Wednesday: Women s Qualification

On the first day of the 32nd Women's Artistic Gymnastics European Championships the four qualifying rotations were held. At the end the leader was, as expected and fully deserved to the current all around World champion, Aliya Mustafina with 59,750 and a comfortable advantage on the lead of the all around competition. After her placed another member of the golden team from Russia, Anna Dementieva (56,900), just ahead of the Romanian Maria Chelaru (56,350). The German all around champion, Elisabeth Seitz finished at a remarkable fourth place, while the debutant Nadine Jarosch got the thirtieth place among the 84 participants ...

1st ROTATION (from10.30h)
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The first rotation of the day was dominated by the performance of the two Russian gymnasts, Anna Dementieva (56,900) and Julia Bielokobilskaya (55,550), who scored a difference of 2 points from the rest of the competitors, and kept the lead until the end of the second group. The 17 years old world champion and third placed in the balance beam in Rotterdam Dementieva was brilliant showing the aesthetic parameters of the Russian school of gymnastics, causing sensation with a Tsukahara piked in the first diagonal (... with a little step mistake ...) and with cartwheels, flick flack, and temposalto with triple twist! A young girl which comes after the steps of the all around world champion Mustafina.

2nd ROTATION  
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The second rotation was the weakest.
Even the experienced French Marine Petit could not convince and had mistakes on balance beam and a poor result for the floor exercise, getting only 13,200 points.
The Greeks had a remarkable performance, with their long time leading gymnast Vasiliki Millousi, who placed third right after the two Russian girls (53,925), followed by a new Italian face, Chiara Gandolfi (53,375) and the up to that moment best British gymnast, Danusia Francis (53,250)
Also in the Spanish team, with their young girls Beatriz Cuesta and Claudia Vila Barnes and experienced direction in the background could be noticed, as the "gymnastics father" Jesus Carballo is again the coach of the team, while his son, and ex-world champion in high bar, Jesus junior leads the Federation as its new President .

   >> Results after 2nd rotation

3rd ROTATION
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This was by far the strongest rotation of the day!
The German gymnasts showed a great performance in vault, with Elisabeth Seitz (Yurchenko- 2/1- turns and salto piked, 1/2-turn = 14,675) and the jump specialist Oksana Chusovitina, who didn't reach the optimal point of support in her handspring with stretched jump with whole turn and had to correct the excessive broad axis turn with some little steps...
Anyhow, both of them entered the finals just after the final leader Sandra Izbasa (ROM) and Aliya Mustafina (RUS) in the third and fourth position as in the fourth rotation only the Swiss Kaeslin and the British Tweddle represented a menace for them.
The Romanian Sandra Izbasa had a nice beginning in the balance beam, with only some little trembling after the 1/1-turn and got 14,100. The all around world champion Aliya Mustafina started with success at the floor exercise with a twist tucked jump, a 2 1/2 twist in the second diagonal, then a Tsukahara tucked and finally a triple twist, while on the opposite, the ex-world champion 2006, Vanessa Ferrari (ITA) seemed to have past her best moment and got only 13,475, missing the floor final!
The Russian Nabiyeva however made it into vault final, as her teammate Mustafina (got the best score in the day for her Yurchenko 2/1: 14,750), but she had to wait the decision of the jury about her Nemov jump. Was it "only" piked or stretched...? In the WC Rotterdam the decision was against her, but today the Russian protest was successful and the jump was scored as stretched: second place after Izbasa, and before Seitz and Chusovitina.
In the floor exercise, the Olympic champion Izbasa got to perform an exact triple twist (- just the contrary as happened in the WC 2010) and got the highest score ahead of her teammate Selariu (14,400).
The balance beam was again the weakest apparatus for the German team. Neither Seitz (13th position) neither Chusovitina (12th position) could show a flawless routine ...
The Russian gymnastic's school shined again in the uneven bars: - with a very dynamic Nabiyeva, who, for example, performed a giant swing just after the Tsukahara (13,375); Mustafina did it even more difficult: also giant swing and afterward a Tsukahara tucked with 1 1/2 twist - which could even be considered as a new final element ...(?!)
Elisabeth Seitz in her final apparatus, the uneven bars. She has grown more athletic, which makes her less elegant as she was in the past year's WC, but with a very difficult "Def" element, getting the third place and the chance of a medal on Saturday, even knowing that Elizabeth Tweddle would come in the last rotation...!
We have to remark the development of the Belgian girls, which are trained since some time ago by the French coach Eyves Kieffer, while the young French girls, on the other hand, disappointed with their performances...!
>> Results after group 3

4. DURCHGANG 
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In the fourth and last group, the most relevant gymnasts were the Swiss Ariella Kaeslin and the British Elisabeth Tweddle: The first started with a strong performance on vault, her favorite apparatus: 1. her handspring with Salto stretched with 1 1/2 turns got the highest score: 14,775, tied with Izbasa: 2. Yurchenko with finally only 1/1-turn (13,625) and 14,200 - that will be not enough in the fight for medals in the final on Saturday...!
Her teammte Giulia Steingruber showed a surprising performance: 1- she got the best score of the day 15,475 for her handspring with Salto streteched and got to enter as the 2nd Swiss in the vault final beside Kaeslin!!
Beth Tweddle (GBR) had to make her backswing in the uneven bars with an extreme back tension and had to correct the position, which she did but at the cost of a 0,5 penalty. However, she could go on and showed her experience, entering the final in the second position with a score of 15,500. The fight in the final against the technically strong Russians promises to be amazing!
From the German point of view, the 4th place of the German champìon Elisabeth Seitz is remarkable. She also reached, together with Kim Bui the uneven bars final- and with Oksana Chusovitina the vault final.

> Qualified gymnasts all-around
    > Qualified gymnasts apparatus finals

* ForGYMmedia from Berlin: Dieter Hofmann 
   GYMmedia TV: Gianna Schellenberg / Eckhard Herholz
   >> Final results women, all-around qualification