Switzerland vs Romania vs Germany

In the friendly match hosted by Switzerland -Obergiggenthal, the three teams lined-up six gymnasts, five gymnasts competed per apparatus, with the top four scores going towards the team total. When a team chose to, they were allowed to have a 6th gymnast, but the score was automatically removed (thus the 0’s we see in the official results).

Germany had a good overall meet, to outscore Romania by almost a point. It is a very surprising result since only a few months ago, at Euros in Sofia,  Romania won the team event, with Germany placing outside the podium (4th). But at Obersiggenthal, the Germans distanced themselves right from the start, after an amazing bars rotation. Kim Bui had the cleanest routine of the day with decent difficulty too (14.6/6.1), Lisa Hill had some execution errors but presented the most difficult routine on the event (14.6/6.5) while Sophie Scheder had a visible break but stayed on and was very tidy everywhere else (14.15/5.9). Elisabth Seitz, whose participation at the 2014 Worlds is still unsure due to a recent injury, only competed on bars and although she did not have her best routine she still managed a score in the high 13.s (13.95/6.0).

Thus Germany finished the first rotation with 57.33. Compare this to Romania’s 50.0 total on the bars (which was their 2nd rotation) and you’ll see that the seven points advantage Germany won here was decisive.

Vault was also a good apparatus for the although not on par in terms of difficulty with their aforementioned pet-event. On beam there were many falls (I believe only Pauline Schafer stayed on – 14.25/5.6). On floor, Kim Bui brought their highest score after a stunning performance (14.45/5.9) while Schafer also managed to deliver, with a 13.9/5.7  routine. This will remain a relatively week event for Germany and it’s where Seitz’s absence hurts the most. Because while on bars they are able to still find 3-4 routines capable to score in the 14s, on floor neither Leah Griesser nor Sophie Scheder are at Seitz’s level, for the moment.

Romania started the meet on vault with two very good DTYs (Larisa Iordache 14.8/5.8 and Ana maria Ocolisan 14.6/5.8). Both Silvia Sarzu and Stefania Stanila did FTYs, although both are capable of more difficult vaults. As I mentioned above, the next was a particularly weak bars rotation for Romania: Stefania Stanila missed some handstands and only received a 12.95 for her routine (she was in mid 13s at Euros), then Ana Maria Ocolisan and better execution and flow overall but flew too far to be able to catch the bar on a straddle Jaeger  (chapeau for the catch to coach Lucian Sandu, by the way) she then re-did the release and was successful. Larisa Iordache  managed a good routine for a 14.45/6.0; she missed a connection and lost .2 in D score. Finally Paula Tudorache had a routine she will want to forget quickly, stopping several times and finally going down on a transition, for a score of only 10.2.

Beam went much better although not error free: Stanila stayed on on the full tuck and managed a difficulty score of 6.0 but fell on a side aerial (13.6), Andreea Munteanu was very consistent, her only major deduction coming on the triple full dismount (14.45/6/0); Larisa Iordache, who did not have the best warm-up on the event (the full tuck was headcasey), managed a fantastic routine during the competition although “only” out of 6.3 difficulty. Ocolisan wobbled her way through the routine but managed to stay on despite the troubles (13.2/5.2); while Tudorache fell on her unusual but very pretty acro series side aerial – flick. It was not a good day for Paula.

She redeemed herself to some extent on floor, after hitting all her passes and managing a beautiful engaging routine, although with less difficulty compared to her team mates (13.2/5.0).   Stefania Stanila’s routine was also well received, she has new music this season, which suits her very well and has also upgraded her difficulty a little bit compared to last year (5.6 now). Speaking of new music, so does Andreea Munteanu; she hit her routine in Obersiggenthal and seems to be in much better control of her passes compared to last spring.

Larisa Iordache had the highlight routine of the Romanians, dancing her heart out in the usual manner. She presented a less difficult routine (full in pike, full in tuck, triple turn, triple full, double pike) for a 14.6/5.7.

Team Switzerland finished third, seven points behind Romania. Their best rotations were bars and vault, with total in the 54’s and the weakest was floor (50.96).

Giulia Steingruber looks to be in optimum shape for the upcoming World Championships, with scores around the 14 mark on all four events: she only did a FTY on vault but it was extremely ample and well executed, for a 14.45/5.0, on bars she hit a difficult routine (13.9/5.9); on beam too she was very focused sticking cold the layout to two feet (14.25/5.9); while on floor she looked dynamic and ready – full in, double layout (stuck), double pike, double tuck (14.1/5.7).

Other highlights from the Swiss were Ilaria Kaslin’s beam and bars – she might be lacking a bit in difficulty but she makes up and then more with her toe point and fluidity; Jessica Diacci also had a very good beam routine, cheered enthusiastically by her team.

Here are the results:

Article by: Bea Gheorghisor

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