22nd World Championships in Acrobatic Gymnastics
Wroclaw (POL), July 16 - 18, 2010
Qualifications Day 3 – Finals Day 2
WROCLAW (POL), FIG Office, July 18, 2010: Acrobatic gymnasts took to the stage in Wroclaw’s Orbita Hall for the last time today at these world championships, as Men’s Groups, and Women’s and Men’s Pairs continued Qualifications, with the best back for a Final rematch.
Ranks were filled and fans heated up the arena as they cheered on their favourite players. Outside a refreshing rain finally provided the cool temperatures everyone had been longing for during an uncommonly long heat wave.
Qualification – Combined Exercises
Men’s Pairs
The third qualifying heat did nothing less than confirm the lead for formations having consistently topped the ranking over the past two days; British gymnasts Upcott/Fordyce are among top placers, and gave the best Combined performance this morning. At the top of the ranking list, Russian Pilipchuck/Dudchenko competed in magnificent costumes that were half classical, half glitz. They combined sound technical mastery with flashy, expressive choreography. In the event that a Pair enhances their Final with extra difficulty elements, it could have an affect on the final outcome. As always, though ranked among the top 5 in the All-around, the second Russian constellations had to yield their place in the Final, a fate that befell the Ivanov brothers this morning.
Men’s Groups
Let’s start with some math. With four nations having entered two Groups each in this category, six spots available in the Final, and a one rep per nation rule for the Final, all participating nations were sure to be represented tonight. A look at the field before this last heat pretty clearly revealed which Groups from Great Britain, China, Belarus and Ukraine would be qualifying, but anything can happen and the competition was exciting through to the end.
The Polish four were the first to perform in this category today, and they were aiming to defend their middle rank position. Another solid routine with no major mistakes awarded with 27.657 did the job, ultimately ranking the young gymnasts fifth.
Improving from their Dynamic exercise on Friday, when they suffered a fall, Belarus 1 was constantly on the rise and qualified in seventh position, having outperformed their compatriots, who stayed at the bottom of the table.
Ukraine 1 were not able to improve their performance today, which was characterised by several mistakes and a fall from the top during a pyramid formation. They placed just ahead of Belarus 2.
China 2, dressed in green, performed their famous swing element, more stunning pyramids and flawlessly executed triple saltos. However, they stayed behind their team-mates in the ranking (3rd) and took a place on the reserve position.
Leaders of the ranking, Great Britain 1, confirmed their position with breathtaking formations and saltos, incredibly well-executed.
Was China’s first entry able to repeat the consistent and highly difficult routines they presented over the last two days? They were! These gymnasts thrilled and dazzled the public with creative elements such as the human rope.
Debutants on the senior World stage, the four members of the Ukraine’s second entry, who interestingly are nearly the same height, were forced to accept a .6 deduction; they managed to ascend the ranking nevertheless and qualified in sixth position.
Great Britain’s second Group were unable to outperform their compatriots today for a spot in the Final. The point difference was far too big, and worse, they lost their position among the top four due to an interrupted pyramid formation that cost them a 2.9 deduction. Unfortunate rank eight for them.
Women’s Pairs
A last and laborious round for the women. Several falls and technical errors were the cause of grief in this qualifying round, and scrambled the ranking order. Fatigue wielded its power on Azeri Ahmadova/Sultanova, who experienced landing trouble after a double piked; this was not their best exercise. First place was overtaken by the Ukraine’s Sytnikova/Milnychenko who, in a fabulous Combined exercise, produced the same static hold as Belgian pair De Vos/Henrist (absent from this competition) on a single foot of their base, who herself was in handstand position. The lovely and willowy Byelorussians Yushko/Murashko finished third while Russian Pair Pikhulina/Sokolenko slipped down into fourth. With four Pairs scoring nigh on 28.00 points in their Combined exercise, the Final couldn’t have been anything but exciting!
Team Ranking
Federations represented by at least three different Pairs and Groups, including at least one Pair and one Group having taken part in the Qualifications of a world championship, are eligible to participate in the ranking by Team. A total of seven Teams were ultimately registered in Wroclaw.
Reminder: Team classification is established based on the overall placings gained over the three exercises performed in Competition 1 by the declared Team members. These three placings are converted into points as follows: e.g. If 16 countries are entered in a World Championships, first place gets 16 points, second place 15, third place 14, etc. All categories are uniformly converted regardless of the number of competitors in the event.
The team with the highest number of points is declared Team World Champion and each member of the announced team is awarded a medal.
With their Men’s Pair and Women’s Group first and the Mixed Pair second, Russia garnered a total of 74 points, taking home the Team title from this competition.
Second and winner of the Silver medal is Great Britain with 70 points, featuring first place for their Men’s Group, second place for their Men’s Pair and rank five for the country’s Women’s Group.
The Ukraine came third in the Team ranking (69 points) with their Women’s Pair in rank one and their Men’s Pair and Women’s Group both in fourth.
Gold - Russia RUS 74
Silver - Great Britain GBR 70
Bronze - Ukraine UKR 69
Finals
Men’s Pairs
Starting at zero in the Final, there’s no room for error here, and any mistakes will cost these gymnasts dearly. Unfortunately, such was the case for Kazakstan’s Avrin/Gmyzun, the Ukraine’s Pulin/Tarasenko and China’s Yang/Chen, all victims of their own blunders this afternoon. China’s demise came when they fell on a double twisting layout to catch. They joined the Americans, Osborne/Inserra, among the weakest in this Final, and placed in the last ranks. Bulgarian Andonov/Georgiev improved their performance of this morning with a clean exercise and shifted upward three slots.
Belarus increased its difficulty and succeeded, winding up this event with a Bronze. The title was up for grabs now between Britain and Russia. Upcott/Fordyce, the first up, gave an outstanding presentation; 9.55 points for Execution. Relieved to see this competition coming to a close, the two men shouted for joy as they received their scores in the arms of their coach. Thanks to their impeccable execution and a slightly higher difficulty than the Russian Pair Pilipchuck/Dudchenko, Britain took home their first world title. The Russian Pair adds a somewhat disappointing Silver to its collection from 2008 and the World Games 2009.
Gold - Edward UPCOTT / Douglas FORDYCE GBR 28.662
Silver - Konstantin PILIPCHUK / Alexey DUDCHENKO RUS 28.506
Bronze - Yauhen KALACHOU / Ruslan FEDCHENKA BLR 28.052
Women’s Pairs
Sequins were all the rage in this afternoon’s Women’s Pairs Final. One after the next, they competed in colourful, scintillating costumes and bedazzled their fans with unparalleled technique. Most of them increased their difficulties for the occasion. While the medal rush was initially to be played out between Azerbaijan, Belarus and the Ukraine, Russia stepped in to stir things up! Pikhulina/Sokolenko gave a solid performance, though weaker than in Qualifications this morning; they claimed Bronze while Azeri Ahmadova/Sultanova lost synch with their music toward the end of their routine, suffered a 0.2 penalty for it, and were forced to settle for fourth.
The Ukraine’s Kytnikova/Milnychenko, who had all the skills necessary for a strong Difficulty score even in the Final, improved on this morning’s routine for a 28.709 total, and the Gold medal. Dressed in the bright pink of flamingos, the magnificent Byelorussians Yushko/Murashko also added difficulties in hopes for the title, but a slightly inferior execution score dropped them below the Ukraine: no world title, but a Silver medal!
Gold - Kateryna SYTNIKOVA / Anastasiya MELNYCHENKO UKR 28.709
Silver - Alina YUSHKO / Katsiaryna MURASHKO BLR 28.502
Bronze - Anzhelika PIKHULINA / Anastasia SOKOLENKO RUS 28.001
Men’s Groups
Accompanied by enthusiastic support from the crowd, a spectacular Final in Men’s Groups concluded these championships. Who would take the precious title? It all seemed to come down to a nose to nose race between Great Britain and China. But there are no givens with Russia and Poland breathing down their necks; the big favourites knew they had to give it all they had tonight.
First to perform in this Final was the four-man Group from Belarus. They upped their Difficulty in relation to this morning, but received lower Artistic and Execution marks. Moreover, they received a .3 penalty, resulting in a total of 27.280.
Ukraine was next and they suffered from the same issue as Belarus, receiving a .6 penalty for failing to complete a pyramid element. 26.300 points for them.
The local crowd then gave a supportive welcome to their Polish Group. Unfortunately, their top was unable to land a platform to platform salto properly, which consequently meant a low Execution mark.
Top qualifiers from Great Britain were up next and they set the bar high for their Chinese nemesis! With the same exercise as this morning they scored another 28.854 points. Enough for the title?
Second to last, Russia entered the stage, and while improving their Execution to 9.350 their total counted 28.552. A provisional rank two, just behind Great Britain. But China was still to come!
Excellent in all elements, the men in yellow thrilled the crowd again and again! Rhythmic clapping filled the arena while everyone waited for the score to be confirmed. Would they take the Gold?
Finally, slightly higher Artistic and Difficulty scores crowned the British Group World Champions!
Gold - Great Britain 1 28.854
Silver - China 1 28.801
Bronze - Russia 28.552
Find all detailed results here!
Closing Ceremony
We have witnessed wonderful performances and exciting competitions here in Wroclaw, and are happy to see Acrobatic Gymnastics making headway in so many countries, that’s good news!
The 22nd World Championships ended as athletes from all nations marched in followed by closing remarks by Urszula Wojtkowiak (POL). The President of the Polish Sports Acrobatic Federation thanked the athletes, coaches and judges, and looks forward to meeting everyone again at the next ACRO meet.
Before declaring the 22nd Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships closed and receiving the FIG flag back from the LOC, FIG Vice-President Michel Léglise (FRA) thanked the organisers for their marvellous job hosting this event. He underlined the fantastic contribution of the ever-helpful volunteers and, with regard to the competition, applauded the high technical level and authentic sense of fair play throughout.
Our thanks to the gymnasts for their participation, passion and commitment; we look forward to seeing you again in 2012 at the 23rd Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships!
