18. Juli 2010  
Wrocław, Poland  
Sports Acrobatics

22nd ACRBATIC WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Final Day with to Golds for the Brits

Winning two gold medals with the Men's Pair but also with the men's group Great Britain was the most successful nation at the final day of the 22nd Acrobatic World Championships in the city of Wrocław, Poland.

Russia also won two titles: the team ranking today and with the women's group yesterday and was the most successful nation at he end, winning eache two gold, silver and bronze medal.

A big surprise was the victory of the women's pair of the Ukraine, beating the titleholder from Belarus.

A thrilling fight was the men's group decision:
The four top Chinese celebrated a dream competition, but at the end the judges decided for the British men's group, so the Brits won their second titel at these world championships...

* The Coverages on the GYMmedia Portals are supported by SPIETH Gymnastic
- the 'Official Supplier of these Acro Worlds'
* Photos: Sebastian Schipfel, GYMmedia

* Men’s Groups
Let’s start with some math. With four nations having entered two Groups each in this category, six spots available in the Final, and a one rep per nation rule for the Final, all participating nations were sure to be represented tonight. A look at the field before this last heat pretty clearly revealed which Groups from Great Britain, China, Belarus and Ukraine would be qualifying, but anything can happen and the competition was exciting through to the end.
The Polish four were the first to perform in this category today, and they were aiming to defend their middle rank position. Another solid routine with no major mistakes awarded with 27.657 did the job, ultimately ranking the young gymnasts fifth.
Improving from their Dynamic exercise on Friday, when they suffered a fall, Belarus 1 was constantly on the rise and qualified in seventh position, having outperformed their compatriots, who stayed at the bottom of the table.
Ukraine 1 were not able to improve their performance today, which was characterised by several mistakes and a fall from the top during a pyramid formation. They placed just ahead of Belarus 2.
China 2, dressed in green, performed their famous swing element, more stunning pyramids and flawlessly executed triple saltos. However, they stayed behind their team-mates in the ranking (3rd) and took a place on the reserve position.
Leaders of the ranking, Great Britain 1, confirmed their position with breathtaking formations and saltos, incredibly well-executed.
Was China’s first entry able to repeat the consistent and highly difficult routines they presented over the last two days? They were! These gymnasts thrilled and dazzled the public with creative elements such as the human rope.
Debutants on the senior World stage, the four members of the Ukraine’s second entry, who interestingly are nearly the same height, were forced to accept a .6 deduction; they managed to ascend the ranking nevertheless and qualified in sixth position.
Great Britain’s second Group were unable to outperform their compatriots today for a spot in the Final. The point difference was far too big, and worse, they lost their position among the top four due to an interrupted pyramid formation that cost them a 2.9 deduction. Unfortunate rank eight for them.
  >> Men' Groups, Qualifikation

** Decision: Team Ranking
Federations represented by at least three different Pairs and Groups, including at least one Pair and one Group having taken part in the Qualifications of a world championship, are eligible to participate in the ranking by Team. A total of seven Teams were ultimately registered in Wroclaw.
Reminder: Team classification is established based on the overall placings gained over the three exercises performed in Competition 1 by the declared Team members. These three placings are converted into points as follows: e.g. If 16 countries are entered in a World Championships, first place gets 16 points, second place 15, third place 14, etc. All categories are uniformly converted regardless of the number of competitors in the event.
The team with the highest number of points is declared Team World Champion and each member of the announced team is awarded a medal.

Victory Ceremony, Team Ranking

With their Men’s Pair and Women’s Group first and the Mixed Pair second, Russia garnered a total of 74 points, taking home the Team title from this competition.
Second and winner of the Silver medal is
Great Britain with 70 points, featuring first place for their Men’s Group, second place for their Men’s Pair and rank five for the country’s Women’s Group.
The Ukraine came third in the Team ranking (69 points) with their Women’s Pair in rank one and their Men’s Pair and Women’s Group both in fourth.
* TEAM RANKING:
Gold - Russia RUS               74
Silver - Great Britain GBR  70
Bronze - Ukraine UKR        69

British World Champions

Relieved to see this competition coming to a close, the two men shouted for joy as they received their scores in the arms of their coach. Thanks to their impeccable execution and a slightly higher difficulty than the Russian Pair Pilipchuck/Dudchenko, Britain took home their first world title. The Russian Pair adds a somewhat disappointing Silver to its collection from 2008 and the World Games 2009.

Gold - Edward UPCOTT / Douglas FORDYCE (GBR) Final 28.662
Silver - Konstantin PILIPCHUK / Alexey DUDCHENKO Final 28.506
Bronze - Yauhen KALACHOU / Ruslan FEDCHENKA BLR Final 28.052
>> Detailed Results