania on the apparatus. Look at our progress on Vt and UB (especially UB).

Juniors 2004

2nd Team
Vault - 2nd
UB - 7th

Juniors 2006

2nd Team
Vault - 1st
UB - 6th

Juniors 2008

4th Team (they didn't even make podium)
Vault - 5th
UB - 8th

Juniors 2010
2nd Team
Vault - 3rd (a big step from last Euros)
UB - 4th ****** BIG PROGRESS from 2004 Junior scores**

We don't have superior fancy UB routines like Russia but Iordache is upgrading faster than anyone these days - her D score on UB was 5.6, thats not too bad. I think the Romanian Junior coaches are a little more smarter than their senior counterparts - it seems that a friend who was watching this competition observed coaches from Romania taking notes while Russians were performing . Lets hope the notes are going to be useful in the future and that they can learn something from the Russians on UB and VT.
I would like for the coaches to recognize that Diana Rusu and Beatrice Margarit are 2 gymnasts that could play a major part in gymnastics so I hope the coaches make it a priority to work with these 2 gymnasts to upgrade their vault. We need another good UB worker - that is indeed a fact - Neagu perhaps? Andrea Tufa?? Rusu?? Margarit?? Let's see who they choose to work on UB.

Don't be frustrated, don't say we will NEVER beat Russia, don't say we are not good enough to catch up to Russia on VT and UB, never underestimate Romania. I'm not even Romanian and I believe with my heart that this is a step uphill for Romania starting with this team and the Junior coaching staff who seem to make better decisions than the Senior coaching staff.. Forminte - are you listening to this???

Good night friends, it's been a long day where I was on computer all day with 2 friends from IG watching this competition. I got NO WORK DONE today (ughh) but my nails are all gone from biting them. Tomorrow - the same thing again with Seniors (ha ha).

[ioanavol]

Romania will perform starting 3.15pm GMT, in the third Subdivision.
Russia 2 hs earlier, in the second.

subdivisions:
http://www.longinestiming.com/sports/gym/ag_ec2k10ms/C08_CompetitionSchedule_GA%20General.pdf
working order:
http://www.longinestiming.com/sports/gym/ag_ec2k10ms/C51A_StartList_GA%20Men%20Senior_Concours%20I.pdf

[Clau93]

I am a bit surprized that the Romanians are not considering Cerasela for UB. They have brilliant UB workers on this team: Amelia Racea, Raluca Haidu, Cerasela Patrascu and Ana Porgras (if capable). This is going to be a very loooooong Europeans and I am so afraid that we will have terrible results.

[Sri Ea]

I hope that Raluca will be going for the FTY today after her rough podium training. As long as she doesn't aim for VT finals, the DTY is not needed to qualify the team. Plus she's a 4 events gymnast so they should spare her some pressure for her 1st big senior showing.

[ioanavol]

I hope they qualify for the EFs (especially FX and BB, and Diana C at VT).

For the rest they don't need to stress too much, the team will qualify anyhow. (ok, providing they do all their routines:P)

Fopr me it's also amazing what low marks the Russians get. Did we expect this? Ok, I knew they weren't as good as the juniors, but still...

[TessaW]

Well it is 3 up 3 count so the mistakes of Kurbatova on bars cost them a lot. She had a 11. something. But it is only qualifications, they have a second chance in teamfinal. Some of the juniors also messed up, but 2 scores were scratches. And Mustafina did really well. I really wonder how the Romanians will do. Good luck to them, they are almost going to start.

[Sri Ea]

Fopr me it's also amazing what low marks the Russians get. Did we expect this? Ok, I knew they weren't as good as the juniors, but still...

With the format 5-3-3, anything can happen (this format is really ridiculous for qualifications as he doesn't give the members of a team the same chance).
Plus the judges were specificlly told today to be very strict in their notation and I guess they applied the order (particularly on VT).

[shagya]

Bad start for Romania !! Only Ana Porgras and Diana Chelaru have no big mistakes. I hope Forminte change the Team for the Team Finale. In my opinion Haidu on ub out and Patrascu in. And Gbr in very close to Romania. I hope she have in the Team Finale not so big mistakes. What is wrong with the girls ? Last year racea was the next Star in the Romanian Team and now ??!!? :-( I was hoping the bad time is over... :-(

[Sri Ea]

Very mixed feelings too. I was so happy after the beam rotation (especially if both Ana and Raluca qualify as they are my 2 favorite BB workers on the team -with Voicu... and Cerasela if she could get a real dismount-) but got a real shock on FX (except for Diana who did her job). Vault scores were expected and for UB well let's say that I was relieved that all of them stayed on the apparatus at least even with mistakes.
Coaches played it smart with Raluca downgrading her routines and VT as she's frankly not in a good shape. Now for me it is not that much a surprise as she has always been somehow a delicious headcase and relying upon her for 4 events is taking a big risk. She'll learn with time I hope, she has already made a lot of progress in general this year with consistency.
Smart also to downgrade Chelaru's FX when she only needed to ensure a qualification.

[Serena2010]

What a great day, Romania qualifying second for team finals, Russia showing everyone that they are HUMAN and not SUPERHEROS with mistakes.

What is with the decision to put haidu on ub over Cerasela?? come on forminite - why don't you go sightseeing in London and let the Junior coaching staff take over for the day -I'm sure they will use thinking cap much smarter and make better decisions.

Haidu - great job on BB but elsewhere - grrrrrrrr. I agree with Sri Ea - she has a headcase gymnast who either hits it big or misses it big. I noticed the first 2 rotations she was delightful but then later in rotations 3,4 she lost it.

Racea - ahhhhh Amelia, I am happy she did as best as she could because only 2 weeks ago she was tired and looked very weak. She performed a good job on vault and on UB. It's a shame her BB has been watered down, I liked her free cartwheel to back tuck element and wish the coaches wouldn't have taken that out. I don't like her fx - it is icky and that music does NOT SUIT HER.

Porgras - what a trooper - injured and all she hit when it counted and first highest qualifyer on BB - take that Mustafina!!!

Chelaru great on vault - she will make finals right?

I didn't realize this was a qualifying meet so there is more chances for better performance from girls in finals. Forminte please make Cerasela part of this finals - it could be that he was resting her and intends to use her in finals.

http://www.longinestiming.com/sports/gym/ag_ec2k10ws/C73B_ResultsTeamDet_GA%20Women%20Senior_Concours%2 0I.pdf

Results after Subdivision 3. Note that we are ranked 2nd on vault, 4th on UB after Russia (heh heh) and 1st top ranked on BB. Looks good to me.... I'm giggling over Russia being ranked 3rd highest on UB after GBR and FR.

[Sri Ea]

Well I don't know why Forminte should let the Junior staff take the decisions instead of him.

So far until today they haven't brought better gymnastics or better results and their gymnasts are equally inconsistent on the different events especially BB and FX (although the Seniors must have a slight advantage for consistency in general). Their huge weakness is equally on UB (although I'd rather watch any day the Senior routines even with mistakes rather than the hit Junior routines with their bad -sorry- lines.) The same goes for VT (the only gymnast with beautiful form, Diana Rusu, is a Deva Junior BTW).
I'm not at all criticizing the junior coaching (and I love Lacramioara as a coach and also because I loved her as a gymnast), I just don't think that they have proved to be better than their senior counterparts. They have 2 gems in Larisa and Diana but until now for me they are still rough diamonds waiting to be polished...

For the decision of letting Haidu compete on UB today well I wouldn't have used Cerasela either in Qualies, her D score is just too weak (and though I looooove Cerasela to death, I still don't consider her a reliable and consistent gymnast until further notice). Raluca in the different meets before Euros had showed that she had gained confidence. It's only since the beginning of Euros that she's melting down like she did the years before.
I still don't know if I would use Cerasela in TF. If I did it it would be only for sentimental reasons, for her to share a part of the competition and to boost her confidence. Otherwise, I would better use Raluca or Diana on UB including the risks. I think Cerasela's time hasn't come up yet. Hopefully her real comeback will take place at Worlds.:)

[MartinaE]

Regarding the TV coverage on Rai Sport it looks like times are changing!!!

I now see this:

Saturday:
18:00 Campionati europei femminile (1,5 hours)

Sunday:
23:45 Campionato europeo femminile (about 1 hour and 45 minutes)

[ioanavol]

Thanks, Martina:) Do you know if it can be watched online?

@SriEa: I tend to agree with you...

[Sri Ea]

Thanks a lot Martina!Hmmm... 1.30 for TF only, it'll mean that they will not present 1 rotation out of 4 I guess... Still better than nothing!

Many thanks to this user : mishmash151 who has uploaded many vids from yesterday's competition among them quite a lot of romanian vids...
First bars : I have to say that I'm very impressed by the way Haidu and Porgras kipcast to handstand without straddling their legs. For the rest well, Raluca's mistake after her Geinger cost her a lot, I hope she can fix it for saturday. Ana also can fix her mistake and try to be not so low on the dismount.
Amelia was okay but very slow, she was soooo late in her combination, it's a miracle she could pull the Jaeger without falling. Great that she could stand up her dismount though after her issues in PT.
On beam, I'm dying to see Raluca's! I see the other girls played it safer with more secure routines and I'm curious if she did the same. Ana masterd all her elements but I'm not fan of this particular set, I much prefer the combo aerial-sheep jump and then the combo with the layout to 2 feet, much more impressive than the loso. Well actually I much prefer her last year's routine at nationals... but for the moment I'll stick to what I have seen from her this year.
Amelia left out her free cartwheel back tuck combo (too bad, it is also the highlight of her routine), maybe after PT, she was not feeling safe with it. Her biggest mistake though is the big break after her front aerial for which she lost a precious connection. Strange that she opted for the double pike dismount when she has never performed it consistently (and this time it was a close save!) and was more comfortable with the double back.
For FX, what a pity for Raluca's sole mistake. It cost her a fall and the whole value of the 2 saltos combo... She would have so easily reached the EF ! She lost the good timing for the salto (it has to be the nerves I guess), what a curious mistake especially after her excellent performances at Rom Internationals. Also I noticed that at Rom Internationals,she was performing her triple - underrotated- in the 3rd line which is very late at the moment a lot of gymnasts begin to be tired and lose their concentration. I wonder if they could put back the triple as 1st pass (a little bit like last year, she even had the whip to triple like Diana) to ensure it is fully rotated and then the full in and then 2.5 to punch front (would she have the fuel for it??? or maybe they'd rather go with 1.5 to punch front) and then the double pike.
Amelia on FX, well, she did well,to my eyes the triple was fully rotated at least enough not to be downgraded. She can't do much better except for the oob and try to stick some passes not to receive too many landing deductions.
I'm dying to see Diana's routine too although what I amreally curious for his her full difficulty packed set.

[MartinaE]

Thanks, Martina:) Do you know if it can be watched online?



No I am sorry - I don`t know....:)
I will try to tape the coverage from TV though and if I can catch it I will burn it onto DVDs. I am not able to put it online unfortunately....but if someone is desperate maybe we can arrange some trade. :)

[MartinaE]

No I am sorry - I don`t know....:)
I will try to tape the coverage from TV though and if I can catch it I will burn it onto DVDs. I am not able to put it online unfortunately....but if someone is desperate maybe we can arrange some trade. :)

We also have one first photo online - of the Russian junior AA champs
http://guboard.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=2010euros&action=display&thread=3111

[ioanavol]

Thanks for the photo, Martina:)
What did you think of the competition yesterday?

And about the recording...do you use a DVD recorder for that? I also wanted to do that (from the Romanian coverage)...does it work well? How many DVDs do you need for a competition (let's say 5hs)?

[Sri Ea]

Congratulations to Larisa and Diana for their very good rankings in the AA!
It was nice to see that they performed with consistence on all the events as I had so much missed that.
After watching vids, you can see that they have so much power on both her VTs, I wonder why Diana competed her easiest VT, i have never seen her miss her FTY (but coaches must know better). Same for Larisa, with proper technique, I would see her adding more twist to her VT, this one is so easy for her that it is well ...frustrating.
For bars, well, judges have been strict with Diana and that'a good thing. This piked body all along the exercise has to be corrected or else she will always stay a 2 events girl. Larisa you see she has so much potential on bars but no clean basics alas. I wonder if they can do something about it in Deva as she could be a hell of a bar worker!
Beam was great... but... but... I'm sorry to say that Larisa's routine is so boring (composition wise) for me. When I compare it to her previous years routine (especially in 2009 but also when she was 11 in 2007), this set looks so "normal". She has 2 highlights though : the double turn and the dismount sequence. However I found it much more exciting before. Now it is all skill pose skill pose without spark and her acro serie is very commom (plus she really has a lot of problems this year to get the connection with the front aerial.) Is she going through a growth spurt or something that prevents her from performing as well as before, she looked she got much taller than last year?
Floor was great too. Leaps look fine, but it needs a little bit of cleaning in the tumbling and the turns. I so would like for Diana to take this title on FX as her tumbling is the most difficult and her overall presentation is so charming. However if she makes these little mistakes, I'm frightened that one of the Russian beauties with their awesome execution would take the advantage.
It's funny to see the difference between Larisa and diana on the floor tumbles : one of them is a great tumbler with high acrobatics while the other is an awesome twister. LOL, they so complete one another.

In the end, congrats too to Komova and Grishina, they were so superior to the rest of Europe that they look that they have come from another planet of gymnastics (a blast from the past USSR? ... not surprising coming from Vera Kolesnikova's daughter)

[ioanavol]

Thanks for the impressions, SriEa:) I also find the floor routines of the Russians simply beautiful...so elegant and so graceful. Let's not talk about the difficulty they have at all events.
Diana and Larisa showed that they are tough competition girls and that I find so rarely nowadays...I really hope they'll grow well to the seniorship, Romania so much needs them! And I hope they will never loose their smile, they are so cute and have such a positive attitude that, I think, the rest will come. I also think they need to upgrade the VT and UB seriously in order to have a chance in beating the Russians in the AA...but...the coaches probably know better what they are able to do or not (and I trust they are not yet able to upgrade a lot, else they would have done that already...or maybe they don't want to do that before reaching seniorship...)

[TessaW]

First of all congratulations to Komova, Grishina and Larisa for their medals. Also Diana did very well in the AA (And I am happy for Lisa Top finishing 7th and Tess Moonen 9th, well done girls!)

I see potential in Diana's UB set. If she can correct the pike in her hips, it actually looks pretty nice. In my opinion better than Larisa, who looks so rushed all the time. That is the same with her beam. Calm down girl, she rushes from one element to the other, which shows in the quality of the work. It does not look "finished". that is a pitty, because she does the elements well, but she needs the polish and the calm to make them look very nice.

I really hoop Diana performs the floorroutine of her life tomorrow. I really like her routine and she has defininately the diffictulty to take the title, if she performs well.

Last but not least, I also like their attitudes when they are competing.

[MartinaE]

Thanks for the photo, Martina:)
What did you think of the competition yesterday?

And about the recording...do you use a DVD recorder for that? I also wanted to do that (from the Romanian coverage)...does it work well? How many DVDs do you need for a competition (let's say 5hs)?

You are welcome!! I hope we are going to have more photos available soon....:)
I can`t say much about yesterday`s competition as I haven`t really seen anything. I just saw a few videos on YouTube and think the Russian and Romanian juniors are looking good.
I loved Grishina`s floor.
I have not seen all videos though.

Yes, I do have a DVD recorder - I tape onto hard disc and then transfer it to DVDs. I can only tape from TV though.
I think I will need like 3 DVDs if I managed to catch all coverage....I will see. :)

I also found out about online coverage - this is Romanian TV so some of you will be watching that anyway I guess. :)

http://rotv-live.com/World-Stream/TV/romania/live.htm
There is a software you need to download and then it works.
The picture is not very good for me though.....stop and go......:(

[Sri Ea]

Congratulations to the girls.
I realize they have to be sad about their bronze medal but the gold was already out of contention unless the Russians imploded which they didn't (well Nabieva did screw up a little bit on UB but the Russian team had so much advance in D score that they could afford to fall at least twice without being worried.)
For the silver, well, it was difficult with the British girl hitting like crazy today (usually they are a team who falls apart on BB but not today). They are working so much on their D score in view of the OG. With Beth irreal scores and the other girls determined to perform their best in front of their audience, it was easy for them to overtake the Romanians because of their mistakes.
I hope they realize that they are the generation of the girls who were only 4th at Junior Europeans 2 years ago (Chelaru was there but she was injured and couldn't compete, Haidu had been nursing an injury and was left home, Porgras was already injured too and though she became BB champion, she performed a downgraded FX, Racea was there and she was already the most consistent girl of the group)
I'm most devastated for Raluca as sensitive as she is she has to feel responsible for the bad start and her general mediocre performances. But even what she has lost on BB wouldn't make up for the difference. I'm surprised however at the harsh and low scoring of the first 2 Romanian FX routines (what do judges expect in terms of executions for a beautiful hit routine?)

[Serena2010]

Congratulations to girls. They gave as much as they could .... I'm surprised at GBR silver medal but they took advantage of Romania's mistakes.
I hope Raluca can redeem herself tomorrow on BB in finals. It's her choice to medal - she has the 3rd highest qualifying score so she can either medal with something of some color or not medal at all. Ana, a brave champion competing on that ankle with lots of pain. After UB I saw her crying so badly and my heart broke for her because she has give so much for this team and hit every routine she has done and now she is badly hurt. I hope she will be fine and I hope she is rested after this.

Formite - not enough girls to make new team.. BLAHHHHHH - he didn't use Cerasela either - such silly choice. When he saw Raluca having meltdowns he could have replaced with Cerasela , pftttttt.

Amelia who was flourishing under the guidance of Junior coaches seems to be going DOWNHILL...The only one not going downhill is Chelaru so I am happy for her.

I pray our little juniors that did so well when they are given to Senior coaches do not go downhill. Bafta - tomorrow is a new day for all.

Here is the user on youtube who has posted videos from todays competition.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=RussianCup2009#p/u/19/OvXCLHdGErI

Happy looking.

[Tess_AN]

It was a bad day on Saturday, not because of the scoring or the medal color, it was bad because of the sadness on girls face, because of the pain they have to endure.

I was asking myself why Cerasela did not compete to protect Ana on UB and Raluca on VT. (Cerasela could do a FTY). It would have been no difference on competition but I think, it would have been better for Ana and Raluca. Yes, I said Ana and Raluca because both of them have ankle problems. About Ana it was made public ahead of time, about Raluca they mentioned after qualification although some insiders knew it. I am writing this here because I consider it unfair to the girls (especially to Raluca) to be pointed as guilty for what happened.

Thank you all for your comments.

[TessaW]

Annalisa said on TAAF that she read on the website of the Italian federation that Ana Porgras will not compete in the barsfinal. Ferrari was 1st reserve and is now in. I wonder if she will compete on beam. Is her ankle really that bad? I am so sorry for her.

I think, whit the British competing that well yesterday, bronze was the highest Romania could get. I hope that one day the gymnasts will realize they can be happy with a bronze medal. I know the pressure must be extremely high coming from a country that has such a tradition, and where the press and (the average) people think that everything less than gold is a failure. Well, it is not. I agree with Sri Ea, with so little means and less and less girls going to the gyms, Romania does pretty well to stay in the top. Look at countries like Belarus, and Ukraine, with a great gymnastics tradition. They are really fading away. I hope that this will not overcome Romania. Until now, they are hanging on. And yes, they made mistakes yesterday, but I hope those girls can be happy with what they have achieved. I hope they will lear, and that this will be a motivation to try to do better next time. Because they can do better, they showed that in qualifications.

I really hope the injuries of Ana and Raluca are not that bad, That they can rest them and then starting to work towards Rotterdam. The potential is certainly there to do well.

Anyway, Diana just won a bronze on bars in the juniors competition. Well done!

[Sri Ea]

Ah Tes, Ana pulled out of BB EF too. Amelia is in.

[shagya]

:( :( :(

[MartinaE]

duh I am really confused now about Rai`s coverage for Europeans....

It now says they will show BB finals live juast at 5pm until 6:10pm....
Then it says there is coverage from 8pm to 10pm as well - but the tabloit shows the date from last Sunday!?!
http://www2.raisport.rai.it/news/tv.htm

Then on that other website it still says coverage will start at 11:45pm until 1:30 am the next morning....
http://www.rai.it/dl/portale/GuidaProgrammi.html?refresh_ce

Does anyone know what we can rely on now??? I really don`t want to miss it even though it makes me sad to hear Ana pulled out of finals....:( For her ankle it is the best of course - but those finals kind of loose a lot of quality for me this way...

[Sri Ea]

At first view I'd trust more the Teletext page (they say that gymnastics would be live and would broadcast the BB Final which coincides exactly with the official schedule ... and even on the 2nd page, I think the erroned date is a typo since last sunday didn't show the same program as written)
I'll be in front of my TV at the first programmation (17:00 italian time) to be sure not to miss anything.:)

[MartinaE]

OK great thank you so much Sri Ea!! :) I will start my DVD recorder at around that time as well to tape so that I can`t miss that.
And I think I will be in front of the TV again at 8pm so see if they show more and to be able to tape if they do. :)

Even if it is a little complicated sometimes to find out when they do show things I am really grateful to be able and watch this channel. After Sport Planete is gone this is pretty much my only source now. Eurosport kind of sucks now with gymnastics too....:(

[Tess_AN]

I am sorry for Ana P. and I hope her ankle is ok. It is way too expensive price for an EC if Ana can not upgrade her routines for WC or worse, if she will not be ready to compete.

I like Romanian Juniors Team attitude.

Congratulation for Beth's bars, Amelia's beam and Raluca's medal! Those are for my the highlights of the day. In the opposite side, I am sorry for Youna's bar, Alya's floor and Ariella's vault. I consider all three of them are better.

Over all, Russian, both seniors and juniors looked great. The juniors rock! Congratulation to them, they deserved the gold.

[Serena2010]

BRAVO Amelia - the best BB routine of them all to win the gold medal. Bravo Raluca for finally HITTING on BB. These medals are not only for you but for your team mate, Ana Porgras who gave so much too be withdrawn from event finals because of ankle. I hope Ana gets better.

Diana Chelaru - really impressed me with FX - upgrade AGAIN.... beautiful fx. Nice dismount and first tumble, double layout WOW.

Very happy that all girls received a medal of some color today.

Lots of wishes for their return home back to Romania (Deva).xoxo

[Nicole25]

Just got back from Birmingham. Patrascu didn't do bars because she can't do a proper dismount. She's still too scared to land unfortunately. I hope she will get over this fear as they need her on bars.
I loved Ana on beam, she's so elegant! and I also loved watching the juniors, especially Larisa and Didi. I think they do have a bright future and are constantly upgrading their routines.
I felt really sad for Ana that she couldn't compete in the beam finals. I think she would have won gold if she stayed on and that would have been a back to back gold as she won gold as a junior 2 years ago.
Also positive was that Sandra Izbasa was there to encourage the girls. She looks great and happy and said that training was going well and she would like to be fit for Worlds.

[Cata_RB]

Thank, Nicole!
Oh my...so Cera is still afraid to land...poor girl :( It's understandable. Did you see what was her dismount?

[Nicole25]

No I didn't see Cera train/warm up at all. She looked after the girls. It was sweet to see, she encouraged them, she talked to Raluca to try and keep her calm, she ran for ice if they hurt themselves, we called her 'Doctor Cera' LOL! but I would rather see her perform again. She's such a great bars worker and I hope that she can overcome her problem with landing.

[Cata_RB]

Oh, I see...I thought you saw her dismounting. How did you find out that she's still scared?
And yes, she is absolutely amazing taking care of the other girls! :)

[Nicole25]

I asked Monica Micu about Cera and she explained why she didn't do bars. It's such a shame as she is so good on bars.

[Clau93]

I asked Monica Micu about Cera and she explained why she didn't do bars. It's such a shame as she is so good on bars.

Let's hope that by the time the world championships come, she will be 100% healthy!

[MitzGym]

I Want very much to go to the Worlds, But There aren't tickets for ef and aa, anyone know a site where you can buy besides the official website (They aren'ta on this site), Where can I buy, or maybe anyone Who Can Not Go
sorry for some mistakes, But i learn English since September 2008