12. Juli 2010  
Wroclaw, Poland  
Sports Acrobatics

2010 Acrobatic World Age Group Competitions closed

On Monday, July 12 the 6th Acrobatic Gymnastics World Age Group Competitions featured finals across all five disciplines of the two categories 11 – 16 and 12 – 19 years.

Once again Russia was the best of all nations, winning five of ten golden and nine of all the thirty medals. On second in the medal ranking came Great Britain (7 medals total) and Belarus (total 4), winning each two gold and the Ukraine with one title.
So the winners came from these four countries only.

The "rest" of the medals went to four more countries, to Belgium (1 silver, 1 bronze), host Poland (1 silver), Kazachstan (2 bronze) and surprisingly also to  Germany (1 bronze) ...

* The Coverages on the GYMmedia Portals are supported by SPIETH Gymnastic
- the 'Official Supplier of these '2010 Acro Worlds'
* Photos: F.I.G.

* Girls’ Pairs
An arduous competition for the girls, dynamic female pair elements are physically gruelling, and they find it hard to refocus for static holds. Nevertheless, French Pair Roussel / Philouze mastered the exercise impeccably; bedecked with pink leotards, this Pair proudly represented its nation in today's Finals. But it was Byelorussian Pair Yanusik / Mikhnevich who took the title with an artistic score superior to that of Russia’s Karimulina / Ploskova, whose clean technical performance proved insufficient. They finished second, just 0.5 point ahead of Belgium’s Snel / De Smedt in third. A first title for Byelorussia.

1 BLR  Y. YANUSIK, S. MIKHNEVICH      - 28.30
2 RUS  A. KARIMULINA, A. PLOSKOVA - 27.95
3 BEL N. SNEL , E. DE SMEDT                  - 27.90
* Boys’ Pairs
The Final was one-hundred percent European in Boys’. With it no longer necessary to catch the top, as it is in the 11 – 16 category, fans were repeatedly impressed by the dynamic elements presented by these gymnasts. Another tight event wrapped up with Russia at the top, Shakhov / Bryzgalov, followed by British Pritchard / Houston, and Push / Yablonskyy of the Ukraine.

1 RUS    - E. SHAKHOV, D. BRYZGALOV - 28.25
2 GBR    - T. PRITCHARD, A. HOUSTON   - 27.75
3 UKR 2  - Z. PUSH, O. YABLONSKYY      - 27.70
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* FNALS, Age Group 11 - 16 (Youth Age Group)
* Mixed Pairs
This competition was dominated by the grace and elegance of Mixed Pair Bartlett / Spalding. Here is a young man who knows how to win the hearts of his fans, and carry his young partner with ease to a world Gold medal. Their static exercise was hailed by the judges, who made quick work of placing them ahead of Poland’s Walaszewski / Szumacher. In contrast to the extremely charming approach of the British Pair, Walaszewski and Szumacher presented a dynamic exercise to the sound of a Spanish melody, winning not only the Silver medal but garnering full fan support as well. Third place for Russian Pair Biriukova / Bedrick, who took a 0.5 penalty.

1 GBR  - C. BARTLETT, M. SPALDING              - 28.20
2 POL  - B. WALASZEWSKI, M. SZUMACHER - 28.00
3 RUS  - S. BIRIUKOVA, M. BEDRIK                   - 27.75
* Boys’ Groups
With only four Groups in the line-up, the real competition played out between Russia and Great Britain. The four boys of London delivered an animated and playful performance that earned them 27.85 points, while Russia performed wearing traditional cosaque jackets. The victory was theirs in the end, with a superior score in execution. Kazakhstan took third, and Canada proudly represented its country in the Final, upholding the maxim put forth by Pierre de Coubertin, “The important thing is not to win, but to take part.”

1 RUS  - K. ZADORIN, M. BRYZHAKHIN, D. SAVIN, A. KUKSA  - 28.15
2 GBR   - D. TOGNELLI, N. COWLER, H. SEWELL, G. WOOD   - 27.85
3 KAZ   - A. CHUIKO, A. KIREYEV, A. KORZHOV, R. OLENEV   - 27.05
* Girls' Groups
Groups from the USA and Australia competed first with performances that lacked in both execution and artistry. So things really got started with the appearance of Belgium and Poland. While the former presented a clean routine with strong technical execution, the latter delighted the local crowd with a sparkling and dynamic exercise full of changes in rhythm and expression, as required by the Code of Points, placing fourth. The top three were still to come: Great Britain’s girls in red were able to take the advantage over Belarus, finishing second behind the Russian Group, whose routine featured a dynamic performance and all components of a world champion routine: impeccable execution, amplitude and clean artistry.

1 RUS   - L. NIKITINA, E. PALAMAR, D. KOVRIGINA       - 28.15
2 GBR   - R. EVANS, F. GROVES, F. CLEMPSON             - 27.90
3 BLR   - M. VOLCHYK, A. VOLCHYK, D. TSIKHANAVA - 27.65

* Source: FIG coverages