The 2018 Russian Championships are taking place between the 18th and the 22nd of April in Kazan.
Angelina Melnikova had a fantastic first day of competition finishing first with 57.732 while on the 2nd day she was rewarded with a total of 55.765. She had good Yurchenko double fulls both days and amazing bars routines (still, with which it will be easy to go unnoticed in this field). On beam and floor she had mostly clean routines on the first day and had some big breaks on the second day. Still 2 days in a row without a fall it’s an impressive achievement for Angelina who is known for her past struggles to remain consistent from one meet to the next.
Day 1 VT 14.633 UB 14.666 BB 14.033 FX 14.400 Total 57.732
Day 2 VT 14.466 UB 14.433 BB 13.300 FX 13.566 Total 55.765
Angelina Simakova placed second after two similar days of competition: a total of 55.432 the first day and 54.665 the second day. She had falls on beam on both days. She impressed on vault (Rudi) and presented beautiful floor routines.
Day 1 VT 14.833 UB 13.900 BB 12.866 FX 13.833 Total 55.432
Day 2 VT 14.833 UB 13.900 BB 12.866 FX 13.833 Total 55.432
Viktoria Komova was third after two days of competition where she managed to attain her personal objectives (as coach Grebyonkin said). She had beautiful vaults (Yurchenko double full), impressed with her bars form, as always. Vika had pretty standard beam routines for her (fall on standing Arabian on the first day). She had some impressive double back tuck dismounts on beam and strong floor tumbling if not always perfectly controlled:
Day 1 VT 14.366 UB 14.533 BB 12.966 FX 12.500 Total 54.365
Day 2 VT 14.400 UB 13.933 BB 13.366 FX 12.066 Total 53.765
Aliya Mustafina placed 4th only .1 behind Komova and just missing out on a place on the podium at her first competition since the 2016 Rio Olympics. What a couple of days she has had! She has her Yurchenko 2/1 back (although she missed it on the 2nd day), on bars she looks fantastic with perfect releases and handstands in pirouettes. The only aspect betraying the early stages of her preparation is the absence of the inbars and of the Mustafina dismount. On beam there is no acro series to speak of but she fought for each element. On floor she already has the Arabian back while her spins are to die for.
Day 1 VT 14.266 UB 14.500 BB 13.433 FX 13.233 Total 55.432
Day 2 VT 12.866 UB 14.100 BB 13.200 FX 12.900 Total 53.066
Uliana Perebinosova finished 5th She had a better 1st day with good bars and floor routines, while on the 2nd days she had noticeable deductions on all events, including a mysterious crash on the Yurchenko full vault.
Day 1 VT 13.766 UB 14.466 BB 12.233 FX 13.500 Total 53.965
Day 2 VT 12.866 UB 14.100 BB 13.200 FX 12.900 Total 53.066
Anastasia Iliankova was 6th after a disappointing performance. I believe the small mistakes from day 1 affected her greatly; as the pressure increased so did her mistakes. In the 2nd day she bailed on the Ejova transition on bars and had an extremely wobbly beam routine:
Day 1 VT 13.700 UB 14.366 BB 13.166 FX 13.066 Total 54.298
Day 2 VT 13.633 UB 13.433 BB 12.466 FX 12.400 Total 51.932
Irina Alexeeva finished 7th after a first day with good floor and bars routines and a 2nd day with the highest balance beam score. Irina trains in the US at WOGA but has maintained her Russian citizenship and never competed internationally, having the possibility to compete for the country where she was born if given the opportunity. At the 2018 Russian Championships she proved she could be valuable for the team but she did not show the much needed consistency.
Day 1 VT 13.800 UB 14.066 BB 12.100 FX 13.766 Total 53.732
Day 2 VT 13.733 UB 12.433 BB 13.400 FX 12.833 Total 52.399
Daria Elizarova finished 8th after demonstrating consistency on vault and floor and a reliable although not very difficult beam routine.
Day 1 VT 13.766 UB 12.566 BB 12.933 FX 13.700 Total 52.965
Day 2 VT 13.666 UB 12.100 BB 12.966 FX 13.566 Total 52.298
Full results after 2 days
Source for cover photo