26th RG European Championships 2010

Organising Committee
Bremen OC - RG-EC 2010
Baumschulenweg 8/10
28213 Bremen
Germany
Tel.: +49 - 421 - 202.5219
Fax : +49 - 421 - 223.9034

www.ec-rg-2010.com

Medals number 8 and 9 for Russia

Winning the two finals of the group exercises, Russia has obtained all nine medals on nine. Italy and Belarus both got two silver or bronze medal.

It would be wrong to think that the suspense was missing in the group competition, as the performances presented by the eight best group finalists were worth the show. Apart from the few major mistakes, such as a drop of an apparatus, a lower level of the difficulty or artistic composition, it is often some details that make the difference that only the judges can detect.

The Russian group with Uliana Donskova, Ekaterina Malygina, Anastasia Nazarenko, Natalia Pichuzhkina, Tatiana Sergeeva and Daria Shcherbakova has showed a good nerve control in both its passages. Certain exchanges of the hoops and ropes looked like fireworks in the sky.

For the magnificent hoop exercise (28.200 !!), the Russians had chosen a passage of the Swan lake, while for the composition with the ribbons/ropes (27.600) it is the tango that underlined the movements. The height of the thrown apparatus was impressive, the ropes reaching almost the central display board above. Today the Russian quintet was unbeatable.

The Italians, who came as world champions, were hoping to win at least one of the three titles. A mistake with the hoops made them miss the gold medal the day before. Today, no mistake during the exercise performed on the music of the film Alexander composed by Vangelis, but a tiny difference of 0.025 separating them from Belarus and the bronze medal awaiting the “Farfalle”. At the passage with ribbons/rope, accompanied by the piano concert « Piccolo mondo antico » from Nino Rota, they were as good as the day before and got 0.30 points closer to the Russians. The silver medal was guaranteed.

A typical music gave a marked rhythm to the hoop exercise of the girls from Belarus, while for the ribbons/rope programme they have chosen, like the Russians, an Argentinean Tango from d’Astor Piazzola.

As the day before, the German group ended up on the 4^th rank in both finals.

Azerbaijan, Spain, Bulgaria, Israel (hoop) and Switzerland (ribbon/rope) have finished their Championships with the satisfaction of having reached one or two finals and thus to be among the top eight Europeans 2010.

The Gala was magnificent. During a show of 30 minutes the bests of these championships presented, as in figure skating, a free choreography.

D. Duchoud/UEG

Russia – European Junior Team Champion

Russia (1st with 103.000 points) and Belarus (102.950, 0.050 pts. behind) have clearly dominated the qualification competition, whose global result determined the classification per country. 3rd, Germany (99.175) is already more than 3 points behind.

With 32 classified teams, the participation is very pleasing from the point of view of the development of RG. With regards to the performances we note that the nations are about the same ones we find among the ten first ones, namely BUG, AZE, UKR, ITA, ISR, POL and ESP. Apart from the three leading teams, those ranked between the 4^th and the 15^th rank obtain between 97.850 and 90.425 points; which is a gap of about 7 point. The teams classified between the 16^th and the last place are in a range of 10 points. The encouragement price goes to Andorra who participates for the first time at the ECh.

As the day before, a long day was scheduled for the juniors. After the end of the team competition the eight best have then competed in the ball and clubs apparatus finals. Among them, the medallists of the previous day have also proven themselves in the disciplines of the day, ball and clubs.

Ball final: the eight finalists come from the NF of RUS-AZE-GER-BLR-BUL-ITA-GRE-ROU. Second title for Alexandra Merkulova RUS who clearly takes the lead with a score of 26.675 and a 9.30 of execution! Physically she looks almost like Alina Kabaeva at the beginning of her career. She arrives ahead of Lala Yusifova AZE 25.650 and the German Berezko-Marggrander. Second of the qualifications, Nataliya Leshchyk unfortunately dropped her ball and ends on the 4^th rank.

Clubs finale: POL, GER, BUL, RUS, ISR,GRE, BLR and UKR are represented in this last final.

New very tight victory for Valeria Tkachenko RUS. In the lead after the qualifications, she confirms and wins her second title. The second step of the podium is reserved to Arina Charopa BLR who missed gold for 0.050 points. A medal for Ukraine: bronze won in extremis by Oleksandra Gridasova, the last competitor.

Even if all junior titles went to Russia, the German team succeeded its comeback to the top with 4 medals in juniors category.

Magdalena Brezska – ambassador of the 26^th ECh in RG in Bremen
Even if during her entire career (1990-1998), with a participation at the OG in Atlanta, the German Magdalena Brezska (26 national titles), whose got Polish origins, has never won any title or medal at any big international championships, she still is an emblematic person in RG and a popular star in Germany. Ambassador of these Championships, Magdalena is delighted to be integrated in the event. « I have followed these competitions with pleasure. I am particularly happy to see that Germany comes back to the top ranks thanks to very talented young gymnasts». At present, Magdalena lives in Spain. Mother of two little girls, she explains that the second one is participating in the Spanish RG Championships on Sunday. Personally she also leads a RG school close to Stuttgart.

D. Duchoud/UEG

Medals for Russia, Italy and Belarus

Saturday morning some 4500 spectators watched in a great atmosphere the all-round competition (CII) of the seniors. Suspense until the end, the three medallists were separated by 0.90 points only. Russia gets the title (54.500), ahead of Italy (53.925) and Belarus (53.600).

The favourites were the groups from Russia, Belarus, Italy and Bulgaria who have dominated the last competitions. The German RG had not achieved great results anymore in the last few years. The DTB has started again from zero and has put in place new structures giving priority to the groups’ work. With success as the German group now reaches the rank at the bottom of the podium still, but a 4^th rank that was unexpected before the Championships. Not to mention the bronze medals won by the juniors.....

The gymnasts from Belarus again on the second place (WCh 2007 and 2009 and ECh Turin 2008, 3^rd at the OG 2008). « We are very happy of this third place, as we made some small mistakes. This happens in competitions. As for winning: we are not very far, but we still have to work."

Brilliant performance of the Italian « Farfalle » with the ribbon/rope exercise. An outstanding technical and artistic quality accompanied by an excellent choice of music and an execution close to perfection.

Beaming with joy, they left the competition floor accompanied by the "cheers" of the spectators. The score of 27.325 given by the judges was only topped by the Russians for the same exercise. In the exercise with 5 hoops they had previously received 26.600 with a dropped apparatus that cost them valuable tenths. "We entered the competition hall full of determination and encouraged by our title of world champions. We dropped a hoop because of a poor general positioning and the victory of Russia is deserved. We'll do better tomorrow". With regard to Mie, there are two new ones in the group Romina Laurito and Giulia Galtarossa.

After some lukewarm performances in the competitions of the season‘s beginning, one might wonder what the actual worth of the very young Russian team was and how fit they are. Competing as last ones, the suspense was present till the end. They had to obtain 26.525 points in the hoop exercise to win the title. With 27.100, they have ensured their victory. "If we finally won today, we owe it to our coaches and Irina Viner, who came every day to encourage us in the hall during the final weeks of preparation. We are very proud of this title of European Champions”.

Spain, Bulgaria, Israel and Azerbaijan occupy in the same order the ranks behind. Nice performance as well of the Swiss group which enters in the top ten with its 9^th pace (11^th in 2008) whereas Hungary finishes 10^th. Due to an injury of their best gymnast at the Grand Prix in Thiais, Ukraine had to withdraw.

Composition of the group medallists:

Russia: Uliana Donskova (1992), Ekaterina Malygina (1993), Anastasia Nazarenko (1993), Natalia Pichuzhkina (1991), Tatiana Sergeeva (1992), Daria Shcherbakova (1993).

Italy : Elisa Blanchi (1987), Giulia Galtarossa (1991), Romina Laurito (1987), Daniela Masseroni (1985), Elisa Santoni (1987), Anzhelika Savrayuk (1989).

Belarus : Maryna Hancharova (1990), Anastasiya Ivankova (1991), Aliaksandra Osipava (1993), Kseniya Sankovich (1990), Alina Tumilovich (1990).

Qualified for the finals of tomorrow:

5 hoops: RUS, ITA, BLR, GER, ESP, ISR, BUL, AZE

3 ribbons/2 ropes : RUS, ITA, BLR, GER, ESP, BUL, SUI, AZE

D. Duchoud/UEG

Junior finals rope and hoop

The two first titles in the junior category have been awarded Friday in the late evening. Alexandra Merkulova imposed herself during the rope final, while the title for the hoop was conquered by Valeria Tkachenko RUS.

Long day for the juniors, who had the qualifications in the morning from 10h00 to 14h00 and who came back in the competition hall in the evening to compete for the two finals rope and hoop. Long day as well for the judges of course as the competitions ended at 22h15.

Rope final: the eight finalists came from GER, AZE, BLR, BUL, ISR, ITA, RUS and UKR. Already leading after the qualifications, the Russian Alexandra Merkulova, born on the 25^th of November 1995, won the rope finals with a score of 26.400 (deduction of 0.05). Behind followed, as after the qualifications, Arina Charopa BLR (25.300) and Viktoriia Shynkarenko UKR (25.250).

Hoop final - represented countries: GER, AZE, BLR, BUL, ESP, GRE, RUS and UKR. No gymnast qualified for the rope was qualified for the hoop.

Hoop and glittering golden competition attire for the nice Nataliya Leshchyk BLR who was leading the competition of the qualifications. But this was not enough to win the gold of the finals. She was left behind by a hair’s breadth (0.050 pts.) by the Russian Valeria Tkachenko, 3^rd after the qualifications. Second in the morning, the German Jana Berezko-Marggrander has finally ended up on the third rank (25.850).

Saturday morning from 10h00 to 13h40 the competition of the senior groups will take place – a great show can be expected. A morning of rest for the juniors who will perform their two other apparatus (ball and clubs) from 14h30 on to then compete for the two last finals from 20h30 on.

D. Duchoud/UEG

Mission accomplished for Evgenia Kanaeva

After her first victory in Turin in 2008, Evgenia KANAEVA showed that at present she is still unbeatable. She wins her second European crown with a total of 115.900 points. Russia is celebrating a double victory with the second place of Daria Kondakova (113.725). First European medal for the general multiple competition for Garayeva Aliya AZE (111.375).

After a short opening ceremony, during which a minute's silence was observed following the tragedy that hit Poland from where a delegation is present in Bremen, the seniors began their all-around competition, which includes the exercises with rope hoop, ball and ribbon.

In group A, there are the ten best gymnasts at the moment. After the first rotation, the great favourite Evgenia Kanaeva, RUS, who holds all titles awarded since 2008 has already taken the lead with a score of 28.950 for her rope exercise. As (almost) expected, her teammate Daria Kondakova follows with 28.650 at the same apparatus. The current number one in Azerbaijan is ranked third with 27.925 points. The other competitors follow in the order: Melitina Staniouta BLR (hoop 27.900), Lioubou Charkashyna BLR (27.600 hoop), Joanna Mitrosz POL (26.850 ball), Alina Maksymenko UKR (ribbon 26.400), Irina Risenson ISR, who unfortunately dropped her hoop at the end of the exercise (26.300) and finally Zeynab Javadli AZE, who was at the last moment chosen instead of Anna Gurbanova (23.900).

After the second passage, the head of the ranking remained unchanged. Kanaeva progresses with a 29.000 for her performance with the hoop, whereas Kondakova makes 28.400 at the same apparatus. These are the only two gymnasts who make more than 28 points! Admittedly, there is hardly any suspense for the 2500 spectators about the outcome of the competition.

With the third rotation we saw Kanaeva take off thanks to her best score of the competition obtained for the ball exercise (29.150) making a total of 87.100 and Kondakova (85.635) secure her second position. The gymnasts on the ranks below follow with more than three points of difference. At stake in the last rotation will be the attribution of the bronze medal which should however not escape anymore to Garayeva (83.625) whose only eventual rival is Liubou Charkashyna BLR (81.875). The two gymnasts are the last to pass.

Evgenia Kanaeva ends her competition with a splendid tango with the ribbon, acclaimed as usual by her numerous fans in the hall. She deserves an indisputable victory, almost too easy, with 115.900 points. The silver medal goes to Daria Kondakova (113.725). Aliya Garayeva was very regular with scores between 27.750 and 27.925 and obtains her first European medal in the all-round competition - bronze. Liubou Charkashyna remains on the fourth rank with 108.875, followed by Melitina Staniouta BLR (108.000) who without her mistakes at the ball exercise could have even achieved bronze. Among the missing VIP, Anna Bessonova, who is present as coach of the seniors from Ukraine – a great chance for the young gymnast such as Alina Maksymenko (7^th) who will try to follow her example.

Competition for the group B (gymnasts classified between the 11^th and 20^th rank in 2009)

Some countries whose gymnasts were ranked in the top twenty, but who may have ended their careers or are absent for other reasons, gave the opportunity to new competitors in order to prepare them for the qualifying World Championships 2011

The choice to start the competition with the then best gymnasts is due to the TV timing. As a consequence the girls of the group B (rank 11 to 20 in 2009) have presented their programme in front of a much smaller crowd.

Delphine Ledoux FRA has opened this second part of the competition. Due to a technical problem of the music, she was allowed to present her exercise again at the very end of the competition. She could however not avoid to drop her rope. Several renowned gymnasts were competing in this second group. The big surprise arrived by the Israeli Neta Rivkin who has made enormous progress and which arrived close to the best with the 5^th rank (108.400). But also the Austrian Caroline Weber, who also reached the first ten with 107.225, Delphine Ledoux (12^th with 105.500) and the Italian Julieta Cantaluppi (13^th with 103.225).

Not often in RG have we seen such smiling and relaxed gymnasts on a European podium.

Portrait of the European Champion :KANAEVA Evgenia Russia

Date of birth: 02/04/1990
Age: 20 Height: 168 cm-
Weight: 43 kg
Place of birth and Hometown: OMSK (RUS)
Profession: Student
Start discipline: 1996
First international event: 2006
National team since: 2006
Club: Gasprom
Assistant coach: Shtelbaums Vera (RUS)
Choreographer: Shatkova Veronika (RUS)

Quotes :

Evgenia Kanaeva : I am happy about this victory as if it would be the first one. My main objective are the OG of 2012 and I will work hard to get even better.

Daria Kondakova (2^th with a gap of 2.175 points) : when will I beat Evgenia ? I prefer not to respond, but I know that I must still work very hard and then we will see what happens.

Aliya Garayeva (smiling bronze medallist) : I am so happy to finally win a medal at the all-round competition of a big Championship. I thank my coaches and all persons around me who have led me on this path of success.

D. Duchoud/UEG

First results of the Juniors competitions

The first competitions of the juniors are finished and the results are standing: after two exercises. The team of Belarus is leading the competition with a total score of 51.525, 0.575 points ahead of Russia 50.950. Third is Germany with 25.500.

Amy Stewart from GBR is leading the individual non official classification after two routines. With the hoop the Belarusian gymnast Natalya Leshchyk is heading the list. The Russian athlete Alexandra Merkulova is number one with the rope. Tomorrow, the disciplines ball and clubs will follow. Afterwards, the results will be added and the European Team Champion will be determined. The 8 best gymnasts in each exercise are qualifed for the two apparatus finals which will take place this evening (competition III).

The complete list with the results is published soon after each competition on this website.

D.Duchoud/UEG

26th RG ECh in Bremen – nominative registrations

The 33 participating federations handed in their nominative list for the 26th ECh in Rhythmic Gymnastics in Bremen (GER), April 15th - 18th. The 20 best senior individuals from 2009 will compete at the multiple competition (CII). Evgenia Kanaeva, RUS, who holds all titles, will be the gymnast to beat.

99 juniors will participate in the qualification competition (CI) and the apparatus finals (CIII), 22 senior groups will present two different exercises. At European Championships in even years, the 20 best gymnasts from competition I of the previous year make an individual multiple competition. No big surprises in the nominative list, except that Ukraine uses its quota of two places (obtained by Bessonova and Godunko) to enter two young gymnasts into competition (Alina Maksymenko et Ganna Rizatdinova). The gymnast to beat will of course be the Russian Evgenia Kanaeva, title holder of all titles 2008 and 2009.

List of gymnasts:

AUT : Weber Caroline
AZE : Garayeva Aliya, Gurbanova Anna will not start and be replaced by Zeynab Javadli
BLR : Staniouta Melitina, Charkashyna Liubou
BUL : Miteva Silviya, Mincheva Monika
ESP : Rodriguez Carolina
FRA : Ledoux Delphine
GRE : Metallidou Michaela
ISR : Risenson Irina, Rivkin Neta Zehava
ITA : Cantaluppi Julieta, Ianni Chiara
POL : Mitrosz Joanna
ROU : Piscupescu Alexandra
RUS : Kanaeva Evgenia, Kondakova Daria
UKR : Maksymenko Alina, Rizatdinova Ganna

Wold cup in Kalamata/GRE
Among the gymnasts above, many have been tested the last weekend in March at the World Cup event in Kalamata/GRE. Announced, Evgenia Kanaeva was finally not present. The multiple competition was won by the Russian Daris Kondakova, who also won two gold medals (rope and ribbon), 1 x silver and 1x bronze. Melitina Staniouta BLR (gold for hoop and silver for ball) and Silviya Miteva BUL (gold for ball) were particularly remarkable. The group competition has resulted in a close battle between the Italians and Belarusians. The Italian group won the multiple competition (3 exercises) followed by Belarus and Azerbaijan. In the finals, Italy arrived first in the exercise with 5 hoops, ahead of Belarus and Bulgaria. In the mixed exercise (2 ropes/3 ribbons), the Belarusians quite clearly imposed themselves ahead of Italy and Bulgaria. Black day for the Russian group (6^th of the multiple competition, 8^th in the hoop final and 4^th in the rope/ribbon final). 3 weeks ahead of the European Championships, the suspense is already promised.

Qualification YOG : among the juniors, 5 groups (AZE, BLR, BUL, RUS and UKR) and 35 individuals of the age of 15 (born in 1995) representing 23 NF will compete on Sunday for the qualifying competition for the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Singapore 2010. Note that for the YOG the junior groups will be reduced to 4 gymnasts instead of five.

Programme

Friday, 16. April:
10.00-13.50 Competition I Juniors, groups B + A, 2 apparatus
15.00 Opening ceremony
16.00-20.15 Competition II – Seniors, groups A + B, 4 apparatus
21.15-22.05 Competition III – Juniors (2 apparatus)   

Saturday, 17. April:
10.00-13.40 Competition I – Senior groups, 2 apparatus 
14.30-18.30 Competition I - Juniors, groups A+B, 2 apparatus
20.30-21.20 Competition III Juniors, 2 apparatus

Sunday, 18. April:
10.00-11.00 YOG qualification – groups
12.15-13.45 Competition III - Senior groups (2 apparatus)
14.15-14.45 Gala
15.00-21.15 YOG Qualification individuals 

Advanced sale for spectator tickets
It is now possible to buy tickets for the European Championships in Bremen through:

Eventim (www.eventim.de, Tél. +49 421 / 35 36 37) and
Nordwestticket (www.nordwest-ticket, Tél. +49 421 / 36 36 36)  or by the website of the German Gymnastics Federation DTB  GYMNET (www.dtb-gymnet.de).

ECh Rhythmic Gymnastics in Bremen: two good tests before the European Championship

After Montreal (Cat. B), two tournaments of the FIG World Cup (Cat. A) were held beginning and mid March in Debrecen (HUN) and Portimao (POR). Evgenia Kanaeva RUS has proven once again her present supremacy on a world and European level.

In Debrecen, the Olympic, World and European champion won all four finals, rope, hoop, ball and ribbon. From a total of 12 medals, the Russians won 4x gold & silver. The bronze medals went to Melitina Staniouta BLR (rope and ribbon), Silvya D. Miteva BUL (hoop) and Liubov Chakashyna BLR (ball). The two gymnasts from Azerbaijan, Garayeva and Gurbanova, who belong to the favourites in Bremen, were qualified for all finals but had to go home without a medal.

  

In the group competition, the Russian were once again impossible to beat in the two finals (5 hoops/3 ribbons-2 ropes). The group from Belarus won silver in both finals, Israel won silver in the hoop final and Azerbaijan in the ribbon/rope final.

In Portimao, Evgenia Kanaeva won only three finals as she missed the hoop final.

Rope final: gold and silver for Russia with Kanaeva and Daria Kondakova. Bronze went to Aliya Garaeva AZE. Hoop final: once again a double victory for Russia, but this time by Kondakova followed by Daria Dimitrieva and the Bulgarian Silviya Miteva. The ball final was won by Kanaeva; Kondakova dropped her apparatus, to the advantage of Garaeva. Bronze for Neta Rivkin ISR, for a beautiful presentation. Ribbon final: Kanaeva’s performance was just too good and she was impossible to beat. The Russian n° 2 made another mistake and this time to the advantage of Liubov Charkashyna (2^nd) and Melitina Staniouta, both from Belarus.

The general competition of the groups (two exercises) was won by Russia (53.900) followed by Italy (53.400) and Belarus (51.700). The final with 5 hoops went to Belarus, followed by Italy and Russia (one engine fell outside of the floor area). Switzerland, 7^th, is the 2^nd country of central Europe. The second exercise, with 2 ropes and 3 ribbons, was no success for Russia and Belarus. Italy used its chance and won before Russia and Israel.

Detailed results: www.fig-gymnastics.com  

In Bremen, the Russians will be the favourites, but a fault can always happen and the other gymnasts won’t sleep.  

Next World Cup series:
26-28 March, WCp cat. A in Kalamata GRE 
03-04 April, WCp cat. B in St. Petersburg RUS

Several Grand Prix and international tournaments will allow the gymnasts to finish the preparation before the ECh in Bremen   

D. Duchoud/UEG

26th ECh RG in Bremen – Drawing of lots

After receipt of the definitive registrations, the Technical Committee RG of the UEG has carried out the drawing of lots of the starting order of the 26th European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships to be held in Bremen (April 16th to 18th, 2010).

Definitive registrations:

22 senior groups and 127 individual juniors were entered by 36 NF.

The 20 best senior gymnasts were invited according to the results of the ECh 2009 in Baku and will compete in the individual all-around competition.

YOG qualification:
Among the juniors, 4 groups and 59 individuals aged 15 years (born in 1995) will participate in the qualifications for the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) to be held this year in Singapore. The junior groups are composed of only 4 instead of 5 gymnasts.

Ticket sale for spectators
It is already now possible to buy the tickets for the European RG Championships in Bremen by Eventim (www.eventim.de, Tél. +49 421 / 35 36 37) as well as Nordwestticket (www.nordwest-ticket, Tél. +49 421 / 36 36 36) or via the website of the German Gymnastics Federation DTB GYMNET (www.dtb-gymnet.de).

Media accreditation: the official UEG website www.ueg-gymnastics.com.

Deadline: 30.03.2010.

Further information: www.em-rsg-2010.de

D.Duchoud UEG

Provisional registrations

The European Championships 2010 of the Olympic disciplines are held some weeks earlier due to the qualifications for the YOG. The 26th European Junior and Senior Championships in RG will take place in Bremen/GER from April 15th to 18th 2010.

35 national federations are inscribed with 22 senior groups (132 gymnasts) and 118 juniors. In addition there are the 20 individual gymnasts who are invited based on the ECh 2009 + 1 of the organising country (RUS-UKR-AZE-BLR-ISR-BUL-ITA = 2 gymnasts, ESP-GRE-AUT-FRA-POL-ROU-GER = 1 gymnast).

The SENIORS’ program (min. age 16) will include competition CI and III of the groups (one exercise with 5 hoops and one combined exercise 3 ribbons/2 ropes). The individual competition II is open for the 20 invited gymnasts based on the results of the ECh 2009 in Baku (max. 2 per country). For JUNIORS, the individuals will compete in the qualifying competition CI and the apparatus finals CIII (rope, hoop, ball and clubs).

A special competition will take place for the qualification in view of the 1st Youth Olympic Games (YOG). For the YOG the groups will be reduced from 5 to 4 gymnasts and will present 2 routines. Each federation is authorised to inscribe max. 2 individuals and 1 group, all born in 1995.

Only one group and 6 individual gymnasts can get qualified for Europe.

Next deadlines:

Definitive registrations: January 15th, 2010
Nominative registrations: March 25th, 2010

Media accreditations (via the UEG site only): March 30th, 2010

D.Duchoud/UEG