2014 WAG Russian Championships April 2-6

Usually this meet is used to determine the European team. According to most of the Russian media all of the 2012 Olympian members should be competing.

Recently on tumblr I did a post about when was the last time we saw the 5 Olympians. So I thought I would share it here on this blog. It's hard to let go of the 2012 team and move forward with the new seniors but this is just to show how I'm excited to see the return of some of the Olympians. Hopefully they will all show up.

Russia still has new hope in Kharenkova, Rodionova, Shelgunova, Sosnitskaya, Fedorova etc. Russia will still be one of the top contenders for Europeans.

I won't have high expectations for the gymnasts at this meet. They shouldn't be so perfect early in the season. I'm wishing everyone good health and for them to do the best that they can do.

I'm most intrigue in seeing how Komova has been progressing. I won't have high expectations but it would be nice to just see her back in competition. It's been too long. I'm not sure if I can follow this competition as I might be busy but I'm sure there will be lots of Russian fans posting up to date information. The official website for results is sportgymrus.ru.

If all of the 2012 Olympian shows up it will be the first time since we saw (compete):

Komova in 1 year and 8 months at the 2012 Olympic Games! Favourite routine was 2012 AA FX.

Grishina in 10 months at the 2013 Anadia Cup where she won uneven bars gold.

Afanasyeva in 9 months at 2013 Universiade Games. Favourite routine was AA FX.

Paseka in 8 months at 2013 Russian Cup where her best result was on uneven bars 2nd.

Mustafina in 4 months at the 2013 Stuttgart World Cup on beam in team finals.

2013 Massilia Videos/Quick Thoughts

There are lots of videos at piibunina's channel.

Admittedly I haven't seen all the videos but I think one of my favourite routine is from Claudia Fragapane. It's unique.
  I wasn't really impressed by the Russians but it's great to see Ekaterina Kramarenko still competing and looking not too shabby. IMO it's weird how Russia's veterans are still a bit better than the new Russian seniors. The newer Russian generation lacks execution or difficulty. The newer seniors can still improve but I find it hard that when gymnasts like Semenova, Afanasyeva, Komova, Grishina, Mustafina etc at age 16 had superior style than the current new Russian generation. The newer girls are not as polished. Now I know that there is a new code but even back then they still had about the same or more difficulty with better execution. I guess we'll have to wait and see how the other girls like Kharenkova or Kuzmina does. I do like Anna Rodionova but she lacks difficulty and this is what I'm saying. Even in the old codes 2008-2012 her older teammates still had more difficulty compared to her and they had good execution. I know that Rodionova has the ff + Arabian combo but that's about it. I feel Russia is either lacking in difficulty but has good execution or has good difficulty but lack execution, for example Shelgunova. She has good difficulty but really lacks execution. She's already 16 and when most of her veteran teammates were at the same age as Shelgunova they were better than her. I'm not hating on Shelgunova but I just want to point out that she needs a lot of work in her execution.

In this beam routine she is going for 6.7. Good difficulty but bad execution. Hopefully she'll improve or take out some skills/connections.

Ro + Layout (E) 0.1CV
Switch leap + Switch leap 1/2 (D) 0.1
Aerial cartwheel + loso (D) 0.2
Front Aerial + Sheep jump (D+D) 0.2
Front tuck + wolf jump (D) 0.1
Full turn
Switch Ring (E)
Dbl Pike (E)

3.5 + 0.7CV = 4.2 + 2.5CR = 6.7 D-Score

Thoughts on 2013 Russian Championships

These are just my opinions and impressions of this meet. I'm basing it on the live feed videos and interviews that I have read. This event was to determine which 4 WAG gymnasts would make it to the European Championships. The full WAG results AA EF.

Grishina, Mustafina, Shelgunova

My impressions of this meet is that it was basically a practice meet for the top gymnasts. They weren't all at their best shape and peak. My theory is that Mustafina worked really hard on her new beam routine and wasn't too worried about getting her other events. With time she will work to get her other events up to par. She was pulled out of day 2 event finals to rest her knee. This is good that Mustafina is gaining more confidence on beam. Her DTY vault is still great as always. Her bar set is still great. Even if it's a watered down routine, in my opinion she doesn't have to worry about upping her difficulty for this year. If she wants to make it to Rio I think she still has time to figure out a new bar routine mid quad. I think it's a smart idea that she is focusing on beam. For floor she might surprise us with some upgrades but for this competition she looked tired and rusty on this event. I don't think she was ready to compete floor at this event and she'll be ready by Europeans. Mustafina is the new Russian all around champion with 59.850.  Russia really needs to keep this girl healthy and safe.

Anastasia Grishina did well enough winning AA 2nd and gold on UB. She does need to get her DTY consistent though. She crashed it in team finals. It seems she is a bit weak in terms of endurance. It's really hard for her to finish up a floor routine without crashing or staying in the corner for a long time. It seems she just needs a lot of repetition and practice to get consistent. Apparently she was feeling fatigue for day 2 event finals so she scratched that finals. I think it's a shame because it seems she is not a strong enough gymnast. Most likely her coaches just wanted to keep her safe and free from injuries as she is most likely to be the 2nd AA for Europeans Championships.

Maria Paseka

Perhaps another reason for letting Grishina off the hook was to give competitive competition for Dementyeva, Afanasyeva and especially for new senior Evgeniya Shelgunova. This was particularly a weak day 2 event finals, well actually day 1 was pretty weak as well. With no Mustafina and Grishina it was a competition to see who would be the other gymnasts to compete with them at Europeans. In day 1 EF, Maria Paseka won vault with a decent enough Amanar. She is in the mix for contending for a European spot. Valentina Rodionenko stated that the team will be Mustafina, Grishina and Paseka. The others must prove themselves worthy, mainly Dementyeva, Afanasyeva and Shelgunova. I still think the team is undecided between Paseka, Afanasyeva and Shelgunova.

On day 2 EF Dementyeva pretty much lost her spot. She fell on her 3/1 dismount off beam and had problems on floor, she botched her Memmel badly and fell. Afanasyeva still proved that she is relevant to team Russia. Like Mustafina, Afanasyeva is doing some interesting new beam combinations. She stayed on beam and looked good enough. Her beam was obviously a work in progress routine. She still did 6 acro skills in her routine so that tells me that this is her chance to just practice and not take this event so seriously. Her routine consisted of Kochetkova + split leap 1/1, truly impressive! Also Onodi + side somi + 1 1/4 spin! The 1 1/4 spin was unexpected for me. This routine is a risky routine but hopefully she'll get it down and figure out which skills she'll use and leave out. I'm guessing she most likely did not get credit for all her connections as her beam score was low 13.775, no D-scores posted. It's encouraging that Afanasyeva is working up the courage to do these combinations.

Goryunova, Afanasyeva, Polyan

Her floor was alright. Could have been much better. She is still the top Russian to have the highest floor difficulty. I think it's a bit sad for Russia but it does give Afanasyeva a better chance at making European and world teams. Her double layout is still sky high and powerful. She had some issues with her difficult whip + whip + 3/1 twists. Her spins are beautiful but at the end of her routine she went out of bounds on her double pike. Actually a lot of the gymnasts went out of bounds on their double pikes, hmm. Afanasyeva scored a low 13.600 and still won! It's great that Afanasyeva is still committed to continuing. It seems she will only get better on beam and floor with more work and time. Oh and she can still do a decent DTY which is good for her and Russia.

New Russian senior Shelgunova may have some bad form and execution faults but she is a steady and consistent competitor. She did a good job of staying on beam and doing an okay floor routine. She won beam with 14.050 and also won 3rd AA. Beam final scores were low but Grishina and Mustafina could have posted huge scores if they competed in EF.

Overall I was impressed most with Mustafina's and Afanasyeva's upgraded beam routines. It's great that Paseka can still do the Amanar, although it still looks scary with bad execution. Russia is not at full strength and they don't have the depth of USA so it's encouraging to see the Russian Olympians competing and getting back into the groove of things. It's early in the season so most of them will hopefully get better when the real competitions are on. I haven't forgotten about the talented Komova who is sitting out due to back injury. Hopefully she will be ready for worlds.

I think the Russian coaches still have a lot of decisions to make for the European team. Some things are still not clear. If they bring Shelgunova she could make AA finals if her other teammates falter but most likely that might not happen and she doesn't have much difficulty to contend for EF medals. So will the Russians just bring her for qualification? Or will they take Afanasyeva who could win a floor medal. Will Paseka still be able to do the Amanar in April for Europeans? As we all know she is not great on any other events. Paseka's bars is okay but if they have Grishina and Mustafina on the team Paseka's bars will not be received well by the judges. So basically she is a one event woman. I think Russia still has some internal competition. Also there are some up and coming world cup events. Afanasyeva and Paseka to the French Cup. Grishina, Shelgunova and Dementyeva to Cottbus Cup. Looks like Aliya will just compete at internal events.

Call me bias but I hope Afanasyeva makes it to European Championships. She missed 3 European Championships in a row, due to injuries or getting back in shape from injuries. Maybe this is her chance again? But on the other hand I feel Afanasyeva has been given many chances and maybe it's best for Russia to give other girls chances. I say maybe Shelgunova does need the experience and Paseka should be rewarded for her Amanar. I think Universiade will be perfect for Afanasyeva. Maybe Afanasyeva missing a lot of Europeans will be a blessing in disguise. Maybe she'll make it to worlds? I hope so.

I'm also glad to see that some other older veterans like Pavlova, Myzdrikova, Kramarenko etc are still competing. Pavlova's regional team won gold :)

*photo credits sportgymrus

Some 2013 Russian Championship Routines

2013 Russian Championships (March 3-7)

Check out the poster for this year's 2013 Russian Championships. Cover girl Aliya Mustafina and cover boy Denis Ablyazin are the featured gymnasts :D.

This competition will start on the same week as American Cup. No Russians will attend the American Cup (March 1-2). This competition will be used to decide the team that will compete at the European Championships (Moscow, April 17-21). Although Valentina Rodionenko has already announced that Mustafina, Afanasyeva and new senior Evgeniya Shelgunova will compete, the last spot has not been named source. The names could change because Russian Championships results will give a better indication of who deserves to go to Europeans. This year's European will only be individual events: AA, VT, UB, BB & FX. No team competition and only four gymnasts can compete for a nation. I'm looking forward to see how Grishina will do, hopefully she will compete this week. There isn't a participation list up yet but most likely all returning Russian Olympians will compete with the exception of Viktoria Komova. Komova is dealing with a back injury and is taking a break.

Schedule: source
March 3rd: WAG QF & AA finals 11AM-2:45PM
                  MAG QF & AA finals 4PM-8:15PM
March 4th: WAG Team Finals 3PM-5:30PM
March 5th: MAG Team Finals 3PM-6PM
March 6th: MAG/WAG EF (FX, PH, SR, VT & UB) 11AM-1PM
March 7th: MAG/WAG EF (VT, PB, HB, BB & FX) 11AM-1PM
-All times are Penza, Russia time.

Quick Thoughts on Massilia Cup

Okay so I've seen some videos. I'm only going to quickly talk about the Chinese and Russians. I was really impressed by the Chinese and very disappointed with the Russians. I'm not really feeling the Russian juniors. The Russians still have time to peak and get in top form but I hate to say it, they are the biggest chuckers. I'm not really impressed by the Russian juniors. They could get better, they need to work on their execution ASAP! I feel like the new up and coming Russians will not be dominate in the next quad. I think most of their seniors will have to stick around for awhile. I could be totally wrong though. China on the other hand looks pretty great. They at least do skills they can handle.

I'm really liking Liu Zhilin's beam combo. Wolf + aerial cartwheel. It's a really creative combination. I don't think anyone else has done that combo before? It's worth nothing in this code but in the new code it will be eligible for the Acro + Dance connection value = 0.1.

 (Source: monigymnastics)

I was not impressed by any of the Russians. Check out new 2013 senior Evgeniya Shelgunova's uneven bars. Oh the horror! She could improve so I guess I'll just have to wait and see how she does next year. This was a massive upgrade routine for Shelgunova.

Viktoria Kuzmina did an interesting bar routine for a Russian. She did an Ono pirouette, she has potential. Hopefully she can maintain the hard pirouette. She reminds me of Kurbatova. Kurbatova couldn't maintain her hard pirouettes so hopefully Kuzmina can. Kuzmina also has the exact same floor music as Kurbatova check it out:

Hopefully the Russians can improve on their beam and floor too. I just think they are rushing things. Maria Kharenkova who will be a senior in 2014 won floor EF. I'm not really feeling it:

Videos via: piibunina  & MademoiselleS13