Angelina Simakova (Ангелина Симакова), in short, Sima (another Gelya actually), is from Khimki and represents Central Federal Okrug. She is coached by Irina Kolobova. She is a long-time and very prominent member of the Junior National Team and probably the most promising of the new graduates. It doesn't hurt that her strengths are currently the National Team's weaknesses, so she's also most likely of the new kids to make important teams. She was injured for most of her last junior year and seems to have struggled with injuries in 2016 too, but her list of both national and international titles is still very long. Veeeery long....Her National titles lead all the way back from 2014 to 2016 with plenty of gold medals in the all around, uneven bars and vault, without forgetting some silvers and bronzes on balance beam and floor exercise. She's a 2016 Team Junior European Champion and a veteran and regular medalist of the usual international meets that Russia sends their juniors to, such as Top Gym, Gymnix and Junior Japan International. During her last junior year in 2017 she pretty much dominated WOGA Classic winning one bronze and silver and three gold medals (including all around) and competed at Massilia, where Russia usually sends their most promising juniors right before turning senior. In Massilia she won all around, floor exercise and balance beam gold and uneven bars silver. I don't know if you made it through that list of accomplishments, but if I lost you, don't worry. The only thing you need to remember is that she had an amazing junior career and is really good at winning medals on every apparatus.
Now I have to confess that despite of her major promise and all of her accomplishments, I've never been a huge fan. She's very good and the team really needs a gymnast like her, but I just don't get the special feels. That doesn't mean that she won't eventually grow on me though. She at least has a great bitchface. Her strength is definitely in the all around, she's pretty strong on every apparatus. Her best piece is vault, she's great on floor and beam, and decent on bars. As I said, she was injured for much of last year and also seems to have experienced a growth spurt during this time. Even so, she looked like she was getting back on track at Massilia, off season and all.
VAULT:
UNEVEN BARS:
Bars is not her strongest apparatus even though she's improved a great deal there. She doesn't swing quite as easily as most of her teammates and can occasionally look a bit labored, but she has great form and is usually very clean. Her handstands are not bad either. Her routine is not the most difficult, but's it's consistent and right now enough for an all arounder. She has upgraded her routine last year and it could still see some upgrades coming. She used to dismount with a front double half (which is a 0.1 higher in this code) and had a high tkatchev, so we could see those added back later on.
BALANCE BEAM:
She's great on beam, calm and steady and strong on acrobatics (except the side somi, it's a hazard every time). So it's very unfortunate that it's also here where her ankles bother me the most, her feet are flexed on every element. Her routine could also use some more personality, but I at least love the new suicide mount. It really suits her style and sets her apart. The dismount is great too.
FLOOR EXERCISE:
Floor is where I like her the most, she's quite a charming not-so-little-anymore performer. Her routine is perfect for her, it's cheeky but simple and not overly cheery. I'd actually like it even more if they made it even darker. She's had this routine for two years now, so we'll probably see a brand new one for her senior debut. She needs a lot more difficulty, so hopefully she'll be able to upgrade her tumbling. She's actually a clean twister, that could work for her better than those double backs.
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