Like last year, Italy is going to test its gymnasts with a few competitions before World Championships in Glasgow. The Golden League was to serve to understand were the girls are and what they’ve developed during this summer. The rules again are not the easiest.
Rules
- The top four teams of this year’s Serie A will compete ( Brixia Brescia – Artistica’81 – Gal Lissone – Ginnastica Giglio);
- Other 8 top italian gymnasts, not part of those teams, were selected and randomly drawn to the 4 teams ( Enus Mariani, Adriana Crisci, Caterina Vitale, Giada Grisetti, Joana Favaretto, Jessica Mattoni, Michela Redemagni, Desireè Carofiglio)
- Every team is counting 5 scores per apparatus
- On Saturday was scheduled the competition counting both as Team and as AA finals, also the top 8 gymnast on every apparatus would qualify for Sunday’s EFs;
- In this competition they’re gonna use the same bonus system they’ve used during the Serie A. Since it’s a little confusing, I’m going to write the scores without the bonus;
Teams
Brixia Brescia: Erika Fasana, Martina Rizzelli, Sofia Busato, Noemi Linari, Lavinia Marongiu, Asia D’Amato
Drawn gymnasts: Joana Favaretto, Caterina Vitale
Artistica’81: Tea Ugrin, Federica Macrì, Elisabetta Bobul, Jodie Padoan
Drawn gymnasts: Desireè Carofiglio, Jessica Mattoni
Gal Lissone: Elisa Meneghini, Carlotta Ferlito, Sophia Campana, Sofia Arosio
Drawn gymnasts: Enus Mariani, Giada Grisetti
Ginnastica Giglio: Lara Mori, Alessia Leolini, Silvia Beccatini, Sofia Caini, Matilde Oliva
Drawn gymnasts: Adriana Crisci, Michela Redemagni
Arianna Rocca was supposed to compete, but sadly a small ankle injury has kept her out and also in jeopardy for a spot on the team for Glasgow.
Vanessa Ferrari decided to sit the competition and Erika Fasana won’t be doing the AA.
Also this will be Lara Mori first competition after her bad leg fracture.
AA and Team competition
After the big break she had last year, Carlotta Ferlito is now back on track. She won the AA with a nice 56.65 and with an exceptionally good beam routine , 15.05. No wobbles or mistakes and a brand new stuck double piked dismount that helps her to not incur in the deductions she had in her previous dismount, a 2.5 twist. She also had a nice floor with a new sassy music, 13.95, and an ok 1 ½ Yurchenko on vault. Sadly bars still are a big problem and will maybe keep her away from best ranking positions internationally, she fell on the Maloney transition and just scored a low 12.70.
Martina Rizzelli was second, even if without the bonus system she would have been in third. On vault her DTY was slightly better than usual, but the legs separation during the pre-flight must really go, 14.45. Martina played safe on bars with her easier routine, not the cleanest and with some flows, 14.30, while she had a very high (for her) floor score, 13.70, despite some lack of artistry, but good tumbling. Beam, as always, was a nightmare for her, but we know she won’t be doing this event at worlds, 12.75.
Finally Enus Mariani has come back from the ankle injury she suffered during the Serie A. While not showing the highest difficulty, Enus was pretty consistent, and her known elegance is always enchanting. A nice FTY with a small step, 13.95, an elegant floor with stuck passes, 13.60, and a solid beam routine, 14.00, made her achieve the bronze medal with a 55.4 score. Her best event, bars, was downgraded, and despite the gorgeous toe point and the new Ricna, she fell in a silly manner on the landing of the double layout dismount, 14.05. Without that fall, she can be Italy’s best chance to gain a huge score on this event.
Lara Mori, absent for the most part of the year due a leg fracture, has come back stronger than ever, with neat performances on all 4 apparatus. She wasn’t supposed to vault, but decided at the last moment to go for a decent FTY, 13.65. She still hasn’t recover all the difficulty she had previously on the other 3 events, but the scores she had, in the low 14s, are a strong bid for a spot on the team going to Glasgow.
Erika Fasana, who’s been living the best year of her career, didn’t want to push too much, so she competed a simple FTY on vault, 14.00, and a downgraded floor routine ( full-in, double layout, double piked). She performed a new Church on bars for a great 14.4, despite some leg issues on her Maloney. She also decided to not compete on beam.
This one wasn’t the best competition for Tea Ugrin, who’s in contention for a spot in world team. She fell on both beam, 12.95, and bars, 13.15. Her floor was a stunning classical piece with some problems on the landings, 13.75 , and her FTY was quite nice in the air, but low on the landing and a little pike down 13.90. She must do something very different at the Italian championships in order to be in contention again.
Elisa Meneghini still hasn’t found the consistency she needs. She suffered a fall on her best event, beam, for a low 12.95 while on vault she had one of the best 1 ½ yurchenko ever, 14.25. Bars, that during this past year were her cursed event, were cleaner than usually, but her difficulty is just too low to be interesting , 13.70.She also hit the double layout on floor that gave her problems earlier for a quite good 14.05.
Alessia Leolini and Adriana Crisci didn’t exactly shine in these competition. The first had disappointing scores in the mid 12s on every apparatus but vault, the latter with scores on the low 13s and not much difficulty.
At the end of the competition, Gal Lissone was surprisingly in first ( 269.200 ), Brixia Brescia in second (268.850), Artistica’81 in third ( 262.550) and Ginnastica Giglio in 4th ( 257.650).
Event Finals
Again I’m posting scores without the bonus. Many top gymnasts decided to withdraw from some finals in order not be too tired.
Vault
In this final the gymnasts had to do just one vault. Sofia Busato and Martina Rizzelli came in first place with both a 14.80, even if in my opinion Sofia’s vault is way better than Martina’s. Sofia has huge amplitude and a good block, while Martina’s one is very messy. The bronze medal went to Elisa Meneghini with a very good yurchenko 1 ½ , 14.45, the main problem she has is the lack of height. Carlotta Ferlito came in 4th place with the same vault as Elisa, but suffered bent legs on the landing. Ugrin, Grisetti and Marongiu all presented a nice FTY in the same score range ( 13.85/13.80) and Caterina Vitale fell on the same vault, 12.35.
Bars
Finally Enus Mariani hit her set for a huge 14.75. She has the sharpness that pretty much all Italians lack on this event. Great lines, high releases and a stunning toe point, just adding some difficulty will bring her great scores internationally. The second place went to another bars specialist, Martina Rizzelli, who decided to perform a slightly more difficult routine connecting the Ricna to the bail to handstand. Not the cleanest execution, but a lovely set, 14.45. Erika Fasana won the bronze medal , 14.05, despite some not so little issues , but she’s proving she’s getting better and better on every apparatus. Lara Mori is really fighting to be in the Glasgow’s team and the 4th place she earned in this final , 13.70, just show how determined she is. Sofia Busato, still a junior, will be a future star for team Italy, I’m sure about this and the 5th place is only the beginning, while Tea Ugrin has regressed a bit since her performance at the European Games. Low D scores and not so great execution put her in 6th place, 13.50, which won’t help her cause. Elisa Meneghini had some major issues , 13.45, and Federica Macrì is probably just doing some “warm-up” routines, 12.95.
Beam
Carlotta Ferlito confirmed the great progress of this year with a good set, 14.70. She lost the front aerial+sheep jump connection, but managed to perform a wobble free set again. Enus Mariani‘s consistency was shown on beam, where with a steady set, 14.00, she went to grab the silver medal. The little fighter, Lara Mori, hit a wonderful set and earned a good 13.80, the same score of Tea Ugrin, but since Lara had 1 tenth bonus to add, the bronze was hers. Lavinia Marongiu was a little tentative and despite a good D score, 5.7, she just got a 13.55, meanwhile Meneghini, Mattoni and Busato all fell.
Floor
Floor was not a good final since all the top gymnasts decided to rest and many reserves got to compete. The little Nome Linari was the winner of the gold medal with a promising routine, 13.55, and behind her, Federica Macrì won the silver medal, 13.30. Veteran Adriana Crisci won the bronze with a quite low score, 12.95, just ahead Jodie Padovan, 13.10.Yes, Jodie had an higher score, but Adriana’s was added 2 tenths due the bonus system.
Leolini, Grisetti, Arosio e Beccatini all scored in the high 12s/mid 12s.
What I can say after this competition is that many gymnasts decided to play it safe and didn’t show the upgrades they’ve been working at all summer. Erika will probably try to add as her last pass on floor the double layout, but I don’t see this happening before Worlds. Carlotta will add some connections on beam and a new pass on floor, Elisa might be ready for the DTY, Martina will probably improve her D score on bars with some connections, Enus should be ready to bring back her inbar stalders and the pak salto to give a big push in the difficulty department.
Even if there will be 2 more competition before worlds, Italian Championships on September 26 and the Novara Cup on October 10 ( with Romania, Belgium and Spain), I think the team for Glasgow will be selected between Ferrari, Fasana, Ferlito, Meneghini, Rizzelli, Mori, Mariani and Ugrin. Stay tuned!
Results
AA results: http://dati.federginnastica.it/articoli/allegato_8931.pdf
Team results: http://dati.federginnastica.it/articoli/allegato_8932.pdf
EF results: http://dati.federginnastica.it/articoli/allegato_8935.pdf
Videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GaiaN70/videos and here:https://www.youtube.com/user/RichardMars111/
Article by: Giuly Holzer
Photo cover bu Filippo Tomasi (source)