FIG Trampoline Gymnastics World Cup A
Albacete (ESP), June 16 - 17, 2012
LAUSANNE (SUI), FIG Office, June 14, 2012: The FIG World Cup circuit will make its second stop for 2012 in Spain the third weekend in June. Albacete, a town well-known among trampoliners, will welcome all World Cup tournament participants just two weeks after the first competition unfolded in Taiyuan City, China. This is the third time that FIG runs an event in Albacete, after two successful editions in 2008 and 2010.
After a solid victory at home, China once again brings their top gymnasts to secure a favourable position in the medal ranks. In Taiyuan City, Tu Xiao and Dong Dong prevailed in the Men’s event, while Li Dan and He Wenna locked into the first and second positions in the Women’s competition. Japan, Canada and Russia will be the main contenders to the current Chinese dominance in Albacete, with runners-up like Masaki Ito (JPN), Takashi Sakamoto (JPN), Jason Burnett (CAN), Dmitry Ushakov (RUS) and Nikita Fedorenko (RUS) in the Men’s event or Karen Cockburn (CAN), Rosie MacLennan (CAN), Galina Goncharenko (RUS) and Kat Driscoll (GBR) in Women’s.
54 men and 38 women will perform in the Individual events but participation in Synchronised Trampoline has dropped to 17 pairs of men and 11 women. The Albacete World Cup does not include a Tumbling competition; however an international elite event in Double Mini-trampoline will run parallel to the World Cup, with participation from Russia, Spain and Sweden.
Individual preliminaries will be performed Saturday evening, while the Synchronised Trampoline qualifying round will run all morning Sunday. All finals will wrap up Sunday evening, with each stage of the competition live webcasted from the venue.
Locals are placing their hopes on reigning European Junior Champion Ángel Hernández, who makes his official elite-level debut at the age of seventeen. His team-mates will also try to support Hernández in his first brush with the cream of the international crop. Claudia Prat will lead a solid Spanish women’s team, composed of Cristina Sainz, Katish Hernández and Laura García; they will fight to qualify for any of the finals on the programme.
Albacete is the Spanish town with the greatest number of athletes competing in trampoline disciplines nationwide.
Since its very beginnings in 1994, José Miguel Cantos (1969) fostered the sport in Albacete, gaining impressive results since 2000 at both national and international events. These days, the training centre of Albacete is one of the best-equipped in Europe and the quantity and quality of their athletes have translated into diverse medals from European Championships and World Age Group Competitions. Together with other local coaches such as Teresa Pascual, Rosa Esteban and Katish Recalde, they are also in charge of the Spanish National Team.
Competition Director Miguel Vicente (1980) has been a member of the European Gymnastics Union’s (UEG) Trampoline Technical Committee since 2007. He is also the Trampoline Judges’ Chair at the Royal Spanish Gymnastics Federation and has judged a range of high-calibre international events (Olympic Games, World Championships, Youth Olympic Games).
(source: RSGF)
Click here for the full roster and find more information on the event website at www.albaceteworldcup.es! You can follow the action in Albacete on Twitter as it unfolds using the official hashtag #albaceteworldcup.
About 2012 FIG Trampoline Gymnastics World Cup Series
The 2012 FIG World Cup circuit in Trampoline Gymnastics includes five category A events, all of which will feature Qualifications and Finals in Men’s and Women’s Individuals as well as Synchronised Trampoline and a total of three events, including Tumbling competitions.
With stopovers on two continents, competitions are slated for June 2 – 3 in Taiyuan City (CHN), June 16 – 17 in Albacete (ESP), June 22 – 23 in Arosa (SUI), September 7 – 8 in Loule (POR) and October 5 – 6 in Sofia (BUL).
Participation is restricted to four men and four women each in Individual Trampoline and Tumbling as well as two men’s and two women’s pairs in Synchronised Trampoline per country. The top eight gymnasts or pairs from Qualifications proceed to the Finals, where a maximum of two individuals or one pair per country and discipline can compete. If there are fewer than eight participating gymnasts or pairs with only one unit per federation, a qualifying round will not be held.
Participation of one gymnast or pair from the host country in one Final chosen from Tumbling, Individual or Synchronised Trampoline is ensured by a wild card in the event that the federation fails to qualify for any of the Finals.
The world ranking points collected by competitors during the circuit will tally up to a total with the best four results counting, and the top scorers in each discipline will be crowned the winners of the overall series at the ultimate event in Sofia.
