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Today was the Day 2 of all around, with yesterday's scores coming back to haunt everyone. Good thing everyone had equally bad day yesterday, and equally good day today (except for Aliya), so no one suffered too much from yesterday's disaster.
We also got an explanation to that uneven bars fiasco yesterday. Apparently the team has changed their equipment to a new brand and model to match the equipment in Rio (Gymnova if I remember correctly). This particular UB set not only differed from their usual set, but was not "broken in" and had a different fool to it because of that. At least that's what they're saying. I'd think the girls were used to adapting fast to new equipment, but maybe this brand is just very different. Hopefully they get used to it before leaving for Rio. Today most of the girls actually hit their routines, but Aliya was still having difficulties. Since she's the most experienced gymnast, you'd think that it was the other was around, but since she also has nothing to prove, she just didn't want to keep fighting when it didn't feel right. Hopefully it's that instead of those old nagging injuries presenting themselves.
And one more thing about yesterday. If you were wondering like me why most of the national team showed up to a team competition wearing whatever they wanted, I have no answer to that. But I can say that their respective teams were deducted for it on their scores, oops. :D So let's thank Natalia Kapitonova for following the dress code and not costing for her team because of it.
But onto today's competition. Melka owned it, as expected of her. I really wasn't a fan of her when she was a junior, but she's blossomed into a beautiful gymnast and excellent all arounder, how could I not like her. Princess Tut had an impressive performance too for a silver medal and Aliya climbed up from her 5th spot to third. That needed to happen. Shelgie was right at her heels....
1: Angelina Melnikova 117.150 (57.625/59.525)
2. Seda Tutkhalyan 116.150 (57.075/59.075)
3. Aliya Mustafina 112.800 (54.900/57.900)
I think Melka pretty much reached her potential on every apparatus, except for beam. And it's not like her beam was bad in any way (14.650), I think she's just capable of better there. Her beam work is beautiful these days (I keep mentioning that because of her messy junior years) and the only thing she needs is confidence. She had a big wobble on her layout again, and some other minor wobbles. Her dismount was excellent, clearly I don't need to worry about that. She still has a bit of leg separation on vault but she has nice amount of flight and much nicer entrance than most of her teammates. And she keeps improving. What I'd like her to improve during this last month of preparation, is her handstands on bars. Her bar work is very nice, she has that Russian swing, but she inherited Vika's terrible giant half right before her dismount. And she's short on a few other handstands too. I also didn't see floor, but based on the score it must have been really good. She even got her full difficulty (6.3), something she didn't manage to do during Euros. But instead of any single apparatus, her most impressive performance today was on AA. she scored 59., which is a very competitive score, even internationally. I'd take over half a point away for domestic scoring, but it's still good. If she peaks for Rio, she's a medal contender, something Russia hasn't had since Aliya and Vika before her.
So what about my silver princess, Princess Tut? Yesterday definitely didn't go her way, but she kept fighting and avoided unnecessary falls. And today, well, today she cracked 59. When it comes to AA, that's quite an achievement, as I noted in Melka's case. Valetina was simply ecstatic praising her hard work comparing her to Aliya, but I don't think we're quite there after just one good day. That's not to say there weren't some major improvements. She began on beam and looked a bit nervous and slow, but she hit her routine nevertheless with no major wobbles. Her dismount was back to double pike, but she landed it well, chest upright and only a tiny hop. I was probably most impressed with her floor though. I feel like I fall in love with the routine more every time I see it. There was nothing new to it, but it was considerably cleaner than usually. Her landings were more controlled and you can see that she's giving it her all. I feel like she really enjoys this routine, performance wise. She's still short on the 1.5+1/1 (when she's not flying off the podium that is), I wish they changed it to piked full in. She seems like she has the stamina and it was a good pass for her. Or maybe a triple twist? She put her hands down on the wolf turn and it needs to go. Uneven bars was better for everyone today, Seda included. She actually hit her upgraded routine very well. Too bad it's so inconsistent. 6.5 is a good difficulty for an AAer. On vault her form was terrible during the block, legs bent in 90 angle... The result was being short on landing. (14.525). I've said this before and I'll say it again, it really bothers me that she's getting worse instead of improving. She was much better during 2014-2015, now she keeps underrotating it and her block is getting worse too. At least she hit her best vault yet during Euros team final, maybe she only has the energy to crank it around when it counts.
As for the other major players, Spiridoz competed a second day too, not because she was in on the AA, but because she needed to prove herself on her two pieces. She fell and scored a 12 on beam, and before the end of the competition, they actually gave her a second chance. She fell again. I think this means, that Afan is not training beam, or there's a major risk that she isn't going to be ready for Rio. They have Spiridoz on the team for her bars (which she hit like a pro second day in a row), but they are also desperate for a balance beam routine from her. And we should all panic right about now. Ugh. There was also this picture of her, which made my heart bleed. I feel like she knows she's letting the team down.
And because once again, let's end this on a positive note, Shelgie really impressed me today. Her beam routine was good, her floor was even better because she's such a great performer, and she hit her DTY. It's low and piked, but she landed it. And because I'm obsessed with good handstands on bars, I ask you to watch her bar routine. She's hitting those handstands! Man, if only Melka was as aggressive about her handstands... Or if only Shelgie didn't have so many problems on, well, everything... Kapi also hit her UB set admirably, but continued to be underwhelming on everything else. And Nabs was Nabs :D Shaky and slow beam with a fall, okay floor and good bars and vault. But she was dressed in back and I loved it! I need more black leos, so dramatic I wish Aliya would wear black too.
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The complete results are HERE.
More pictures can be found HERE.
Some of the routines can be found HERE and HERE.
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