China dominate the Trampoline Team Finals TWC 2009 St. Petersburg (RUS)
November 12, 2009: The trampoline team finals saw victories of China in both the men’s and women’s at the 26th World Championships in trampoline, tumbling, and double mini-trampoline (DMT) held today in St Petersburg, Russia. In the individual preliminaries in tumbling, Tagir Murtazaev (RUS) and Anna Korobeynikova (RUS) claimed the lead in the men’s and women’s. In DMT, the leaders after the preliminaries were Dimitri Fedorovsky (RUS) and Silvia Saiote (POR).
The first medals of the 26th World Championships in trampoline, tumbling, and double mini-trampoline (DMT) were attributed this evening at the Sports-Concert Complex in St Petersburg, Russia. Today’s schedule featured the men’s and women’s team finals in trampoline in the evening session. Earlier, the tumbling and DMT preliminaries were held.
The trampoline finals proved very suspenseful, and many trampolinists appeared nervous as they had to deal with tremendous pressure. In the end, in the women’s team trampoline final, China (He Wenna, Huang Shanshan, Zhong Xingping, and Li Dan) triumphed with a large margin. Russia (Irina Karavaeva, Viktoria Voronina, Galina Goncharenko, and Anastasia Velichko) claimed the silver medal by edging Canada (Karen Cockburn, Rosannagh MacLennan, Samantha Sendel, and Kailey McLeod) in the last round of the final.
The men’s team trampoline final also saw the victory of China (Dong Dong, Lu Chunlong, Tu Xiao, and Ye Shuai) with a large margin again. Belarus (Nikolai Kazak, Viacheslav Model, Evgeni Zhukovsky, and Yakov Rakitsky) benefited from the struggles of many of the other finalists to capture the silver medal. Russia (Dimitri Ushakov, Sergei Chumak, Dimitri Fedorovsky, and Alexander Leven) won the bronze medal.
In the women’s tumbling preliminaries, 2-time defending World Champion Anna Korobeynikova (RUS) took the lead over her teammates Elena Krasnorutskaya (RUS) and Anzhelika Soldatkina (RUS). Elena Chabanenko (UKR) barely made it to the final after struggling in her second pass. In the men’s, Tagir Murtazaev (RUS) had the lead after impressive preliminaries. He was followed by Yang Song (CHN) and Mikhail Kostyanov (RUS). Defending World Champion Andrei Krylov (RUS) did not qualify for the final.
The women’s DMT preliminaries saw an impressive performance from 2005 World Champion Silvia Saiote (POR), who took the lead over Andrea Robalo (POR) and Aubree Balkan (USA). World Games Champion Viktoria Voronina (RUS) missed the qualification for the final. In the men’s DMT preliminaries, defending World Champion Kirill Ivanov (RUS) and World bronze medalist Kalon Ludvigson (USA) both struggled and failed to qualify for the final. Dimitri Fedorovsky (RUS) barely edged Andre Fernandes (POR) to take the lead in these preliminaries. Evgeni Chernoivanov (RUS) placed 3rd.
More to come.
WOMEN’S TRAMPOLINE TEAM FINAL
China won its third consecutive World Champion title in the women’s trampoline team final of these 26th World Championships. China won with a score of 117.00 pts, building an almost 7.00 pt margin over its rivals over the course of three routines. The Chinese trampolinists actually competed the three best routines of the final. China relied on Zhong Xingping, World silver medalist Huang Shanshan, and Olympic Champion He Wenna, who took the top three places of the individual trampoline preliminaries the day before. Zhong Xingping and Huang Shanshan were both members of the World Champion teams in 2005 and 2007. The fourth member of the team, Li Dan, did not compete in the final. Zhong Xingping competed first for China. She competed a sterling routine with great height maintained throughout and mastered traveling. Her routine featured nice body positions and the highest difficulty of the final (14.60 pt). She scored 38.40 pts, and allowed China to start an almost 3.00 pt margin over its rivals after only one routine. In the second round, 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Huang Shanshan went on and delivered a briliant routine as well with very limited traveling. She relied on great execution and solid difficulty (14.30 pt). She scored 39.10 pts and allowed China lead by 4.40 pt after two rounds. The pressure was on Olympic Champion He Wenna to seal the deal, and she did not crack. He Wenna actually delivered the best routine of the final, scoring 39.50 pts (14.20 pt tariff). Her routine was performed with great height, brilliant execution, and fairly limited traveling
The silver medal of this final went to the host country, Russia, led by the most decorated trampolinist in history, Irina Karavaeva, who delivered a top notch routine when it mattered most. Competing third in the final, Russia started with a solid performance from Galina Goncharenko (35.50 pts), who received the support from her hometown crowd. In the second round, Viktoria Voronina delivered the type of routine that allowed her to qualify for the individual trampoline final. Her routine displayed good height and nice execution. She earned 36.90 pts with a 13.50 pt tariff. Russia was in the lead at that point. However, at the end of the second round, Russia was in 3rd place, 0.70 pts behind Team Canada, and more than 5.00 pts behind China, who was seemingly unreachable at that point. Competing in the third round, Karavaeva stepped up to the plate when it was money time. With a routine somewhat simpler than usual at the beginning, but concluded by a miller straight, Karavaeva performed a brilliant routine that yielded 37.90 pts (13.70 pt tariff). In the end, the routine allowed Russia to pass Canada in this last round, and capture the silver medal. Overall, Russia scored 110.30 pts, edging Canada by 0.50 pts.
Team Canada had to settle for the bronze medal of this final, still a great achievement. Samantha Sendel (CAN), competing at her first World Championships, competed first for Team Canada. She delivered a pretty good routine (13.10 pt tariff) despite a little lack of height in the second half. She earned 35.40 pts for Canada, and placed the team right behind Russia at that point. 3-time Olympic Champion Karen Cockburn competed in the second round. She delivered a brilliant routine with sterling execution and fairly limited traveling. Her routine yielded 37.70 pts (14.20 pt tariff) for Canada, then edging Russia by 0.70 pts, but with the gold medal seemingly unreachable unless China would struggle. In the last round, Rosannagh MacLennan had to deal with a lot of pressure, and seemed a little nervous. She traveled significantly on her third and fourth skills, but recovered nicely for a strong second half of her routine. Overall, she scored 36.70 pts (14.40 pt tariff) and Canada won a good bronze medal with 109.80 pts.
Belarus came in 4th place with 103.40 pts. Competing The team started with Tatiana Leoniuk (BLR), who performed a decent routine that scored 34.40 pts, which placed Belarus fourth after one round. Team leader Tatiana Petrenia was next in the second round. She started very well, but traveled on her fifth skill, which forced her to modify her routine and do a single back next. She continued to travel in the next few skills. Her struggle meant that Belarus would likely have to settle for the 4th place unless one of the top three teams would struggle as well, which did not happen. Petrenia earned 35.30 pts (13.40 pt tariff). Ekaterina Mironova, who was competing in the third round, also struggled as she almost crashed on her fourth skill, and then battled traveling for the rest of the routine. She scored 33.70 pts (13.10 pt tariff), which meant Belarus would settle for the 4th place. The U.S. team finished in 5th place with 75.00 pts. The U.S. lost almost all hope of a medal in the first round. Competing first in the team finals and under a lot of pressure, Hayley Butcher unfortunately crashed on the lateral pad on her third skill. Alaina Williams scored 33.40 pts (13.50 pt tariff) in the second round after some struggle in the second part of her routine. Nani Vercruyssen, who appeared a little nervous in her first World Championship final, had a good beginning, but traveled in the second part of her routine and repeated a skill. She scored 34.30 pts.
MEN’S TRAMPOLINE TEAM FINAL
China also won its third consecutive World Champion title in the men’s team event by dominating the final in St Petersburg. The Chinese team relied on Tu Xiao, Olympic Champion Lu Chunlong, and Olympic medalist Dong Dong, who had placed 4th, 3rd, and 1st in the preliminaries. Competing last in the first round, Tu Xiao competed a routine with reduced difficulty (15.80 pt tariff) with a simple back pike as second skill rather than a half in half out triffis tuck. His routine was competed very high and with neat execution. Tu scored 41.40 pts, putting China in second place behind Japan after the first round. Competing in the second round after a crash by the Japanese, Lu Chunlong showed his mental strength with an amazing routine that scored 42.50 pts (16.60 pt tariff) thanks to great height and neat execution. Lu Chunlong’s performance offered a more than 4.00 pt margin to China over its rivals. It was left to Dong Dong, who was competing last in the final, to seal the deal. Dong Dong did not reduce his difficulty and competed his traditional 16.60 pt tariff. His routine was unbelievably well executed with all ten skills landing on the cross or near the cross. His body positions were sharp, and his height was maintained throughout the routine. He earned the very high score of 43.00 pts. Overall, China scored 126.70 pts, winning with a more than 6.00 pt margin over its rivals. The fourth member of the World Champion team was 2007 World Champion Ye Shuai, who was the only one already on both the 2005 World Champion team and the 2007 World Champion team.
The silver medal of this men’s team final went to a surprising Belarus team, which scored 120.50 pts. Competing second in the final, Viacheslav Model launched his team very well. He performed a solid routine that scored 40.60 pts (16.20 pt tariff), allowing Belarus to be in 3rd place after the first round. Following some struggles by the Russian and American teams, Belarus was almost guaranteed a medal, assuming no crash, when Evgeni Zhukovsky was called to jump in the second round. Zhukovsky suffered from some traveling, but delivered a pretty good routine overall (39.00 pts with a 15.40 pt tariff). At the end of round 2, Belarus was in 2nd place after the Japanese team struggled. It meant that Belarus was guaranteed at least a silver medal if team leader Nikolai Kazak did not crash. Kazak, who has been among the very top trampolinists in the world for 15 years, relied on his extensive experience of the pressure of World Championship finals. Kazak delivered a well mastered routine that did not leave the rectangle in the middle of the trampoline bed, which meant that the silver medal was secured. Kazak earned 40.90 pts (15.80 pt tariff). The fourth member of the team was Yakov Rakitsky.
Russia won the bronze medal of this men’s team final despite some struggles early on. Dimitry Fedorovsky almost crashed early in his routine, recovered by modifying his routine. He traveled against significantly on his ninth skill, and had to modify his routine again. With two single backs, Fedorovsky scored only 35.50 pts, putting Russia in last place after the first round. Sergei Chumak was competing in the second round. He was very close to crash on his fourth and fifth skills. He showed great resiliency and recovered nicely, despite a lateral traveling on the 8th skill. He managed to complete his routine while maintaining strong body positions in the air. Chumak earned 39.50 pts (16.40 pt tariff), which put Russia in 3rd place after crashes by the Americans and Japanese. In the third round, Dimitri Ushakov locked the bronze medal with a great routine featuring superb amplitude while limiting traveling. Ushakov scored 42.00 pts (16.00 pt tariff), and Russia finished with 117.00 pts, 3.50 pts behind Belarus. The fourth member of the team was Alexander Leven.
The U.S. team, competing in its first men’s team final in history, had to settle for the 4th place. Despite showing some signs of nervosity, Michael Devine, who was competing first in the final, launched the team well with a solid routine (39.10 pts with a 15.40 pt tariff). In the second round, Steven Gluckstein unfortunately crashed early in his routine, which meant the U.S. hopes of a medal were shattered. In the third round, Logan Dooley competed a high quality routine with great body positions. He scored 41.00 pts (16.20 pt tariff). The U.S. team finished with 88.90 pts. Japan was regarded as the biggest threat to China before the final. This was confirmed after the first round. Competing just before China, Masaki Ito put the pressure on the Chinese by competing a sterling routine with great execution and sharp body positions. Ito earned 41.80 pts (16.20 pt tariff), and put Japan in 1st place after the first round, 0.40 pts ahead of China. In the second round, Yasuhiro Ueyama uncharacteristically suffered from the pressure. Ueyama crashed early in his routine, seriously compromising Japan’s chances of winning a medal. In the third round, Tetsuya Sotomura also crashed, a rare occurence, which meant that Japan would finish in 5th place, scoring 75.00 pts.
WOMEN’S TUMBLING PRELIMINARIES
The women’s tumbling preliminaries were dominated by the Russian tumblers, who took the top three spots. Anna Korobeynikova (RUS), who is the 2-time reigning World Champion and the World Games Champion, delivered an impressive performance to take the lead with a margin of 2.50 pts over her rivals. She competed the two best passes of the preliminaries. Both her routines were performed with great pace, sterling execution, and neat landings. Her first pass featured double back straight into double back straight (6.40 pt tariff), and yielded 33.20 pts. Her second pass was also of top quality, with even higher difficulty (7.50 pts for a full in back straight into full in full out tuck). Korobeynikova received a score of 34.30 pts for her second pass. Overall, she scored 67.50 pts, and will be the clear favorite for the individual final.
The 2nd place of these preliminaries was taken by 2006 European Youth Champion Elena Krasnorutskaya (RUS) with 65.00 pts. Krasnorutskaya competed two consistent passes, scoring 32.40 pts for the first one (6.40 pt tariff with double back straight into double back straight) and 32.60 pts for the second one (6.90 pt tariff thanks to a full in back straight inot full in back pike). She performed both her passes with nice pace, clean execution, and mastered landings. Krasnorutskaya barely edged World Games silver medalist Anzhelika Soldatkina (RUS), who scored 64.90 pts, just 0.10 pts off Krasnorutskaya. As only two tumblers per country could qualify for the final, Soldatkina will be limited to cheering her teammates in the individual final, even though she placed 3rd in these preliminaries. Soldatkina obtained the same score as Krasnorutskaya for the first routine (32.40 pts for a 6.40 pt tariff).
European Youth Champion Rachael Letsche (GBR), who was competing at her first World Championships, delivered a quality performance with two consistent passes. She claimed the fourth place of these preliminaries with 64.10 pts. She scored 32.10 pts for her first routine (6.10 pt tariff thanks to a double back straight into a double back pike), and 32.00 pts for her second pass (conclusion in full in full out straight). Her passes relied on brilliant execution and pretty good pace. Letsche was closely followed in the standings by World Games bronze medlaist Emily Smith (CAN), who was competing right after Letsche. Smith came in 5th place with 63.90 pts. Smith relied on an impressive first pass, scoring 32.50 pts (6.10 pt tariff thanks to a double back straight into double back pike). Zara McLean (GBR) qualified for the final by claiming the 6th place of these preliminaries with 63.50 pts. McLean had a strong salto pass, scoring 32.20 pts (6.20 pt tariff with a double back straight into double back pike)
Kaitlin Tortorich (USA) has a solid performance and clinched the 7th place of these preliminaries with 62.60 pts, thanks to a good first pass. Both her passes featured strong difficulty (6.50 pt each with double back straight in back in half out straight for the first pass and back in full out tuck into back in one and half out tuck for her second pass. Tortorich was followed by Jennifer Dawes (GBR – 8th with 62.60 pts) thanks to the tie-breaking rules as Tortorich’s second pass scored more than Dawes’ second pass. Dawes had a neat first pass (32.20 pts), but her lack of difficulty in the twisting pass is what may have cost her a place in the final as her teammates Letsche and McLean fared better. Ashley Speed (CAN) came in 9th place and made it to the final with 62.10 pts thanks to two powerful passes. Bianca Budler (RSA) had two solid passes to claim the 10th place to qualify for the final.
Link for the FIG official website here
