23rd European Championships begins and the Final competitions on Saturday are already sold out

The Netherlands played a magnificent host in a spectacular Opening Ceremony of the 23rd European Acrobatics Championships for Seniors, the 7th European Championships for Juniors plus the 3rd European Age Group Games. Lasers, Acrobats, Tumblers and Artistic gymnasts produced a dynamic ceremony as acrobats from 22 Federations prepared to seize their chance of European Gold. Already the Finals and week long tickets are sold out, and as the town of s’Hertogenbosch hosts their first European Championships. Almost 400 acrobats including some exciting new partnerships are set to battle for the European crowns from October 21 to 28.

Get set for an exciting week of top Acrobatics and some surprises too as the Russians and GB dominated the first day’s Qualifying Events.

An imaginitive program sees the Age Group competitions take place each morning, with the juniors in the afternoon, and the spectacular Senior Events are in the evening. Although the final individual competitions on Saturday, October 27 are already sold out, there are still limited tickets for the European Team Championships on Friday, October 26. Don’t miss your chance to see the best Acrobats in Europe compete for Gold and grab your tickets now at  www.ecacro2007.com

Although many of the current Champions will not be present, top International Acrobats include the reigning World Champions Alina Yushko and Ekaterina Murashko from BLR who won bronze at European’s last year, will be determined to add the European Title. And reigning World Champions in Men’s Pairs Sergei Popov and Nikolai Sherbak from Ukraine who will also defend their European Titles. The Russian favourites Ekaterina Loginova and Ekaterina Stroynova won the 2004 World Title and the 2003 European Titles, and 4 years on, they will battle to reclaim the European crowns with new partner Anastasia Christyyakova in the Women’s Groups Event. The 2006 European Champions in Mixed Pairs Maria Kovtun and Anton Glazkov will also aim to repeat their success, but face a strong challenge. Our own fantastic acrobatics from Great Britain are sure to mount a strong challenge and will hope to bring European glory back to the U.K. as acrobatics popularity continues to grow with many competitors appearing in their first European Championships. 

A total of 63 pairs and groups will compete in the Age Group category, with 87 pairs and groups in the junior and senior events. The powerhouse of World Acrobatics, Russia who have won the Team Titles in the last two years will present some exciting new partnerships as they bid for a hat trick of European Gold. But watch for Belarus and Ukraine, who won Silver and Bronze in 2006 who will also be strong contenders.

FANTASTIC  RESULTS FOR GREAT BRITAIN IN EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS IST DAY’S QUALIFICATIONS!

Programme:

Tuesday, 23 October: Training and opening ceremony

Wednesday, 24 October:

09.30-13.35 - qualifications age groups

14.30-18.30 - qualifications Juniors

19.00-21.40 - qualifications Seniors

Thursday, 25 October:

09.30-13.45 - continuation and end of the qualification of the age groups

14.30-18.00 - continuation and end of the qualifications Juniors

19.00-21.45 – continuation and end of the qualifications Seniors

Friday, 26 October :

11.00-15.15 - Team Finals Juniors + award ceremony

16.30-19.30 - Team Finals Seniors + award ceremony

Saturday, 27 October:

09.30-12.30 - Finals per discipline, age groups + award ceremony

13.30-16.15 - Finals per discipline, Juniors + award ceremony

17.00-19.30 - Finals per discipline Seniors + award ceremony

20.00 - closing ceremony and official evening

1ST DAY QUALIFICATIONS RESULTS NOW HERE -  GO GREAT BRITAIN!  

After the first day’s qualifying round Great Britain produced some fantistic performances. Russia leads in all 5 disciplines in the Age Group Games after the first day’s qualifying rounds, but Great Britain are in 2nd place in 4 of the Events, and 3rd in Men’s Pairs. The second day of Qualifications continues tomorrow, and we will bring you all the news and results from the Championships - Good luck to all the British competitors from Acro fans all over the U.K and from us all at Gymnastics Online - Go GB! 

AGG QUALIFICATIONS - FIRST DAY

WP - 2nd & 3rd - 2nd Jasmine Danby & Hannah BevEns GB 28.500, 3rd Louise Lee & Hannah Johnstone GB 28.300, 1st Russia 28.550 Balance 
MxP - 2nd & 4th - 2nd Kaman Mitchell & Tasha Lawrence GB 28.600, 4th Chris Cranfield & Ellanor Stewart - Croker GB 28.100, 1st Russia Pair 1 28.950, 3rd Russia Pair 2 28.200 - Dynamic  
MP - 3rd & 7th - 3rd Lee Baker & Kieran Baker GB 28.000, 7th Alex Houston & Tim Pritchard GB 25.100, 1st Russia Pair 1 28.700, 2nd Russia Pair 2 28.500 Balance
MG - 2nd & 5th - 2nd Matthew Evison, Jonathan Bell, Reece Stockport & Joseph Dean GB 27.900, 5th Chris Rogers, Oliver Wright, Chester Wilmott & Jack Pothecary GB 27.65, 1st Russia Group 1 28.200, 3rd Russia Group 2 27.850. - Balance 
WG - 2nd & 3rd - 2nd Joanne White, Amber Ballantyne-Styles & Abigail Collins GB 28.350, 3rd Catherine Aitchison, Roseanna Green & Eleanor Newitt GB 28.300, 1st Russia 28.650 - Dynamic 



JUNIOR QUALIFICATIONS - FIRST DAY

A major surprise in the Junior Mixed Pairs as the Russian pair of Alexey Bogomolov and Anna Karpunina made a number of uncharacteristic errors to trail in 8th position with 25.600 in their Dynamic. Spelthorne’s James Palmer and Georgia Sturt produced an outstanding performance to score 28.600 to tie with the Belgian Mixed Pair. Elsewhere Liam & John stand in 2nd position after a fine performance was rewarded with 28.60, only 0.2 behind the Russian Pair, whilst Harefield’s Jess, Ciara and Katie produced a strong routine in their Dynamic to score 28.550, with only 0.15 separating the first 3 Groups.

WP 8th Maiken Thorne & Mollie Grehan GB 27.300, 1st  Anastasia Chenkova & Anastasia Domakhina ( RUS) 28.400, 2nd Inna Shchuka & Marharyta Bartashevich ( BLR) 28.350, 3rd Janina Hiller & Sophia Muller  (GER) 28.250  -
MP 2nd Liam Durbridge & Jonathan Stranks GB 28.600, 1st Pavel Popov & Evgeny Ignatyev ( RUS) 28.80, 3rd Ukraine 28.250 - Balance
MXP Joint 1st James Palmer & Georgia Sturt GB 28.600, and Julie Val Gelder & Sam Pauwels ( Belgium ) 28.600, 3rd Katharina Turnwald & Sascha Kohn ( Germany ) 27.900 Dynamic
WG 3rd Jessica Dangerfield, Ciara McGrath & Katherine Smith GB 28.550, 1st Russia 28.800, 2nd Belarus 28.600 - Dynamic.  
MG 5th Richard Hurst, Simon Peart, Josh Robinson & Jesse Heskett GB 27.400, 1st Russia 28.450, Joint 2nd Bulgaria and Ukraine 28.250 - Balance

SENIOR QUALIFICATIONS - FIRST DAY

Four more 1st places in the first day’s Qualifications for Russia, but some excellent performances from the GB senior acrobats saw three 2nd places plus two 3rd positions and give GB a fantastic opening day in our bid for European Senior Titles.

WP 2nd - Elizabeth Oliver and Katie Axten GB 28.290, 1st Raushaniya Khakimova & Alena Ploskova ( Russia ) 28.400, 3rd Anastasiya Lomachenko & Olena Zhornyak ( UKR) 28.200 - Dynamic 
MP 3rd - Mark Fyson and Chris Jones GB 28.360. Ist Konstantin Pilipchuk and Alexey Dudchenko ( Russia) 28.977, 2nd Sergey Popov and Mykota Shcherbak (UKR) 28.751 - Balance
MxP 3rd Nick Illingworth & Sarah Cameron GB 28.180, 1st Maria Kovtun & Anton Glazkov ( RUS)  28.851, 2nd Alena Burlachenko & Sergey Zabiyaka ( UKR) 28.359 - Dynamic   
WG 2nd Emily Grove, Casey Morrison & Victoria Lamkin GB 28.302, 1st Olga Vorchuk, Anna Gorbatenko & Olena Nepytaeva ( UKR) 28.407, 3rd Belgium 28.270 - Balance
MG 2nd - Sam Sturt, Adam McAssey, Adam Buckingham and Alex Uttley GB 28.220, 1st  Russia 28.355, 3rd Ukraine 28.211 - Balance

Don’t miss more fantastic photos plus all the latest news and results from the European Acrobatics Championships all this week here on Gymnastics Online. 

MORE FANTASTIC PHOTOS NOW HERE!

DAY 2 OF QUALIFICATIONS AND ANOTHER  TREMENDOUS PERFORMANCE FROM THE GB TEAM!

Great Britain wins Junior Team Silver at Europeans

Great Britain’s acrobatic gymnasts and their coaches are celebrating in s’Hertogenbosch, Netherlands after their Junior team won Silver in the European team Championships. The British team, consisting of Men’s Pair Liam Durbidge and Jonathan Stranks (Spelthorne), Women’s Group Ciara McGrath, Jessica Dangerfield and Katie Smith (Harefield) and James Palmer and Georgia Sturt (Spelthorne), scored 55 points, ahead of Ukraine on 52 and behind Russia on 60. Jonathan and Liam scored 84.9 over their three routines, Ciara, Jessica and Katie scored 85.5 and James and Georgia, 85.35.

In the Women’s Pairs, the British duo of Maiken Thorne and Mollie Grehan scored 27.9 to finish fifth in their Combined routine and fifth overall. They performed a well-controlled Rodochler to handstand with plenty of flight. Maiken and Mollie have consistently improved their scores over every routine and must be confident of a good score in Saturday’s individual final. Ahead of them in fourth place was the experienced French pair of Olivia Bardy and Tiffany Junqua on 27.65; third was the German pair whom Maiken and Millie beat in Bristol  earlier this year, Janina Hiller and Sophia Müller on 28.0; second the Belarus girls, Inna Shchuka and Marharyta Bartashevich on 28.05, but the overall winners with 28.35 were the Russian gymnasts, Anastasia Chenkova and Anastasia Domakhina. They performed a perfect needlescale to handstand and delighted the crowd with their front angel and one-and-a-half twists to wrap.

In Junior Women’s Groups, the British trio of Ciara McGrath, Jessica Dangerfield and Katie Smith showed their experience and high calibre with an excellent full-in backout to begin the routine and Katie’s absolutely flat planche on tipi. They scored 28.45 to hold on to their third place ahead of talented trios from Ukraine and Belgium. Second was the Belarus trio on 28.7 but the overall winners were the Russians, Aleksandra Soboleva, Anna Marina and Elena Levkina with a stunning score of 28.85. They showed  rock solid balances, plenty of flight and an excellent crocodile planche on a middle in splits with no hands.

In Junior Men’s Groups, the British four of Richard Hurst, Simon Peart, Josh Robinson and Jesse Heskett did  particularly well in their excellent and very straight double straight somersault and their double tuck recatch, to score 27.25 overall in their first international. The winners were the Russian group of Vitaly Alexeev, Nikolay Nikitin, Dmitry Levkovich and Dmitry Parfenov with 28.3.

In Junior Mixed Pairs, the British pair of James Palmer and Georgia Sturt’s romantic routine to the music of Schindler’s List wowed the crowd as much as their perfectly-controlled skills. Particularly memorable were their over the head to wrap, double tuck off, and their double straddle somersault to floor. They scored 28.45 with a massive 9.5 for Execution and 8.95 for artistry. The winners were the Belgian pair Julie van Gelder and Sam Pauwels, with a dramatic-comic and very energetic routine, showing still balances and an excellent full-in tuck, giving a well-deserved score of 28.75 including 9.3 for artistry, one of the highest artistry marks in the competition.

The British Junior Men’s Pair of Liam Durbidge and Jonathan Stranks, winners in last year’s International Age Group Games in Portugal, had to be content with third place this year on a score of 28.45, which included an Execution score of 9.5, showing the calibre of the competition in this event. Their double straight got the crowds clapping and their characteristic swing round in planche during the dance also delighted.  Winners were again a Russian partnership, Pavel Popov and Evgeny Ignatyev, with a score of 28.8. Beginning their routine with a spectacular round off full twist to handstand, they were very well-matched, almost the same height. Another round off, this time with tuck back to shoulders, added to the excitement of their routine.

Great Britain can be proud of their Junior gymnasts, who have improved on their European team Bronze in Poland last year and now have only the Russians to beat!

British Seniors Win European Silver

Great Britain’s acrobatic gymnastics community now has even more reason to celebrate after a second European Team Silver medal was awarded to the GB Team in s’Hertogenbosch on Friday October 26^th. Competing in the Acrobatics disciplines of Women’s Groups, Men’s Pairs and Men’s Groups, the British gymnasts scored 30, ahead of Ukraine’s 29 and coming in after Russia on 36. The British team was Casey Morrison, Emily Grove and Victoria Lamkin (Spelthorne), Chris Jones and Mark Fyson (Deerness Valley) and Alex Uttley, Adam Buckingham, Adam McAssey and Sam Sturt (Spelthorne).

Women’s Group Casey Morrison, Emily Grove and Victoria Lamkin (Spelthorne) showed perfect control in their planche on stack/ring on stack/Mexican combination, then with a planche on tipi to low Mexican to Mexican. Their score of 28.206 included difficulty of 10.006 and an execution score of 9.25.

In this competition the Russian trio did not win, because despite their high skills, they were heavily penalised by one whole point for the height of their top, and also lost for the same reason in Mass and Maturity, ending with an artistry mark of 8.85.

The winners were the Ukrainian trio of Olga Vorchuk, Anna Gorbatenko and Olena Nepytaeva with a total score of 28.416 in Combined.

Men’s Pair Chris Jones and Mark Fyson, in an aggressive routine style, performed an early round off twist to hands and an excellent crocodile planche  , to feet together flag. Their double twist gainer to floor was strong and sure, showing their calibre as a top-class experienced pair and giving them third place.

The winning Men’s Pair from Russia, Konstantin Pilipchuk and Alexey Dudchenko, scored 28.461 in their combined routine with 9.3 in Execution including a double straight and a completely still balance of straight one-handed handstand, to straddle, to flag legs together.

Men’s Group Alex Uttley, Adam Buckingham, Adam McAssey and Sam Sturt were competing their first international as a new Senior partnership with full difficulty. They began with an excellent full-in straight to recatch and their planche on stack on bridge was also strong and still. They finished with a score of 28.152 including execution of 9.2, third place over the three routines but second in Combined.

The winning Men’s Group overall from Russia, Ruslan Uryasiev, Sergey maximov, Denis Cherevatov and Teymuraz Gurgenidze came third in Combined with 27.95 behind Ukraine and Great Britain.

British Mixed Pair Sarah Cameron and Nick Illingworth came second overall and second in Combined, despite the fact that they had only recently resumed their partnership. They scored 27.49 in Combined with good one-handed flag, ring on splits and a flourishing finale.

The winning Mixed Pair from Russia, Mria Kovtun andAnton Glazkov, scored a stunning 28.556 in their Combined routine with a very strong over head to wrap and excellent lift off the floor to low Mexican, to splits.

Britain’s new Senior Women’s Pair, Katie Axten and Elizabeth Oliver, scored 27.09 in their Combined to lie third in that round, but came second overall because of the strength of their first two routines.  In their first international as Seniors, they showed great flexibility with an excellent flag.

The winning Women’s pair from Russia, Rauhsaniya Khakimova and Alena Ploskova, were beautifully matched in figure and height, the base being only 16 years old and the top 15.  They performed an excellent still Mexican on bridge and another on needlescale, finishing with 27.911.

With three new partnerships out of five, Great Britain’s Seniors have cause to celebrate their Silver in the Europeans.

ENDS

27.10.07