26th TRA TUM DMT World Championships St Petersburg (RUS), November 11-14, 2009
TUM and DMT Individual Finals (M / W)
Men’s Synchronised Trampoline Final
Women’s Individual Trampoline Final
ST PETERSBURG (RUS), FIG Office, November 14, 2009: The Finals in Individual Tumbling (M / W), Double Mini-Trampoline (M / W), Women’s Trampoline as well as Men’s Synchronised Trampoline concluded the 26th World Championships in St Petersburg (RUS).
Japan’s Synchro Pair Tetsuya Sotomura / Yasuhiro and Russia’ Irina Karavaeva (TRA) and Anna Korobeynikova (TUM) had a chance to defend their titles today, while both Double Mini-Trampoline competitions and Men’s Tumbling would see new champions taking to the podium. Russian Andrey Krylov (TUM) and compatriot Kirill Ivanov (DMT) didn’t make the cut during Qualifications this time around, and Women’s Double Mini-Trampoline title holder Sarah Charles from Canada stayed away all together.
Here is how it all went down!
Tumbling Individual Finals
Men
Russian and Chinese tumblers were the favourites for this Final, having qualified in the top positions on Thursday. They were challenged by contenders hailing from Ukraine, Great Britain, Belarus and the USA.
The first round saw Russia’s Tagir Murtazaev (38.600), Chinese Yang Song (37.400) and Mikhail Kostyanov (36.800), also from the host country, confirm their preliminary dominance, followed by Ukraine’s Viktor Kyforenko (36.500).
The top players showed consistency and took the podium hands down. Kostyanov confirmed his third ranking with 73.900 points. Things got hot in the arena when Yang Song, who competed second to last, scored the 75.000 that topped Murtazaev’s qualifying score (74.900). Would this mean Gold for the Chinese?
Murtazaev was quick to answer that with a top scoring second pass (38.700): 77.300 in total and the title.
Kyforenko came fourth (73.000), just ahead of China’s second entry Zhang Lingfeng (71.100), Kalon Ludvigson (USA) in sixth, Michael Barnes (GBR) in seventh and Siarhei Artsemenka (BLR) in last place.
Gold – MURTAZAEV Tagir RUS 77.300
Silver – YANG Song CHN 75.000
Bronze – KOSTYANOV Mikhail RUS 73.900
4. KYFORENKO Viktor UKR 73.000
5. ZHANG Lingfeng CHN 71.100
6. LUDVIGSON Kalon USA 68.900
7. BARNES Michael GBR 63.500
8. ARTSEMENKA Siarhei BLR 52.700
Women
Russia’s Tumbling star Anna Korobeynikova, title holder and top qualifier, entered this Final as a favourite. Her greatest opposition came from team-mate Elena Krasnokutskaya, who impressed the crowd in the preliminaries, Great Britain’s Rachael Letsche, the USA’s Kaitlin Tortorich and Canadians Emily Smith and Ashley Speed.
The first round confirmed the Russian’s dominance and saw Tortorich take third position (32.400) and Speed (30.800) fourth. Great Britain’s Zara McLean took possession of fifth rank (28.400) after pass one and team-mate Letsche sat back in sixth (28.300).
An unfortunate landing for Letsche in the second round; she injured her ankle and was taken out of the arena on a stretcher. Smith upped her score from round one and settled into fifth place with a 60.800 total score. Her compatriot Speed overtook the USA’s Tortorich (62.200) in fourth, and claimed the Bronze for Canada with 62.800 points.
Krasnokutskaya’s outstanding performance brought her a total of 66.900 points and the Silver. Once again, Korobeynikova left her rivals in the dust as she outclassed them all with a Gold winning 69.400. The 35.100 for her second pass marked this Final’s top score.
Gold – KOROBEYNIKOVA Anna RUS 69.400
Silver – KRASNOKUTSKAYA Elena RUS 66.900
Bronze – SPEED Ashley CAN 62.800
4. TORTORICH Kaitlin USA 62.200
5. SMITH Emily CAN 60.800
6. MCLEAN Zara GBR 60.000
7. BUDLER Bianca RSA 59.100
8. LETSCHE Rachael GBR 28.300
Double Mini-Trampoline Individual Finals
Men
After the fall of title holder Kirill Ivanov (RUS) and 2007 runner-up Kalon Ludvigson (USA) during the qualifying round, spectators were looking to top qualifier Dmitry Fedorovskiy (RUS), team-mate Evgeny Chernoivanov, who qualified in third, the notoriously strong Portuguese André Fernandes (2nd) and André Lico, 2009 World Games Silver medallist, for the Men’s Double Mini-Trampoline Final. Fans were anxious to see the performances of challengers from Brazil, Sweden, the USA and Great Britain as well.
André Lico took the lead after the first pass (37.600), followed by Brazil’s Bruno Martini (36.900) and Dmitry Fedorovskiy (35.900) in third. Lico went ahead and set the bar high with 37.900 for his second pass, resulting in a combined 75.500. Would that be enough to defeat his rivals?
A solid performance by Swedish Tim Lunding, who qualified in fifth position, slid him into second rank with a total of 69.600, elbowing out Martini (67.800). Not a good day for Russians Chernoivanov (60.300) and Fedorovskiy (59.200); they settled for fifth and sixth place just before Canada’s Alexander Seifert and Austin White from the USA.
Portugal’s André Fernandes’ strong performance brought him a total of 69.300 and a Bronze winning third. With Lico’s Gold, Portugal proudly takes home two medals from this Final. Lunding made his own home country Sweden proud with the Silver.
Gold – LICO Andre POR 75.500
Silver – LUNDING Tim SWE 69.600
Bronze – FERNANDES André POR 69.300
4. MARTINI Bruno BRA 67.800
5. CHERNOIVANOV Evgeny RUS 60.300
6. FEDOROVSKIY Dmitry RUS 59.200
7. SEIFERT Alexander CAN 58.900
8. WHITE Austin USA 35.300
Women
A last minute change was made to today’s Women’s Double Mini-Trampoline start list. Injured Anastasia Velichko (RUS) was replaced by team-mate Victoria Voronina, next competitor on the Qualification list.
In the top qualifying positions, Portugal, with Silvia Saiote and Andreia Robalo, would need nerves of steel to see and raise the success had by their male counterparts earlier today. The USA fought hard against its traditional Russian rival in the first round, with Victoria Voronina (RUS) taking the lead (34.700), Aubree Balkan (USA) in second (34.000) and Galina Goncharenko (RUS) in third (32.900).
An excellent second pass (35.200) catapulted Canadian Corissa Boychuk, qualified in a dumbfounding ninth position, into a Bronze winning third. She scored a total of 67.100 points and outscored the USA’s Balkan by a mere .1 margin.
Russia’s Galina Goncharenko gave a powerful performance, earning an overall 68.000. She garnered the Silver.
Team-mate and reserve Victoria Voronina (68.300) gave a breathtaking show on the double mini-trampoline and surprised everyone with the victory tonight.
The high scoring first pass performed by 2007 runner-up Julie Warnock (CAN) wasn’t enough to even out a failed second run (35.500); Warnock settled for rank five (65.800).
Portugal’s Saiote and Robalo ranked sixth and seventh in the end, leaving only Great Britain’s Adeva Bryan in their wake.
Gold – VORONINA Victoria RUS 68.300
Silver – GONCHARENKO Galina RUS 68.000
Bronze – BOYCHUK Corissa CAN 67.100
4. BALKAN Aubree USA 67.000
5. WARNOCK Julie CAN 65.800
6. SAIOTE Silvia POR 56.200
7. ROBALO Andreia POR 55.300
8. BRYAN Adeva GBR 54.900
Men’s Synchronised Trampoline Final
On very short notice, the Canadian reserve Pair Jason Burnett and Charles Thibault, who had been sitting in the stands, were called into the competition. Sergei Chumak picked up an injury during warm-up for this Final and Russia 2 had to withdraw. Burnett / Thibault did well, but their 49.300 was not enough for a medal .
All eyes were on title holders and top qualifiers Tetsuya Sotomura / Yasuhiro Ueyama from Japan. It was touch and go whether they would be able to defeat China, Germany, France and Ukraine. Also lining up today were Poland and the United States.
With 50.000 points under their belt, 2007 finalists Oleksandr Chernonos / Yuriy Nikitin from Ukraine took an early lead in the competition, but were overtaken by France’s Sébastien Martiny / Grégoire Pennes. And though tied with Ukraine, superior synchronisation was what pushed them into the lead.
China’s Dong Dong / Tu Xiao stayed behind, outclassed by a narrow margin (49.900). A relatively low synchronisation score did them in.
After a fantastic Qualification, Germany’s Markus Kubicka / Karsten Kuritz were relegated to seventh place in the Final, leaving Poland’s Lukasz Tomaszewski / Tomasz Adamczyk to bring up the rear.
Performing last, Sotomura and Ueyama kept the competition exciting to the end. With the highest scores in execution (16.600) and synchronisation (18.800), this exceptional Japanese Pair prevailed once again and took off with the Gold. Their overall score: 50.800.
French Martiny and Pennes garnered the Silver, and the Bronze went to Chernonos / Nikitin (UKR).
Gold – SOTOMURA Tetsuya / UEYAMA Yasuhiro JPN 50.800
Silver – MARTINY Sebastien / PENNES Gregoire FRA 50.000
Bronze – CHERNONOS Oleksandr / NIKITIN Yuriy UKR 50.000
4. DONG Dong / TU Xiao CHN 49.900
5. BURNETT Jason / THIBAULT Charles CAN 49.300
6. DOOLEY Logan / GLUCKSTEIN Steven USA 49.300
7. KUBICKA Markus / KURITZ Karsten GER 48.700
8. TOMASZEWSKI Lukasz / ADAMCZYK Tomasz POL 19.300
Women’s Individual Trampoline Final
As the last event of these championships, the Women’s Individual Trampoline Final offered a high profile competition that featured celebs from Canada, China, Russia, Uzbekistan and France. In total, five finalists from the last worlds qualified for tonight’s event.
China’s 2008 Olympic Champion He Wenna and team-mate Huang Shanshan, 2007 World runner-up and 2004 Olympic Bronze medallist, were up against three times Olympic medallist Karen Cockburn from Canada and her compatriot Rosannagh MacLennan, who placed third at the 2007 World Championships.
Russia’s legendary Irina Karavaeva, 5-times World Champion, winner of the first Olympic Gold medal in Trampoline and defender of the world title, also performed in the hopes of adding yet another medal to her impressive collection.
Ekaterina Khilko (UZB), 2008 Olympic Bronze medallist, Russia’s second entry Victory Voronina, who claimed the Double Mini-Trampoline earlier in the day, and France’s Marina Ducroux completed the line-up.
These competitors all gave sublime performances in this Final, spicing up the competition through to the end.
Voronina, who won Double Mini-Trampoline earlier today, gave another surprising performance. She boosted her qualifying position to a final fifth place with 37.500 points and outscored team-mate Karavaeva, who settled for sixth (37.300).Khilko came in seventh, tying with Karavaeva, while Ducroux finished last (37.000).
It was up to the last four competitors from Canada and China to determine the final spots on the podium. MacLennan’s 38.400 wouldn’t suffice for a medal rank today, but Cockburn secured the Bronze with 38.700. Top qualifier He scored a Silver winning 39.400, defeated by her team-mate Huang, who settled on the top with 39.500 points. She secured the Gold and the new World Champion title.
Gold – HUANG Shanshan CHN 39.500
Silver – HE Wenna CHN 39.400
Bronze – COCKBURN Karen CAN 38.700
4. MACLENNAN Rosannagh CAN 38.400
5. VORONINA Victoria RUS 37.500
6. KARAVAEVA Irina RUS 37.300
7. KHILKO Ekaterina UZB 37.300
8. DUCROUX Marina FRA 37.000
Closing Ceremony
In his closing speech FIG Vice-President Dr Michel Léglise (FRA) thanked the Trampoline and Tumbling community, judges, the City of St Petersburg and the Local Organising Committee for the excellent job done during these championships. He was mindful of a special and unique spirit radiating throughout the arena this week by gymnasts come to compete in an attitude of fair-play.
Léglise then presented the FIG medal of recognition to LOC representatives Julia Propalova, Serguey Maryasin and Ivan Smirnov.
President of the Russian Trampoline Federation Nicolay Makarov handed over the FIG flag to Dr Léglise, whom then passed it on to Françoise Dal-Zuffo, representative of the Organising Committee for the 27th World Championships slated for 2010 in Metz (FRA).