 |
| 1. Tabea Alt 2. Angelina Melnikova 3. Morgan Hurd |
Everyone started on vault and Melka did a heavily piked DTY. Not her best. Maybe they've been working more on her second vault? Not a good excuse to let this one deteriorate. She didn't get nearly high enough to get both twists around without piking. The score was 14.200, it could have been worse with that landing.
On bars she was good as usual. Her form is getting better, and hopefully she'll peak at the Euros. She could even get a medal with this field. It's just... Has she always had this much difficulty with her pirouettes? I'll have to go back and look. But still connecting her dismount and nearly sticking it after that mistake was great. Either nerves of steel (I doubt it with her...) or experience (more likely). 14.400, a good score for her with the pirouette trouble. Ironic how she outscored her assistant Spiri by several tenths.
Balance beam could have been really beautiful. I had nearly forgotten how lovely she can be because we haven't seen it for so long, but she was steady, collected and graceful. Perfect. If not for that layout. I swear I knew she was going to fall on it. It took her forever to set up for it and I just knew. Ugh. I think it's the skill she falls on the most. And I wish they could come up with something else because it's not great even when she hits it. The grigoras was replaced with a nice front pike and the dismount was great. But she got hammered by the judges. 12.400. I mean, she did fall, but the routine was so solid otherwise. The scores were low for everyone except for some home scoring for Alt and Schäfer, but I think it's also this new code of points. It's making good scores (or even okay scores) on beam really, really hard to get.
I was most nervous for floor, but there was no reason to be. Her showing at nationals was clearly just... I don't even know what it was. They made a good choice making the arabian her first pass and this time she had no trouble making it. The opposite really, it was high and powerful and she overrotated and couldn't stay on the floor. But it was beautiful in the air! A bit open, but legs locked together nicely. Once she gets the timing right for the landing, it will look gorgeous. The double layout was much higher than at nationals too. Full in was low, but the double pike a nice finish. She didn't even look like she was going to die during any of this routine. I was really impressed. The triple L-turn was a new upgrade, is it named after someone? Because if it isn't, hello Melnikova! Meet you at Euros! But 12.666, ouch. This was her full difficulty, so I don't think she'll be able to get higher than mid 13s, at most.
Melka finished second behind Tabea Alt (I love her) with a 53.732. Morgan Hurd (I love her too) was third because of a bad beam routine. I think Melka was already a lock for Euros despite nationals, but this competition should solidify her position as the team leader. She looks good and is definitely a contender for the AA title. If she can keep her head together, that is.
I trust you Gelya, please don't let me down.
-----
More routines HERE and HERE.
Full results HERE.
I really hate the new scores - not just the CR change, but we seem to be having another post-Olympic year let's-destroy-everyone's-e-scores party. It's such a big adjustment (and not for the better) that it's killing a lot of my interest to be honest. Hopefully we won't see so many e-scores in the 7s for reasonably hit routines at Euros.
ReplyDeleteGo Melka, bcz Musty believes in you ! :P
ReplyDeleteBahaha, Angelina's totally not amused in that first picture. Maroney 2.0- another generation of gymnasts unhappy with silver. xD
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think of Melka's new floor routine? I like this music better than the track she used at Rio, but the chore in the middle section kills me. :p And her legs are always bent on her aerials- I kind of die a little every time she does one. (I say this affectionately, Melka is my favorite)
ReplyDeletechoreo*
DeleteThe Kalinka routine was very cliché, I didn't really like it or hate it. This one I keep having mixed feelings about. I like the music and at first I really, really liked the routine, because they clearly put some effort into it and it was a nice surprise. But she doesn't really commit to the choreo of the fast parts, just kind of skips around between the corners looking bored. And the middle part before her down-to-floor section is really out of place, where is this sudden deep and intense lyrical anguish coming from after skipping around half-heartedly before? I think it's an uneven routine as a whole, but there's still some potential.
Delete