With a grand total of 119.344 over two days of competition, first-year-senior Angelina Melnikova won a decided victory in the All Around Final at the 2016 Russian Championships, followed by Seda Tutkhalyan (114.933) and Maria Kharenkova (114.832). Coming in fourth through sixth were Daria Skrypnik (114.266), Evgenia Shelgunova (114.032) and Natalya Kapitonova (113.067).
On both days of competition, Melnikova scored above 15 on bars and beam, and on the first day even posted a 15.200 (inflated) on floor exercise. Vault is by far her weakness, but she more than makes up for it on the other three events.
Tutkhalyan performed very admirably, especially on balance beam and floor exercise. On the former, she is ambitious and a delight to watch, and not just in the context of domestic competition. She needed to be consistent on the event that was Russia’s downfall at last year’s World Championships, and she didn’t disappoint here. Bars was her nemesis at this competition, and without serious mistakes she would have closed the gap between herself and Melnikova significantly.
Kharenkova also performed very well, though (for her) it’s clear that a consistent, high-scoring beam routine isn’t what it once was in present company.
Full Results are here, and fuller analysis will come soon.
Article: Sara Dorrien-Christians
Photo: www.sportgymrus.ru