update: 07-April-2002

Rushmoor/Great Britain

Spain topped Great Britain

- GBR v ESP junior teams in Rushmoor -

 
Juniors, Team results
ESP Jun 25.913 24.350 22.675 25.200 98.138
GB Jun 25.538 23.250 23.525 24.650 96.963
Name
Lenika de Simone 8.913 8.475 8.725 8.200 34.313 (1)
Patricia Moreno 8.850 7.925 7.250 8.850 32.875 (3)
Tania Gener 8.700 7.550 7.350 8.325 31.925
Melodie Pulgarin 8.150 7.950 6.700 8.150 30.950
Sara Alcala 0.000 7.850 0.000 0.000 7.850
Name
Vanessa Hobbs 8.750 7.050 8.325 8.800 32.925 (2)
Ashtone Johnston 8.375 7.975 8.150 8.200 32.700 (4)
Melany Roberts 8.175 7.975 7.350 8.250 31.750
Helen Gallashan 8.413 7.300 8.025 7.950 31.688
Lamara Robb 8.450 7.375 6.950 7.900 30.675

(reported by GYMmedia correspondent York Smith):
Not a great day for either team, nor for those gymnasts competing in the senior control comp or as reserves for the juniors. Katy Lennon's ankle problem has gotten worse, resulting in very watered down tumbling. Holly Murdock hurt her back in warm ups and may have to miss europeans (I really really hope not). Beth Tweddle and Rebecca Owen both missed vault and Beth missed bars to rest their injuries. Caroline Gilbert and Jenna Sanders have retired.

Spain:
Started on beam with fall after fall and some very poor form from Tania Gener in particular. She had very bent legs in her layout mount and her layout on the beam. Melodie Pulargin did a cool tuck jump 1 1/2 and a huge double back dismount. The only clean routine was from Lenika de Simone for an 8.725, she mounted with a nice layout and dismount with a great double twisting gainer. Team total - 22.675

GBR started on floor, much better than at the trials last week. Vanessa Hobbs was best with a nailed routine for 8.8 including a huge and nailed arabian double, front to double pike and double twisting front. Ashtone landed all her tumbles, but tucked the front out of her 2 1/2 twist. Helen Galashan had the best line and the best choreography, although I quite liked Nessa's Phantom routine. Total- 24.650

Spain on floor. I actually like this team's choreography a lot more than I expected. I find their seniors too frantic and busy, but there were nice routines from Patricia Moreno and Tania Gener. Patricia was robbed... 8.85, disgusting. She tumbled (with pretty solid landings) whip whip flic flic full-in, 3 1/2 twist, 2 1/2 punch front layout, triple twist. And she had good dance and a couple of decent jumps. She should have scored at least a 9.3 for a routine of that quality. Melodie touched down on her full-in and under-twisted her front 2 1/2 twist. Lenika de Simone reminds me of Marta Cusido in her body type and her twisting style.
Total- 25.2

GBR - vault
Vanessa's hristakieva was better this week, two long, high vaults for 8.75. Ashtone will hopefully twist her yurchenko at europeans, but did a nice straight one here. Total - 25.538

Spain - vault
They defintely do spanish vault. I wouldn't say the girls were ready for the kind of vaults they were doing. Only one Spanish girl was taller than any members of the british team, and Patricia and Tania were slightly on the 'too thin' side. Melodie faced two very scary DTYs for 8.150 (I'm very dubious that her feet landed before her face on the second one). All the others did quite flat yurchenko full-on pike offs. Not very good twists on, the highest scoring one was Lenika's which got a 8.913 average. Total- 25.913 less than .4 ahead of GB despite a .9 cushion in start values.

GBR bars
Gotta love british judges stingy marking. Ashtone Johnstone was best on bars. She made no mistakes today, geinger, ono linked to a healy but only a double tuck dismount. Mel Roberts equalled her with a giant full to geinger and an undershoot to HS. Neither broke 8 with 7.975 each. total - 23.250

Spain bars -
Not the best bars team either. Only one 8+ score, from Lenkia de Simone. Every geinger the team did was somewhat poor technique, nothing like as crisp as the seniors. There were also some very strangely shaped paks. Tania Gener showed a nice stalder full on the low bar to a stalder shoot, but they whole team struggled with the shoot moves, most muscling their upstarts from a dead hang. Total- 24.35

GBR beam-
Vanessa Hobbs was great on beam, with a D and a C+C combo which weren't there last week! She could be great on this piece if she works at it. She used a switch side leap to shushunova 1/2, switch leap to chen, flic layout, free walkover and a double twist dismount. She has also had a side somie, arabian, front somie and a popa on the side in her routine. 8.325. Ashtone was solid, but a little slow in a couple of connections for 8.150. Helen Galashan had a great line a landed a nice 2 1/2 dismount for 8.025. Total- 23.525

The actual totals, had they taken the best 3 scores, rather than the ones from the nominated gymnasts would have been slightly higher, GB only .9 rather than 1.1 behind Spain, GBR 98.688. ESP 99.513.

Others:
Becky Owen did a nice bars for a nasty score. She was also very very stable on beam for an 8.8, she missed her tuck back after her w-jump full and probably didn't get the bonus for the chen after her front, but was good nonetheless. On floor she landed a her tumbles well for a 9.025. Beth Tweddle hit beam, strange but true
She was much more stable on her jumps and leaps. Bit of a weird landing from her 2 1/2 twist dismount though. On floor she really needs to stick a punch front after her double arabian, as she rebounded out of the floor from it. She has a nice new middle-eastern style routine, which I prefer to her last one. Sam Bayley was there watching with her dad and her coach, she is on the roster on the Europeans website, so I hope she goes. GBR would probably have been closer to or beaten Spain with her SV firepower. Nicola Willis was also there watching and seemed in pretty good spirits. Holly was a great supporter for the team, making a lot of noise for the other girls.

On a side note, the fab Eva Rueda was a judge for the Spanish delegation. I watched 89 worlds last week so it was a cool coincidence.

 (from our GYMmedia correspondent York Smith)

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