2018 Euros started yesterday in Glasgow with the seniors team qualification. What a day! First, a big thank you to the media present in the venue, who despite a poor WiFi connection did their best to keep us updated via Twitter. We are also grateful to fans that recorded videos and uploaded them very quickly on Twitter and Youtube. It looks like UEG were not able to stream in any way because the TV rights were sold to a French television (and possibly to Flo, their page has been changing from 2 Aug to 3 Aug to 4 Aug in the last 24 hours) who pulled out at the last minute leaving us with no video coverage of the entire qualifications.
Then there was the official scoring system of the European Games that could not handle the demands of a LIVE qualifications feed and was either updating the scores very late or crashing, depending on the subdivision. What a disappointment. The continental organisations and the FIG need to come together and sort this out. These resources are expensive but do not underestimate the lengths gymnastics fans go for their sport. We are extremely loyal too (until you take our live updates away from us).
On to gymnastics and a wonderfully bizarre qualifying round.
France demonstrated that they are the team to beat after an amazing day on all four events. Their star, Melanie de Jesus Dos Santos, also won the unofficial all around highest score. They started on on bars with great work from Charpy and a 13.900, followed by a massive 14.166 for Juliette Bossu and a hit routine for Melanie DJDS , with a massive dismount (full twisting double layout) for 13.700. On beam Boyer put her hand on the apparatus, but still scored a 13.366 , while Melanie scored a 13.300, Charpy scored a 13.166. On floor Melanie de Jesus dos Santos impressed with her acrobatic ability and her artistry for a 13.733. Colline Devillard hit her Rudi on vault and the team finished 1st with a total of 164.063
For Russia the day can be considered a success after taking 2nd place with a total of 161.462. There were mistakes, but even when the falls occurred the routines were carried on bravely, minimizing the impact as much as possible. They started on beam with a fall from Alekseeva on her series of bhs-layout; Simakova also fell on her flight series 12.333; Melnikova up last hit her routine saving Russia from a not so great start (12.766). Akhaimova fell on floor, Angelina Melnikova hit her routine, charming the audience with her Despasito (?) mix – full twisting double layout, double layout (step oob), punch front to double back tuck and double back pike. On vault Simakova scored a 14.333 for her Rudi on the first vault (big step) and a FTY as second vault. Lilia Akhaimova scored a 14.5 for her first vault. They finished with a clean bars rotation with scores in the high 13’s low 14s from Alekseeva, Melnikova and (even) Perebinosova.
Belgium finished third as a team (159.331) despite travelling to Glasgow with only 4 gymnasts. But when the 4 are ready and no unfortunate injuries occur, wonderful things happen. They were impressive on beam with Brassart and Derwael scoring in the 13s. They had a clean floor rotation topped by Axelle Kinckaert’s 13.400 (some uncontrolled landings but good difficulty and interesting choreo). They had a clean vault rotation with scores in the mid 13s. On bars Nina had a minor hiccup but still managed to pull one of the best routine of the day with a 14.4, while Deriks and Kinckaert hit routines in the low 13s. Despite the impressive team finish there were talks of pulling out of the team final. Coach Heuls said that the main concern is floor and mainly not pushing Nina too far as the preparation for Worlds is the top priority at this point.
Great Britain were 4th in qualifications, with 158.795 points. They started on floor with a very unexpected 13.200 from Georgia Mae Fenton, Kelly Simm and Alice Kinsella also scored well with 12.933 and 12.900. On vault Lucy Stanhope did a DTY for the top score of the team on this event of 14.266. Lucy Stanhope opened bars with a 13.066. Kelly Simm had a good set for a 13.866; Georgie-Mae Fenton had to stop after her pike Tkachev release but did not peel off, still only earning a 12.666.
The Netherlands placed 5th in qualifications with a total of 158.529. They started the competition on floor with hit routines from van Pol and Volleman. Celine van Gerner delivered one of the highlights of the subdivision with her floor routine for a good score of 13.066. On vault Caroline Visser did an FTY (13.633), van Pol did an Yurchenko 1 1/2 for 13.800 while Volleman was the biggest earner with 14.233 for her DTY. The bars rotation was probably the best for the Dutch gymnasts with scores in the mid 13s across the board. On beam Wevers and a routine with a few wobbles but still a good score of 13.366.
Hungary had the perfect qualifying round and they placed 6th with 154.130. On beam, floor and bars were very consistent with scores in the mid to high 12s. On vault Boglarka Devai hit her Cheng for a 14.8, the highest score of the team yesterday.
Another super-consistent team that delivered a surprise 7th place performance was Spain. They had a total of 153.430. Ana Perez was the biggest earner for Spain with routines in the mid 13s (except for floor). They also had a fantastic beam rotation with hit routines from Bonilla, Perez and Rodtriguez (they were 3rd as a team on this event!).
Ukraine really is back! They placed 8th in qualifications with a total of 153.163. Diana Varinska was the gymnast that contributed the most (5th in the unofficial AA) with a 13.8 on bars and solid routines on beam and floor.
Italy was only 9th with 152.763 due to low overall difficulty. Unfortunately Sofia Busato crashed her DTY and got injured. Another fall came on beam from Basile. Except for Sofia Busato’s injury, it was not a bard day for Italy, just the lack of difficulty had the biggest impact on the team placement.
Germany placed 10th with 150.897 points. They had two good events, 5th team overall on bars and floor. But they had a catastrophic beam rotation with multiple falls from two gymnasts, Griesser and Voss.
Switzerland placed 11th with 149.663 which is a good score and overall placement given that Giulia Steingruber is injured and could not compete here. They had clean beam and floor rotations with scores in the mid 12s. Kaeslin and Meier competed on all four events and earned the 12th and 13th all around total scores on the day, which is a testament to the consistency that carried the team.
Romania had a disastrous qualifying round with major mistakes on all bars and beam routines. They earned a total of 147.663 for 12th place. They started vault well with FTYs from Iacob and Ivanus and a good DTY from Golgota. The momentum was lost as soon as the bars rotation started, with a fall from Iacob and a 10.700. Only Golgota had some good events for Romania placing 9th overall in the unofficial all around.
Here are all the full results:
Article: Bea Gheorghisor
Photo Cover: Thomas Schreyer for UEG