This subdivision saw Romania and Japan and two mixed groups- amongst which Celine Van Gerner and Thih Phan were the ones to watch. Larisa Iordache competed AA! Which was expected, but only very recently- she was written off a few days ago. It's just fantastic that she did at all. Some uncharacteristic Romanian mistakes, Cata had a few wobbles on beam, and bailed out of her triple full to save herself. Sandra messed up bars, though I'm quite confident she will still make the AA after stellar performances on her three other events. Larisa fell on her triple full which was horrifying as I thought it was due to her injury and that she was out after that- but it turns out she just messed up her take-off. Some wobbles on beam from her and her bars were watered down. Before her injury, she could have won the all-around. She is still in contention if she competes more steadily and brings more of her upgrades. Japan were great, worked so well as a team. It has been reported for a while that Thih Phan has had issues with her vault and has gone through training upheaval. Unfortunately it showed as came off the mat and probably had a hand down, would be lucky to qualify for vault EF after that. Vault has been a shake-up, Berger and Steingruber fell too. Izbasa vaulted her way in however.
Highlights
- Sandra's floor! So fast, clean, and well done
- Larisa's floor (except the fall) was wonderful. Such energy and bounce but she kept her great landings. Gutted she will not make floor finals, which she could easily have won
- Rie Tanaka has a great personality which shines through everything she does. LOVED her expressive floor, and her bars were a total pleasure to watch
- Asuka Teramoto is this quad's short cutiepie. Fascinating to watch, really great floor and beam from her. Her tumbling on floor was just textbook perfect.
- Celine van Gerner's floor was wonderful, very clean and expressive (minus her fall)
- Japan's interaction and attitude, not that the other teams were sulky but Japan just exuded positive energy and support for each other, just lovely to see
Very dissapointed in Romania's leo. I expected the colouring of course but that white was so shiny and horrific, really took away from it. Cata's leo was far too high-cut as usual, sadly. I LOVE Japan's leo, sure it's busy but it's just awesome and so unique. I don't like the neckline, too high and I hate that kind of collar look, but even that doesn't really affect how much I love it. Celine Van Gerner's leo is a bit undecided for me, I like black and I want to like it...dunno. Sasa Golob had what looked like a nice leo from a distance- I'm a fan of white lace, but wow up close it was so tacky looking, unfortunate.
Russia looked very good, some small errors but nothing terrible. Vika and Musty HUGE AA contenders right now. Almost reached USA's mammoth score, and that was with only one amanar and watered down routines, more could be up their sleeves..
USA were on fire, and look unbeatable. It's not impossible but they are sooo ready for this. I cannot believe how much Aly's form has improved, even since Trials! Her drive is remarkable and she is working so hard- which paid off with an AA place.
Romania showed numerous mistakes, and Larisa was clearly hindered by missing a good bit of training. No Cheng or Amanar, and lots of new upgrades not shown. 4th place, but they have a lot more to show. Should never be written off from gold.
GB had the meet of their life! Beth's bars routine really was fantastic, and solid performances from everyone else too- Rebecca has just improved massively in the last few months. Hannah Whelan's fall will have cost them a few tenths, they may easily score higher in TF.
Italy looked great, but weak difficulty brought them down a bit. Preziosa's beam was a huge dissapointment. Ferrari is totally on floor- wonderful floor and beam from her AND she is a strong AA contender. Fasana stood out as a great contributor too. Will be fighting with Japan and GB in particular, should be able to place 6th
Japan had to count a fall and still placed very high. They're quite weak on vault, a place where Mai Murakami would have helped them out (tear). Anyway, quality floor and beam from them and pretty decent bars. Koko is still going strong but Rie Tanaka and Asuka Teramoto were just brilliant. I see them fighting well with GB- could manage 4th!
Canada Far too little of Canada was broadcast for me to make a judgement on them. I think I got Moors on floor and bars (yay) and Black on vault.
Australia Great performances from Larissa Miller and Ashleigh Brennan in particular but a below-par Mitchell (understandably so, stomach issue) and falls from Banora and Brennan on beam brought them crashing down out of TF. A great pity, as they were doing so well before beam.
China Their star, Yao Jinnan, is absolutely not on top form, struggling with recovery and a fresh injury. Disastrous for her AA chances yet China had enough difficulty in the bag to keep in third place. Sui Lu's beam was just fantastic, a well deserved 15.4 and Lu and Qiushuang on floor were great to watch. He Kexin greatly helped with her HIT bars, though she is of course still a risk. It might be quite tough for them to remain on the podium, especially with a fierce Romania determined to show what they're worth.
Brazil Not surprisingly, Brazil's scrappy team did not qualify. Hypolito was not on top form, and Dos Santos while still great on floor is far from her peak. This team is too old and is suffering from having to use alternates due to their string of bad luck.
Germany Some great routines, but plenty of mistakes kept them out of TF, sadly.
France Did not see enough of them to judge properly.
AA The huge shock is of course, no Jordyn. Vika fulfilled her potential and qualified first. Rie Tanaka qualified last, with a fall. In between there isn't much surprise except Aly. Asuka Teramoto and Vanessa Ferrari have done brilliantly well to qualify so high, 7th and 6th respectively. Jinnan IS there, in 19th, but it would be very doubtful if she can bring her 2011 self to the final. Marta Pihan hangs in there, also with a fall. This won't be AS tight, as the fight for the top is missing Jordyn and Jinnan, but still exciting.
Bars Heartbreaking as both Yuona Dufournet and Nataliya Kononenko fell, ending their extremely high chances of making finals. Their mishaps made room for Koko Tsurumi and Elizabeth Seitz to get in. Gabby really nailed hers, earning that place.
Beam The big shock here is no Larisa, who faltered a good bit, though still scored high. Gabby snuck in ahead of Wieber who didn't have a great beam, and no Musty! Afanasyeva really rocked her beam though, good for her.
Vault No surprise that McKayla sailed into first place. But both Steingruber and Thih Phan had issues and knocked themselves out of contention, though Berger did enough despite her fall to get in. Pena got her feet down first, scoring very high. Paseka got lucky too, standing up hers
Floor Again, no Larisa who is a huge loss here as well. Cata, Sandra and Aly all will contend. Can't find list of qualifiers, but Ferrari obviously placed too! Should be very exciting.
Great comp for Vika, Aly, Gabby, Vanessa, Asuka, He and Beth
Disaster for Nataliya Kononenko, Valeriia Maksiuta, Yuona Dufournet, Ti Phan, Giulia Steingurber and ironically, Jordyn Wieber
Best floor Aly Raisman
Best beam Sui Lu
Best bars Beth Tweddle
Best vault McKayla Maroney
Favourite floor Asuka/Rie
Favourite beam Vassiliki Millousi
Favourite bars Beth Tweddle
Favourite vault McKayla Maroney, but LOVED Jessica Gil Ortiz' too
Favourite leo It's a toss up between Japan, Vasilliki and GB. Hmm.
Bring on team finals, what a day this has been.
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