Doha World Cup

France got off to a good start at the Doha world cup by qualifying in 1st place on 4 of the 6 men's apparatus and also on Uneven Bars. The field was fairly weak with most countries currently focusing on their preparations for worlds. However, there were a few top gymnasts there. Prashanth Sellathurai qualified 2nd on Pommel and 7th on Rings. Judging by his D-score on Pommel: 6.6, he did not do his new routine that he showed at the recent worlds trial. Perhaps he will do it in the finals. His score on rings was only 14.75, but it looks at though the judges were being hard on the execution deductions with top ringmen Angioletti, Tampakos and Coppolino also receiving relatively low scores in the 14 to low 15 range. In fact nobody got an E-score over 8.8.

Spanish MAG team for worlds

The Spanish men's team for worlds has been announced and is

Rafael Martínez
Isaac Botella
Manuel Carballo
Sergio Munoz
Ivan San Miguel
Javier Gomez

Dutch Men's World Trial

Here is a video featuring some action from the Dutch Men's World Trial. Features the well known Wammes and Zonderland and also an up-and-coming gymnast Deurloo. The Dutch men have shot up the rankings in recent years, having placed 36th at the 2003 Worlds, they came 23rd in 2006 and 20th in 2007. They now just need some more depth in order to be a contender for a top 12 placing, although the recent suspension of Van Gelder could hurt them.

Charlie Tamayo

There has some suggestions that Charlie Tamayo is making a comeback. In fact he competed at the National Qualifier before VISA Championships on 4 events: Floor, Pommel, Vault and P Bars. You can see his floor and vault for this comp here:



Charlie defected from Cuba to the USA back at the 2003 Worlds and I don't think he has competed internationally since, which is a shame because he is such an exciting gymnast. He has the double Arabian laid-out named after him and is a great vaulter, having won bronze at the 2001 worlds. He also has the best Yamawaki in the world as pointed out by coach Rick on gymnasticscoaching.com

He didn't compete at VISA championships because he is not a citizen yet, but it looks as though he may be able gain it soon, hence his comeback. However, it is hard to see him making a world or Olympic team for the US, since they are already very strong on floor and vault with the likes or Horton and Legendre among others. Still, I would love to see him make the National team and compete at some international competitions.

Australian MAG Worlds Trials

Australia had its men's world championships trials on Saturday in Canberra. Sam Offord came 1st and Sam Simpson came 2nd. Josh Jefferis had an off day with problems on floor, rings and high bar to drop out of all around contention, but he should still make the team for some individual apparatus. Philippe Rizzo also had some problems, missing his def on high bar. Prashanth Sellathurai showed an incredibly difficult pommel horse routine with a D-score of 7.0, including a brand new skill which could possibly get named after him. But I won't tell you what it is just yet. You'll have to wait until worlds for that.

Aus WAG Worlds Trials

Trials for the Australian WAG worlds team were held on Tuesday and yesterday (Wednesday). The results are due to be released today. With a maximum of 4 girls being selected for worlds this year (I think), it is likely that Lauren Mitchell and Shona Morgan will be on the team. Georgia Bonora and Emma Dennis didn't compete at nationals, but if they are back in reasonable shape they should also make the team, but Britt Greeley and Larissa Miller (for bars) will also have a shot at making the team.

US Men's Worlds Team

The US men's worlds team has just been announced and I am a little surprised. The team is Jonathan Horton, Alexander Artemev, Tim McNeill, Danell Leyva, Steven Legendre and David Sender. I am a little surprised at the inclusion of Sender and Artemev. I am surprised at Sender's inclusion, not because of his performance, but because he said that he would not be competing at worlds and that VISA championships would be his last competition as he is starting vet school. However, his day 1 performance certainly warrants his inclusion for at least floor, rings and vault. I am surprised at Artemevs inclusion on the other hand basically because of the hefty pommel scores put up by McNeill and also Daniel Ribeiro, making Artemev only the 3rd best pommel horse worker in the US. Ribeiro put up a 15.9 (6.8 D-score) on day 1 and McNeill put up a 15.6 (6.7 D) on day 2. In the past Artemev has only shown a 6.1 D-score and only put up 15.35 and 15.25 at the Olympics, and with his recent injuries it is unlikely that he will have been able to upgrade his routine. Admittedly, Ribeiro and McNeill only hit on 1 of the 2 days, but Artemev is also not known for his consistency, and could not have gained selection based on this.

More Yang Wei Controversy

Yang Wei is in some controversy in China again. Apparently he let it slip that he know that his baby will be a boy. However, in China you are not allowed to know the gender of a baby before it is born.

Rhythmic Gymnastics in Ukraine

This is an interesting news article about Rhythmic Gymnastics in Ukraine

Japan Cup Results

Well, Uchimura won this battle against Hambuchen and looks like he is moving from strength to strength. Five of his routines are shown in the following video



I was impressed with his P Bars, even with the new rule that you can't do the same skill in different positions he managed to show a lot of release moves. The routine also had a great flow.

Some of Hambuchens routines are shown here:



He has removed his maltese on rings, which is probably a smart move as he was probably getting more deductions on it that it is worth. Also, he has also gotten rid of his belle now that it has been downgraded to a D. I think this makes his P Bars look better as this is one of the rare skills that he does poorly.

The womens competition was won by China's Huang Qiushuang. Her score of 58.9 looks like it is a great score now that the women have reduced the number of skills to 8 (hopefully the men do this soon). It will be interesting to see how this compares to what the US women get at some competitions coming up soon.

It looks like there was a great crowd there and was a great competition. I believe it is on again next year. I think it is a great addition to the international calender, which needs some more team and all-around competitions like this.