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Thursday 7 March 2013

Jesolo lineup and stuff: Updated

I can't contain my excitement that I booked the flights and hotel for worlds! The whole thing with tickets costs 360, or $470. I think that's great, though I'd probably pay twice that if I had to I suppose. :D :D :D :D :D

Anyway, on to actual news. Jesolo's lineup has been completed! USA are sending Lexie Priessman, Simone Biles, Kyla Ross, Katelyn Ohashi, Peyton Ernst, Maggie Nichols, Amelia Hundley and Bailie Key. Italy are sending just about every gymnast they have- including Elisa Meneghini, Vanessa Ferrari, Serena Bugani, Elisabetta Preziosa, Erika Fasana, Georgia Campana, Enus Mariani and Tea Ugrin. Japan announced theirs ages ago- Mai Murakami, Asuka Teramoto, Wakana Inoue, Natsumi Sasada and Wakiko Ryu. Switzerland are sending a full team which includes Giulia Steingruber.

So, who are Maggie Nichols and Peyton Ernst? They are new seniors who have been impressing at camp. I need to see more of Maggie to judge her, but although I liked Peyton Ernst's floor last year, she didn't seem to stand out on any event. I'm glad to hear she has improved though I believe both girls are moreso there for experience rather than as the a-team that the other senior girls comprise.

The team competition is a foregone conclusion. The top contenders for the all-around title will be Simone Biles, Kyla Ross, Lexie Priessman and to a lesser extent; Mai Murakami, Vanessa Ferrari and Asuka Teramoto. Hard to pick the best two of USA's all-arounders. I believe Simone Biles will take it in the end. But it will be interesting- Jesolo tore apart Aly Raisman's execution last year, and all of the US girls in contention have form errors- either leaps, sloppiness, piked layouts (I include Priessman in that) and incredibly deductible bars or else lower difficulty like Kyla.

For vault, it will be a Priessman V Biles powerfest if both have their second vaults ready. Giulia Steingruber will hopefully shine here too. Again, this should be handed to Simone Biles. Floor will be much the same story, Priessman V Biles, with strong additions from Mai Murakami who needs more upgrades to take higher than bronze, Vanessa Ferrari and hopefully Elisa Meneghini and Asuka Teramoto. I think Priessman has this in the bag with her 6.7 difficulty no matter how much execution she loses, though I would prefer Biles again as she is cleaner, and more artistic. I'd be so happy if bars was won by Wakana Inoue who has a beautifully fluid swing, style and form on the apparatus. It's much more likely to go to an American- I wouldn't bet on Ohashi though because if Jesolo's harsh execution scoring continues this year then her e-score could plummet below 8 quite easily. If Biles doesn't fall then she has a great medal chance, but I'm thinking Kyla Ross will take gold. Beam is just as certain as the team title- it's Ohashi's if she doesn't fall.

In the junior rankings, I'm looking forward to the Japanese girls as I don't have a clue about them. The all-around should be interesting, it will more than likely be a Hundley V Key V Mariani showdown. Key has some upgrades in the works and a new floor routine. She has a good blend of power and artistry and is very clean, and more than likely able to increase her difficulty over the next year or two as she grows. At the moment it should be a close enough battle, Hundley might be a little more harshly scored due to her execution than the other two. Enus Mariani has the most exciting floor routine this year, though she is competing a bars routine she is struggling with, though her coaches see competing it as a neccessity. Hopefully she can emerge the victor over it this time. I would prefer Mariani-Key-Hundley on the podium but it's more likely to be that in reverse.

Evgeniya Shelgunova won beam at Russian Championships event finals today, and Ksenia Afanasyeva won floor. Yesterday's winners were Maria Paseka on vault and Anastasia Grishina on bars (Mustafina made a mistake.) Mustafina pulled out of beam and floor finals to protect herself, good move seeing as she has more than proved herself and needs to be in good shape for Euros. Sadly, Demy did not shine, finishing fourth on beam and sixth on floor. I think this means she won't take the fourth Euros spot, which she, Afan and Shelgunova are in contention for.

Jordan Chiles qualified elite at developmental camp with a score of 52.150. I live for the thought of her competing at Classics and Nationals.

Andreea Iridon is sadly no longer competing at Gymnix this weekend. No idea Lewhy not. She's Romania's brightest hope on bars. They should make a strong impact on beam and floor in particular, no surprises there. Maria Bondareva is scheduled to compete, and both her team and the Romanian team will have strong competition from the home team, Canada.

The Doha World Cup roster is out. It was already known that Larisa Iordache and Diana Bulimar would compete at this, but there are several other good names. China are sending Zeng Siqi (FINALLY), Tan Jiaxin and Zhang Qing. GB are sending Ruby Harrold and Gabby Jupp and it will be a battle of the vaulters- Janine Berger, Giulia Steingruber, Thi Ha Thanh Phan and whatever vaulters North Korea pull out of their hat- they are sending Hong Un Jong, Ri Un Ha and Kim Un Hyang. Beam will be very interesting, a Iordache V Zeng battle, with backup from strong beamers Bulimar and Jupp. And bars too, with tricksters Tan Jiaxin and Ruby Harrold. Tan is known only for bars and will need a second event to make major teams (even He Kexin could crank out a DTY), but her bars are very dynamic and exciting. She could be to the forefront if the old amazing releases of old are brought back. Let's hope Harrold can nail that amazing routine of hers too.

Gymnix is taking place now. LRSY is March 16-17th. Jesolo is March 23-24th, Doha is 27-29th and Chemnitz is March 30th. I think that's it?

38 comments:

  1. Is there any word about Kyla's upgrades? I really want her to have a standout year but I'm worried she won't have the difficulty.

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    1. Nothing concrete. She'll definitely need substantial upgrades to be one of USA's top all-arounders, which is very tough considering she will have had to adjust to her growth, and also the fact that she's in a gym not known for elites or difficulty who focus moreso on execution. Which is great of course, but this isn't the 90's..

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  2. I hope Kyla is upgraded and healthy. She is my favorite from the last quad.

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    1. In a way, her bars and beam annoy me because she's capable of so much more. They are too easy for her, and it shows. She really should have upgraded a good while ago, but hopefully she has a few tricks up her sleeve all the same.

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    2. She does seem to be capable of more. But isn't that what those camps at the ranch are for? You'd think Marta might put the smack down to her coach and say upgrades are a must. Hmm, to be a fly on the wall at those camps.....

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  3. I hope so too. Im no expert on the COP but Im been thinking on what Kyla can tweak or upgrade on her bar routine. Ive been wondering if Kyla should change her bar dismount considering her new height to do the one musty does or even a double front with half turn that Nastis did.

    As for releases, thats a trick one. Ill leave that for Catherine :-)

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    1. As long as her dismount doesn't look like a cowboy taking a dump, then I guess double front, half turn is good.

      If Khorkina could do a good dismount on bars, then Kyla can too!

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    2. I LOLed so hard at 'cowboy taking a dump'!!! SPOT ON!!!

      Actually Khorkina isn't that tall.. I think she was 5'5? Mustafina is 5'3 or '4, and Izbasa is 5'6. Khorkina just looked like a monster because everyone else was so tiny then. It's a nice sign that some things in WAG have changed :) I'm sure Kyla can do it but sometimes I wonder whether her current gym may be too obsessed with absolutely perfect form to be the best for her.

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    3. Just looking at Severino who was 5'6 in the last years of her career and she was very dynamic, though different to Khorkina. Really great on her full in tuck dismounts, which might be a smart move for Kyla if the DLO begins to work against her. I didn't see it being a problem in podium training for her, but she was only doing half routines..would need to see a full one to judge. But ughh I hate the double front half out, and that's not all Nastia's fault..it is very difficult to make that thing look in any way pleasant. I don't see Kyla having the power to pull out a Fabrichnova at the end. I'd love a nice double arabian pike, one of the most awesome dismounts ever.

      Kyla could easily rework her bars without straining herself, a nice Jaeger-Pak combination, a Shap variation or two which she already does very well..it's really China that are going to get hid the hardest with their bars scores, and Russia too. If her coaches are smart enough she should still be able to do a world class routine without being Ohashi-exhausted.

      What GB are taking full advantage of is a new combination incorporating E transitions. I would love for this to be completely exploited. The Bhardwaj is one and the Zuchold another, so GB are way ahead of the pack. Maybe Kyla could do a Bhardwaj? I want someone to do the Strong, needs to be a super-fast twister and that's not somethign I would say Kyla is. Simone or McKayla are very nifty, some of the Japanese too.

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    4. I want to clarify that I don't hate Nastia's gymnastics. I just didn't like some of her form issues and know that being taller can make some skills harder. In her case, she needed to find skills less "froggy"

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  4. I finished the vids from yesterday's EF. Shelgunova is steday as usual although there isn't any surprising combination added to her new routine, it's still good to see. I never overlook her just because her age can't do good on her career and now she isn't amazing enough except for her consistency which Russian always lacks for and this is her biggist advantage. On the contrary, her form issues which make her score lower than expected is a barrier to go to the major comp... She is very useful in TF even with bad forms but I think Kharenkova who has a whole year to improve all her issues(except for a bit inconsistent on beam) will have a nicer spot next year. But who knows :P

    Afan and Shelgunova both did well yesterday (btw, I couldn't find Shelgunova's FX where she got a low score:( )And that just make Russia not make decision immediately :P (I hope last spot is Shelgunova's. You probably know my reason for not hoping Afan take that spot:P ) I don't worry about her coming World Cup but you have to pray for Afan maybe (Hope she is ready before Euros) :P

    Kyla maybe just do the same routines as she did in PT last week so I will pay more attention on two new faces and juniors from USA and whole team Japan, inclusive of junior team :)

    And Gymnix junior will be very interesting! It seems that Russia wants to develop a new star like Komova/Mustafina/Grishina so they send Bondareva again... It's okay as she is talented (and so cute haha)but they should protect her from injuries and pace her very well... No second Komova or Grishina please. (I like both two but they don't have a good career like people expected so far... This is probably related to their mental problems but is more related to having too many injuries in junior stage I think.)
    A shame Iridon doesn't compete but the others will definitely bring fantastic beam routines :D

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    1. Munteanu is one of my current favourite beam workers. So old-school Romanian, but less boring. Jurca I think is a little like Bulimar, doesn't seem like she will shine in her own right, but a strong team player. As for Tudorache I haven't heard much about her, looking forward. A shame about Iridon but I'm sure she'll have a good few chances to compete this year.

      I LOVE Bondareva. I think she will be a breakout star in Rio. Far too early to tell, but she is definitely one of my 3- the others are Rebeca Andrade and Bailie Key. Always thrilled to see her compete, and it's great to hear from TCG podium training notes that she's a great team captain!

      I think the spot will go to Afan, the veteran, the one who will more than likely medal on beam and floor if she hits. She is the better bet for a specialist worlds, Shelgunova the better one for a team event. She can't really medal on an event I don't think, though she could step in if Grishina melted down I suppose. I don't think there's a hope of Demy getting the spot, her gymnastics are fantastic but her consistency is still pretty bad. Damn.

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    2. There are a few Romanian gymnasts' PT routine on fangymnastics.com :)
      Love Bonareva, too. <3 I read it and I am glad Russia's coaches are willing to train her as a leader. It will do good for her character. :) She must be healthy!!!!!!
      (Not seeing the promising gymnasts shine in senior stage is a nightmare to them and their fans...)
      The roster of Doha WC update: China will send ZSQ、TJX、ZJ
      WOW! Tan JiaXin's international debut? GREAT!! (I like her UB style which isn't Chinese type at all :D )
      And VT EF with several North Korean inclusive of Hong,Janine Berger, Giulia Steingruber, Thi Ha Thanh Phan etc. will be very exciting to see!
      You're right. Shelgunova can't take medals except that there are many mistakes from others due to her ordinary D score.(2013 isn't her year I think :( ) If Afan performs very well in French, that spot will go to her without doubt. But if not, that will be very difficult to decide.

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    3. Haha you wrote that when I was updating the post with Doha. Really excited to see what TJX has up her sleeve. Is her nickname XinXin? Or is that TSX? I like the FangGang, SongSong, DanDan nicknames but it must get tough when there are more commom name endings. I know He Kexin was KeKe. I'd use them in place of their actual names except that it would get confusing I think.

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    4. Yeah, her nickname is Xinxin as well:P I don't know people in National Team call her what to distinguish her from Sixin hahahahah
      btw, it's funny to translate foreign gymnasts' name into Chinese especially Russian :P

      Hope ZSQ's new routine can surprise me :)) (some new combination from that raining vid is a bit boring to me:/)

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    5. Russian itself translates a bit badly into English- Jordyn Wieber- Choose the Jordin, Maria Paseka- Maria bee Farm/Apiary, beam-log, amanar- jump 2.5 screw etc. I suppose no name translates well since those names don't exist in Chinese? My name translates well into a whole bunch of languages -Caitriona, Katerina, Katarzyna, Ekaterina etc. but I can't see the Chinese one being correct!

      And yes, I'm hoping beam will be good. I like ZSQ's new mount, didn't see much else that was very exciting from that video. Does it looks like Iordache has a layout full to you? It's definitely piked down and the angle is bad, but it does look like one. I wonder will she throw that and the tucked? ZSQ is screwed if she does.

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    6. Isn't it GOOGLE TRANSLATION's fault? (I mean their name.I burst out laughing when seeing Maria bee Farm first.)
      We usually use the characters with very similar pronunciation to translate foreign names and those characters usually has nice meanings. If all characters aren't proper to use in name, we will use less similar but properer characters.
      (there are many characters has same pronunciation. On the other hand, one foreign name can have many Chinese names...)
      Btw, we Chinese usually have an English name unrelated to Chinese name but few people's Chinese name is translated from foreign name haha. It depends on thier parents' favor:P

      Someone make a ideal routine for Iordache in Baidu after watching that training video and I think she can do it especially first two acro lines.(Yes, her angle will get some execution deductions but it will still be credited as a G skill as according to CoP, layout full can be credited unless someone perform it with bent knees...)

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    7. Haha that's true. What would be the closest translation for Catherine in Chinese, do you know? I'd love to learn the language but the complexity puts me off slightly. I'd like to tackle Romanian and Russian first, though Russian again has Cyrillic which makes it very tough.

      I've noticed that for their English-language name, Chinese people here tend to pick old fashioned names and have to be persuaded to have a rethink. One that comes to mind is a YanYan (so easy to pronounce anyway!) who wanted to be Nancy.

      Yes, since the pike version doesn't exist they can't downgrade it once she says away from tucked. I still want Ohashi to get rid of hers though, it doesn't help that her routines are exhausting for her. But Iordache has so much energy, can't wait to see a full routine from her.

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    8. Catherine is most translated to 凱瑟琳 or 凱薩琳 :) The former is much more similar to the pronunciation in English but I remember Екатерина II is translated to the latter in our textbook. I have no interest in language so I don't learn second foreign language in the school.(There are Spainish, German, French, Latin, Koren, Japanese etc. we can choose. The most popular language is always Japanese in Taiwan.) Besides English, which we must learn from elementary school, I want to learn Romanian just because of gymnastics :P

      So do I but it seems she won't give up this skill as this acro line is worthy and the least risky. (I mean it doesn't like her 4D series or Aliya's 3D/DADAD series which have high risk of missing up...) Besides her form issue, She can't use it steadily as before is a problem as well.

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    9. Ooo thanks! I like languages. I have two other than English and I'm learning another. I would only be confident to speak in English or Irish though. Japanese is another fascinating language, I know a few phrases and things.

      I think I am more critical of the layout full after seeing Heaven Latimer's- sadly she isn't consistent on it- but it gives the textbook version, which not even Kui YuanYuan had..though very close.

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    10. Is this Irish song? I saw a film called Yesterday's children last semester and the background music is this. We all love this song so much.
      layout full is more difficult to Larisa I think just like that layuot is difficult to Ponor due to their height. A pity that Latimer still can't do it without wobble or balance check last night.
      It is rumored that TJX has new skill on bars! (from Baidu) Hope it's not a pirouette which Chinese is usually good at but isn't suitable to Jiaxin.

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    11. Is what an Irish song? I'm confused!

      I'm wondering if Munteanu could beat Larisa in the future. She's just as solid and obviously her difficulty isn't at Larisa's level yet, but her extension, leaps and toepoint are much better. Seriously impressed with her, she would have won the AA by nearly a point if she had scored a 13 on bars.

      Oh wow, I hope it's a Mo Salto! She could do it. Or something pretty original anyway. The new bars code is really suited for her, I hope she exploits it.

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    12. Sorry, this :P → http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHhnYqGTuPA

      I love gymnasts with beautiful form (Munteanu) more than high difficulty (Larisa) but it seems having high difficulty takes much advantages in this CoP :( So Munteanu has to upgrade first.And there are some talented gymnasts born in 1999~2000 who have both great form and potential so she has to work harder lest she be ignored in 2015/2016.

      But it's rumored that her new skill is shapo... which made me a bit disappointed but it can avoid deductions so... Let's hope she can learn more new skills this year!
      (So does Dandan but her inconsistency is a problem:( )

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    13. She's a better beamer than pretty much everyone else not senior right now, and her floor too. Iridon's main strength is bars, so that works. Zarzu is another beam/floor but she's not as good...hmm. Blendea will be their main all-arounder I think. Not sure where Peng fits in right now, she's so young. I think there will be space for Munteanu, and she already has the tuck full so that's great

      Damn, shaps aren't exciting! But always nice to hear of an upgrade. She's not as sharp as He Kexin who she will always be compared to, but she does have more flight and height. And Hindorff-geinger and full twisting DLO dismount is awesome. She could definitely be the d-score to beat. If she makes major teams!

      Rumour is Larisa has been pulled from LRSY. If true that makes 4 world cups in a row. Total rumour though..

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    14. Yes, and it make me worry about Didi's AA spot :o but it's always good that young gymnasts catch up with elders in short time.
      NO.... I want to see Larisa! She can just compete 1~2 apparatus if Bellu wants to protect her. I'm glad Didi was added to the roster of FX but if Larisa won't go, Romania will just send one gymnast?! I know French is near to Romania but World Cup is a good chance to all gymnasts to gain experience... So weird the coaches' decision :S

      I like TJX more than HKX but I don't know why:P Oh, I don't know if you have alredy known that TJX's coach in National team is same as HQS/WLF whose coaching ability is still a question mark and is notorious in Baidu... I doubt if they can teach TJX, whose style is rare in China, well :(

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  5. Catherine,if Simone does the TTY at Jesolo will it be named after her? Or does it need to be done at a Worlds or Olympics to have that happen?

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    1. It has to be a worlds or Olympics, plus one more FIG-approved meet, like a world cup. So if she did it at worlds and Stutggart WC for instance, then that's it- it's the Biles! I'm not sure if Jesolo counts for the second meet, probably would. There are a whole bunch of skills named after someone lucky enough to get to worlds/Olympics or to perform it before someone else at those events, when they were done years before. I'm not sure if Hong Un Jong submitted it in 2008, but it doesn't matter since she never competed it.

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  6. I thought Martha was going to name some new juniors to the team? It would be awesome if we could send more than two to Jesolo. I'd love to see Nia Dennis be named to the team.

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    1. Yeah, no idea why. It would be great experience for the juniors! Not sure why Polina is not on the roster either. But if Nica, Laurie and Nia are healthy they should be on the NT and heading to Jesolo/Chemnitz for experience I think..

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    2. Completely agree! This is the time for these kids to get experience, especially since Jesolo allows for so many entrants. If only I could get inside Martha's head...

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    3. maybe she figures this lot wont be around in 2-3 years. terrible if it's true!
      i was surprised to see no polina there as well!

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  7. Mai's planning a 6.5 floor!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OL0iE7t9Sf0

    It is basically her old one with some leaps out of passes, but still looks good. (It is a compiled video, I can't wait to see the real thing.)

    That's only two tenths behind Lexie, and she can make that much up with execution.

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  8. Off topic but does anyone know Grace Quinn's birth year?

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  9. I am glad you managed to be there! Good luck to all the participants!

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    1. Sadly the closest I got was youtube! European meets are handy for me and I'm going to 2013 and 2015 worlds. I'd like to go to smaller meets too, and definitely Jesolo as it has amazing particpants. Maybe next year :)

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