COMPETITION I: Team qualification MEN  / Männer

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SUBDIVISION 1 / GRUPPE 1 (9.00 - 11.00 Uhr)
RSA

CZE

GBR

IND

The PEGASES FESTIVAL HAS BEGUN...

Rotation 1:


Adam Botha - Pegases No. 1
from Pretoria, University Club;
3rd AA nationals

Adam Botha from Pretoria was the first gymnast of the world to vault over the new vaulting table PEGASES. 
He scored 8,450 for a layout Tsukahara (SV 8,9). 


  
The racially mixed South African squad takes the lead with clean vaults  ahead of Great Britain and the Czech Republic. The Indian gymnasts  struggled heavily on rings. They are dead last with  with just over 20 points.


The 1st official PEGASES vault in hisory: Tsukahara (SV 8,9)

Rotation 2:
South Africa stays ahead with stable routines on parallel bars. Great Britain wins ground on floor with acrobatic Kanukai Jackson  and the Czech Republic has strong routines on high bar. The Indians are happy with their vaults but trail behind.

Rotation 3:
The Brits are strong on pommel horse. But their star Kanukai Jackson falls and endangers his qualification to the AA finals. Still, Great Britain remains ahead.The Czechs are second with a great show on floor - not a single fall! South Africa has some weak points on high bar. India has only two gymnasts that really do bars.

Rotation 4:
Two black gymnasts dominate the first group. South African Julian Witbroot shows a high Arabian double front on floor. And Kanukai Jackson who has been at the top for a long time. The vault specialist has improved a lot on the other apparatus in the last months. On rings, he surprised the spectators with a combination of strength elelments. The British gymnasts increase their lead to three points. While only a tenth separates South Africa and the Czech Republic. The fight for second place goes right to the wire.

Rotation 5:
Kanukai Jackson goes into the lead in the individual standings with a handpsring-double front which is not completely successful, but nonethless scores a 9,35. He is followed by his team mates David Eaton and Barry Ciollie. The South Africans are unexpectedly strong on pommels whereas the Czechs have a few breaks on rings. They will need an exceptionally good result on vault to overcome the two points they lag behind South Africa.

Rotation 6:
The Brits were in a league of their own in the first group. They seem happy with their 208,085 pts. We'll have to wait until tomorrow afternoon, when all teams have completed their competition, to see which place they end up in and whether their AA competitors Kanukai Jackson, David Eaton and Barrie Collie make the final.
The Czech Republic wins the dual against South Africa (201,086 : 194,51)  a team which showed weaknesses on rings. India manages 185,51 pts and will most likely be last, like at the 1999 World Champiosnhzips in TIanjin.. 
 

Conclusion:
A good competition in the first round even if none of the teams are contending for a place in the team final. With the exception of the Indians, all team showed a high level of difficulty in their routines, some of which were quite spectacular. South Africa was a big surprise proving that you can catch up with the traditonal gymnastics powerhouses in a short time. The judges were very careful with their marks. They didn't miss even the smallest mistake and deducted ruthlessly. Will they keep this up in the second group when Russia competes?

 Team Standings:        
GROUP 2:
1. GBR 208,085

2. CZE 201,096

3. RSA 194,510
4. IND 185,51    

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