Saturday, October 16, 2010

Rotterdam 2010: WAG Prelims LIVE!

Necessary fuel...


See "coverage" post for links to live quick hits and scores as competition unfolds.

I politely ask that you don't post scores or routine quick hits in Comments as I will already be reading and posting them, as they become available, up here. I heartily welcome discussion (of course) but I don't want my inbox exploding with notifications of things we have already read. Just keep hitting refresh to see updates. Cheers! Enjoy the show.
*************************************************

Women's Qualification start list is available HERE.

IG has put a session 5 preview HERE.

Couch Gymnast's interesting note from training:

Overheard- Peggy Liddick telling Georgia Wheeler (in a joking fashion) "Do one beam set on the floor and concentrate or I will take off my tennis shoe and..." gestures throwing it at her! Funny!

Right. Err... consider the tone set?

******************************************************
5:55pm Rotterdam time - "And here come the athletes!"

Blythe says:

The Aussies, in white and green and gold leos similiar to ones they often wear in international competition, are the only team to swing their arms in that oh-so-gymnast way as they march out.


VT:
Bonora: Clean Y-full with a small hop to the side 13.833
Brennan: Clean Tsuk full with a small hop back 13.766
Mitchell: Clean Baitova (IG says 'very nice'!), again a small hop back 14.733
Little: Baitova landed with chest low, small stumble out of it but looked good in air 14.466
Wheeler: Handspring front pike with a big step forward 13.066
Team Total: 56.798

Peggy Liddick looks thrilled and is even kind of joked with her team for a little bit before waving her hand and saying "OK, stop."

UB:
Bonora: Jump to high, Comaneci. Clear hip to bail to Ray or toe hecht, full turn, blind, front giant legs apart to stuck double front. "Well well well Australia..." YAAAAAAAY! That last remark made me immeasurably happy. HELLS YEAH BONORA, YOU SHOW 'EM! 13.766!

Little: Toe on, toe on 1/2 tO Jaeger, toe on full, DLO STUCK!. 13.791

Mitchell: Stalder, Jaeger, toe on full, toe on, toe on 1/2, double front with small hop. 13.700

Miller: Straddle toe hecht to high, inbar stalder full to Geinger. Bail to Ray. Inbar stalder blind to Jaeger. Full turn to immediate full twisting double tuck, STUCK! 14.300

Wheeler: Toe stalder to Maloney, had to muscle swinging out of it. Went for a Tkatchev and fell. Bail to Ray, blind, front giant, half turn, full turn, double pike with big step forward. 10.766
Team Total: 55.557

If Peggy Liddick was happy after vault, she must be dancing for joy after bars, even with that fall from Wheeler. More sticks on this event than any team yet, even China!

BB:

Little: Wobble on front tuck? Full turn in sit position. Front aerial, bhs, layout, no problem. Switch, back tuck. Switch side. 'Easy' roundoff double tuck with a step. 5.4/13.567

Brennan: Front aerial, switch, Gainer, wonderful! Switch half to back tuck, shouldn't get connection. Split, wolf. Side somie with legs straight. Switch ring. Bhs, layout, perfect. Side aerial, side somie. Not a wobble. Roundoff, double pike, basically stuck. WOW. That was World medal worthy. And worthy of a hug from Peggy. (aka ASH HITS BEAM LIKE A BOSS, WOOOOHOOOO!!!) 5.9/14.300!

Bonora: Switch leap, tuck back, aerial wo ff layout, onodi, aerial cartwheel, pike double dismount 5.8/14.266

Mitchell: Chest stand cartwheel mount. Bhs, bhs to two feet, layout to two feet, had to fight to save it but did. 2.5 turn in sit position. Switch half to back tuck. Front aerial, switch, front flip. Saved switch ring. Two bhs to double pike, covered the step forward by saluting the judges. 6.7/14.966!

Wheeler: Long wait for her...press handstand mount. Forward roll out. Full turn in sit position, a little tentative. Punch front. Bhs, back tuck, solid. Switch, pike. Switch side, a little tentative again. Side somie, small wobble. Two bhs to double pike. She stayed on and finished it well! 5.3/13.366
Team Total: 57.099



FX:
Bonora: High double tuck. Very high double full. Switych ring, Tourjete half. Triple full. 1.5 to full twist. Front aerial. Switch half. Double pike, chest low and took a bounce, but hit routine. Not difficult tumbling, but no huge mistake. 5.1/13.400

Little: Full in tucked. Double tuck. Front aerial. Double turn. Tense music. OOB on 1.5 to double full. Switch, switch half. Double pike, landed a bit back and had to take a step forward but saved any catastrophe. 5.2/13.200

Brennan: Stuck full in tucked. Stuck double tuck. Oh my...Aussies are nailing this. Switch ring, switch side half. Front layout, front full, single stag jump. Double pike, small hop forward. (Looking good, ladies!) 5.3/13.833

Miller: Front layout to front double full, really nice. Steps OOB on double pike second pass. Switch ring, Tourjete. Third pass ended well with a punch front. 2.5 to single stag jump to end. 5.3/13.633

Mitchell: OOB on Arabian double pike to single stag. Traveled a little too much. Full in pike. 2.5 turn in sit position. Same routine as 2009. 2.5 to front layout, much better than in training. Tourjete half, crisp. Double pike with a hop back. 5.8/14.466

Overall Team Total: 224.785 and into third place overall!
Go girls!

Concensus in the blogosphere is that they "performed better than Romania" today.
What a ringing endorsemsent! Here's hoping it's good enough for a team finals slot.


As if it's 4:30am right now.

AS IF IT IS.

Oh... bugger. It is.

62 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know you've told us what time the comp starts, but is that the Australian subdivision or subdivision 1?

Mez said...

Subdivision 1 is completed (it started at 9am local time, 6pm AEDST), sub 2 will start very soon.


The time I have given (2am AEDST) is the approximate start time of Australia's subdivision.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know where we have to come at worlds to form a team at the Olympics. Is it top 8?

Anonymous said...

AT this worlds only top 24, next year top 8 to go straight through, otherwise you have to make it through another team qualifier

Anonymous said...

Thankyou

Anonymous said...

Updates:

1. China--233.778, 2. Italy--219.179, 3. Japan--218.895, 4. Ukraine--213.945

Japan and Ukraine melt down.

Japan's averages:

VT
14.09

UB
13.358

BB
13.59

FX
13.57

Romania and Brazil up next.

Anonymous said...

Can I stream it anywhere online?
Searched but haven't found anything.

Anonymous said...

Link to IG Sub 5 Preview. Go Australia

http://intlgymnast.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2016%3Apreview-will-australia-shine-in-subdivision-5&catid=84%3Aworlds-news&Itemid=205

Anonymous said...

I am so nervous

Anonymous said...

Nice start! scores up from Comm games so that bodes well I think.

Anonymous said...

Can anyone tell me if I can watch it online?

Anonymous said...

no stream, hsve to follow livescores...

pleased to see Ash's VT score go up so much from CWG

Anonymous said...

3rd highest on Vault so far behind China and Romania. Great start! Go hit some bars girls!

Anonymous said...

How many more subdivisions to go? Who are the 'big guns' to come?

Anonymous said...

Anon at 3.26
http://www.gymnastics2010.com/en/programme_16.asp

If we can finish this subdivison in third(behind China and Romania but ahead of Italy and Japan)we will be in a very comfortable position to qualify in about 6th/7th

Anonymous said...

SUREY they have to pull the plug on Wheeler eventually. How long before they realise it's not worth it if she can't hit? She's drastically watered down her routine and still doesn't hit.

Anonymous said...

Larrissa's 14.3 has her in 4th on UB so far. She might struggle to qualify with the Russians, GBR and Russia still to come. Each of those teams could potentially have 2 qualifiers through. This may sound awful but I'm hoping for some errors/falls.

Also Larrissa did her old combo of piked stalder half + jaegar instead of the jadler + jaegar. This had her at an D score of 6.2. With the adler back in I think she goes up to a 6.4 or 6.5

Anonymous said...

Can someone pleas refresh my memory on how many compete in team finals on each apparatus?

Anonymous said...

So....so far Wheeler's scores have not counted at all towards the team total. It's like we only have 4 gymnasts out there competing. I know it's not Wheeler's fault and she's out there giving it her absolute all but we all thought her selection might not have been the best idea.

Anonymous said...

well it'a like how many times does she have to screw up before they realiise she's not reliable yet. She screwed up Paris, screwed up at PacRim, screwed up at Nationals and Vics, and they still put her out on the floor and hope for the best. One day she'll be great but not quite yet, and they need to force her to actually prove herself as a competitor before giving her a spot in future.

Anonymous said...

The Couch Gymnast reported that Simpson struggled with her bail to hs during training. This compounded with not being useful on vt probably kept her off the team as I'm sure her BB is better than Wheeler's.

Oddly enough if the new rule about reserve substitution is applicable we might still see Simpson in the TF on UB or BB depending on how she's trainig over the next few days. Still not sure if she's top 3 on bars though.

Mez said...

ASH BRENNAN HIT BEAM LIKE A BOSS

Anonymous said...

Yay go Ash!!! Come on Georgias and Lauren!

Anonymous said...

Thank God beam is over. Not only did we survive it but we excelled. Best part is that there is definite room for improvemnt from the 3 top BB girls. Lauren's 14.966 has her in provisional third atm. I'ld expect Bross and Sacramone to be up there in terms of BB score but besides them things are looking good for an EF spot. The Russian girls aren't great on BB.

Anonymous said...

Also Aus is second behind China on BB. Romania did have 2 falls from their better BBers but after the disaster on BB in Delhi I'm so pleased that we were able to get through this rotation so cleanly.

Anonymous said...

Looks like Georgia has beaten Emily for the AA spot by about 0.2

nade00 said...

go you good things!

Anonymous said...

WOW way to go girls!!! We averaged over 14 on all aparatus (not including the score that was dropped). A fantastic effort - so proud!!!

nade00 said...

Awwww I'm so proud of them!

Anonymous said...

I'm curious to see Larrissa's UB. A 8.1E score seems kind of low for someone who finishes all her pirouettes in handstand and drills her dismount.

All in all a very good night for Aus. We should qualify 6th at the least which means starting on BB :S

Anonymous said...

Lauren Mitchell's quals AA total should hopefully put her in the top group in the final. She's in third right now! (behind Ana Porgras)

And well done to the whole team!

The Couch Gymnast said...

Oh they were so great! Little glitches, but generally so awesome!! Peggy had a joke go at them, saying the two step outs on floor were WAIS steps, but one was actually Larrissa!! Georgia Bonora pointed out it was her first worlds without stepping out of bounds!!!

Anonymous said...

So for event finals (possible) we have;
Lauren; BB 3rd, Floor 3rd, AA 4th
Miller; UB 5th (really 4th because 3 above her are from china) still a chance to make finals.
Bonora AA 7th
I think they are our chances - will be interesting to see how the other teams go over the next few sessions. Well done Aussies!

Anonymous said...

I think it really does give you an advantage to begin on vault doesn't it?? Settles things down, unless you have a disaster...but lets not go there!! Well done girls - so nice they hit their routines!!

Anonymous said...

It's generally best not to start on BB or end on BB. SO starting on VT or UB is advantageous. I always found it easier to start on FX than UB but ending on BB was awful. Ending on VT is far less stressful. Historically we've seen some of the best endings on VT. Shushunova and Silivas in 1988, Gutsu and Miller in 1992, MIller and Milosovici in 93 and Strug's infamous VT in Atlanta.

Mez said...

If Great Britain do make it to the team final as well (and deep down I want them to)... it's gonna be SUPER AWKWARD.

:P

Anonymous said...

I expect them to. What I really want is forus to beat them and showtaht sending our A team to Delhi wasn't such a bad idea.

Anonymous said...

I can be at peace if Britain beat us this year. At the moment, I think they are better, we just don't have the difficulty to match them.

If you look at their team, this year they had a huge influx of talented juniors. It isn't the same with us, our best juniors all come in next year. We are really doing very well with our veterans and the couple that turned senior this year.

Anonymous said...

Well done girls!!
Yes, Australia does have a lot of good gymnasts turning senior next year, things are looking great.
If Australia were to make the team final and start on BB then I don't think would really be a problem. Look at Beijing team final where Shona, Ashleigh and Lauren all hit. Ending on bars was the problem but Larrissa is a great bar worker and the other girls are solid so hopefully that won't be a problem. If they started on floor then they would have to end on beam and I know there was a beam meltdown at CWG but I think the girls are reliable on beam it was just unfortunate what happened.
Anyway they have to make the team final first but they are in a good position to do so, third at the moment?, expect US, Russia and possibly Great Britain to jump ahead but are there any other teams who could be a danger?
Looks like Lauren and Georgia B will make AA final, well done.
Lauren possibly beam and floor and Larrissa still a chance for bars, fantastic.

Anonymous said...

The girls and the coaches did a great job tonight, always remember it is a 4 apparatus competitiion - the E score does count for something and that is where we start to catch the high D score teams. Thanks to the training program we are constantly looking to pick up on the small things on all apparatus. It was a great atmosphere in the competition. All our girls should be so proud of this achievement.

Anonymous said...

Good to see Ash has proven that she can hit a beam routine in competition and also on the big stage, and rocked it tonight with an amazing routine, well done Ash, we love you!

Anonymous said...

So what was so impressive about GW that she was put in over Gs? From the Videos Gs looks Beautiful and her D scores are so much higher than GW, 4.2 on Bars? Just don,t understand that selection.Even if GS had a fall (like GW) she would have scored higher!Her execution alone is superior.
The girls did very well and it will be exciting to see how far they can go.

Anonymous said...

GW was picked in the team and GS wasn't. That is just the way it is. Peggy normally gets the team right but I am not sure she did in this situation, GW had the lowest score on the VT, UB and BB but as it has been mentioned it is not GW's fault that she got picked. The girls did well and have put themselves in a great position to make the team final. I think its a good idea to focus on that rather than on GW being picked over GS.

Anonymous said...

I am so disappointed by the constant attack on GW. She is a young gymnast with less experience than most members in the team. She was selected in the CWG originally as second reserve and was elevated after SM's retirement and MM's injury. Her difficulty scores are not as high as the other team members so realistically will not score as high. She performed a great bars routine at CWG. Unfortunately her bars routine was not what she would have hoped for today but she stuck her beam routine. Well done to all team members on your great result today. Good luck for the rest of the competition.

Anonymous said...

Lauren interview on gymnastike1

http://www.gymnastike.org/coverage/237686-2010-World-Gymnastics-Championships/video/359918-Lauren-Mitchell-of-Australia-after-Worlds-Qualification

Anonymous said...

I don't like the attacks on GW either but please don't use experience as an excuse she has had plenty of opportunities in the past year - more so than a lot of other gymnasts - what she needs is to go back to the gym and work on her skills and execution without the interuption of competitions and then we will see how she pans out at next years Nationals

Robin said...

I can't wait for some videos. Based on various quick hits of both the Aussie routines and routines from "top" countries, and looking at the scores, looks like the Aussies girls may have been score more harshly.

Nonetheless, they should be extremely proud of how well they did today! I can't wait for team finals!

Anonymous said...

Well they have no choice but to bench GW for TF, because she is simply not useful right now.

I know she's 16 etc etc but fact is she is out there representing Australia. People aren't saying it is her fault she got picked, or that she's a horrible person. They are just commenting on the gymnastics and the selection of the team.

It is understandably a little disappointing that she watered down her sets so much and still didn't manage to hit, given what an amazing opportunit it is to represent your country at worlds.

I would have felt a little more supportive of her selection if she had been doing her full sets with dismount on bars. I know it probably wasn't her decision, but that's not really relevant anyway.

A double pike dismount is really hard to get excited about when you know she is capable of so much more. It is frustrating to see her go out there and not perform what she really can do, and what she has done at all the comps earlier in the year. Worlds does not seem like the place to water down.

Anonymous said...

Where can you find the video's of G Simpson please

Anonymous said...

GWheel has been up against it. It's sort of like Princess Diana vs Camilla.

Of course people want GSim to be picked, they can't help it. GSim is the Princess Diana of the team - a heartbreakingly beautiful balletic gymnast with a history of battling through injuries and tragedy to make it to this point. We want her to succeed, and to see her beautiful gymnastics on the world stage.

GWheel is the Camilla. She has done nothing wrong and is mostly a tidy and efficient gymnast but she will never be as favoured as her more mysterious balletic counterpart.

Well that's my theory anyway....

Anonymous said...

There are no vids of Simpson's full routines - you can see her doing basics in the team warmup video, and a tiny snippet of her beam from 1:00 here:

http://www.gymnastike.org/coverage/237686-2010-World-Gymnastics-Championships/video/359815-Australia-Ashleigh-Brennan

but that is it, since she hasn't competed since 2006. Seems we've been missing out, that's for sure.

Anonymous said...

did anyone else notice that Lauren got credited with 6.7 on beam, a huge improvement from the 6.3 they've been giving her. Must have improved her switch ring.

Anonymous said...

So, is it possible that GW could be substituted for GS at the team final? perhaps they were willing under the new ruling to give both girls a go ! and if GS DV is higher than GW then perhaps at the finals the team could have a bigger score and place them higher in the rankings? Was Peggy saving GS for this?

Anonymous said...

Marta was actually wrong about the rule, the sub can only be made if a doctor gives proof that the gymnast to be replaced is injured.

Besides, I don't think it would be fair to dock one of the girls who performed so well yesterday in the lineup, not to mention risky.

It should be

VT
Bonora
Mitchell
Little

UB
2 of Little Mitchell/Bonora
Miller

BB
Brennan
Bonora
Mitchell

FX
Miller
Brennan
Mitchell

Anonymous said...

I LOVE GEORGIA WHEELER

Anonymous said...

Even if it was allowed under the rules, there is no way Georgia Simpson would be brought in to compete in team finals when she hadn't competed in qualifications. In a situation where all scores count, it would be too much of a risk to put someone up who hadn't had the extra experience of experiencing the qualification round and getting used to everything, particularly an inexperienced gymnast like Georgia S. Her time will come next year and I'm sure she will be a great asset to the team then.

Anonymous said...

I think GW's appeal for coaches is that she is a giant ball of muscle and athleticism. Because of this, they are willing to overlook the lack of gymnastic ability and "fragile under pressure" temperament...in the hope they can harness and shape that power.

Anonymous said...

georgia wheeler obviously has gymnastic ability. she only started doing elite no more than 5 years ago. she came from nowhere and she is one of the hardest trainers i know. she competed under enormous amounts of pressure at the CWG and managed to stay on an apparatus that is probably her hardest last night! while wheeler may not be aesthetically beautiful to watch, she is still an amazing gymnast and girl! not every gymnast can look like a ballet dancer and throw skills that hardly anyone could ever think of doing. she is in the australian team irrespective of how she got there and she is doing her very best to uphold her position to the best of her ability. give the girl some slack and help her to be her best not bag the crap out of her for one fall. everyone has a bad day, and unfortunately for georgia it was on her best one. GOOD LUCK GEORGIA AND THE REST OF THE TEAM! you'll be doing your best and thats all we can ask

Anonymous said...

I agree Anon 6.03.
I feel for Wheeler. 2 or 3 years ago she was a nobody, and this has all come fairly quick for her.

Saying she screwed Paris is unfair. Looking back at her scores, she was 1st reserve for the bars final which I think is ok for one of the biggest world cups on the calendar.

As for Pac Rim - she suffered a massive hyper extension landing her bars dismount barely 5 days before the comp and was way below par. Hence we are are seeing the double pike which my guess will be a double layout in the near future.

Sure her scores have not counted at CWG or worlds yet, but apart from the bars blip, to say she is not doing her job is ridiculous. Her scores have still been respectable enough should one of the others slip up.

People act like there is some conspiracy in selection. She would have been picked over Simpson because of consistency in training over there.

Keep at it Wheeler - and Go Australia!

Anonymous said...

I thought it was that you had to come top 8 at THIS worlds to make it through to olympics.

Anonymous said...

I think it is that at next year's worlds the top 8 automatically qualify a team to the Olympics, the next ? some number I don't know, have to attend another comp in early 2012 to qualify. We do NOT want to be in the position of having to peak twice in 2012 so I hope next year will be as good as this. Considering the girls we have coming up and the fact that our new ones from this year will be a bit further along in their development - I can't see any reason why not. Of course I bet we didn't expect 11th a few years ago either, so I guess anything could happen. It would be great to get to the stage where there would be no doubt about us being top 8. Maybe we are almost there?

Anonymous said...

It's the top 24 teams that automatically get through to next year's Worlds. At those Worlds then the top 8 teams automatically get through to the Olympics. Teams 9-16 then have to have another qualifying competition in early 2012 and the top 4 teams from that will go through to the Olympics as well.