Opening ceremony This years World Cup Final opened with an impressive opening ceremony which included a performance from the World Junior Champion at Chinese Martial Arts, Sam Mac, an impressive display of flexibility and strength from the gymnastics and acrobatics team, Martial Arts, and the British Champions at Trampette and Vault Display Team from Wakefield Gym Club This spectacular piece of entertainment was choreographed by Daniela Nanova. The photos are available in our gallery...
Unfortunately Great Britain didn't have a competitor representing them in the finals this year, Gary Smith placed 22nd in the world rankings so didn't quite make it. The winner from Japan performed and outstanding routine with almost perfect form. The tariff was not the highest in the competition proving a high tariff is not always best. The competition was very close with only 0.3 between the top three comptitors.
Claire Wright represented Great Britain with a very impressive routine taking her from being placed 7th before the competition up to third. Claire's final score was the same as Anna Dogonadze from germany (who placed second) however Claire had a higher tariff which means that she took bronze.
Three times champion Karavaeva from Russia didn't complete her routine after travelling a rudi out to the corner of the bed and then landing the following double back (tucked) on the end deck.
See the photos...
The placings in this Final didn't change dramatically from the world ranking before the competition, however Mark Alexander and Simon Milnes managed to pull up 2 places leaving them finishing 7th for Great Britain. Mark & Simon found themselves competing in the World Cup when Russia's Rusakov & Leven dropped out.
The pair from Belarus who were originally places first dropped to 5th when they lost form and synchronisation trying to perform a huge tariff of 15.6. The third place went to Switzerland who have clearly mastered the art of synchronisation with easily the best synch score in the competition. See the photos...
With Kirsten Lawton no longer competing, Jamie Moore won her place in the final with Claire Wright. The girls competed a solid routine with a fairly safe tariff of 11.9 (compared to Canada's 13.1, but still miles ahead of my 3.1!). The girls have performed a better routine before, inspite of this however, they managed to gain 3 places and finish 4th, 0.6 behind the Germans.
Canada's Karen Cockburn & Rosannagh Maclennan performed very well gaining first place with a very high tariff maintaining great form.
At the press conference we asked Claire a few questions;
What do you think about while you are standing on the cross just before you are about to compete? "A slow arm-set on the bounce before I start my routine and try to be as calm as possible". She also said that she looks for her parents in the audience! It shows that like all of us, Claire appreciates the support of her family and friends.
How did it feel to have the support competing at home? “Yes, it's been a big event today and the home crowd really cheered us on - they supported everyone today. But it was also very nerve-racking as we've never competed in front of such a large audience before.”
“I feel like I've made a step forward. I've had a hard couple of years and have trained hard for the Olympics. We as a team hope to increase the popularity of trampolining for Britain in the future.”
Who do you think will win X-Factor? “I've been training hard so I haven't seen X-Factor”.
Anna Doganadze from Germany said: “I think that we can improve but overall I am very pleased with our performance.” Jessica Simon (GER) added: “We were very nervous because it is a World Cup Final but we were really happy with the result.” Olena Movchan from Ukraine said:“I am not happy with my performance but I think that my synchro partner performed very well. I think the organisation of this event has been great and I really like Birmingham.” Hiromi Hanomoto from Japan said: “We are very pleased with the result and we have enjoyed our stay in Birmingham, especially the shopping! “We will be competing next in April and so in the mean time we will head back to Japan to prepare.” Claire Wright from Great Britain who came fourth said: “This is our first year of doing synchro together so we are pleased with our performance.”
Takayuki Kawanishi from Japan said: “We performed two years ago in the same competition so we were pleased to be here again. We will now go back to Japan and go back to work and then slowly build our training ready for the next World Cup event in April. Birmingham is a great city and in fact I prefer it to London. The Christmas illuminations are amazing and there is such a friendly and welcoming atmosphere.” Ludovic Martin from Switzerland said: “We are pleased with our performance and we did hope that we could get a medal today. We have been synchro partners for ten years and enjoy competing together.” Michael Serth from Germany said: “I think the NIA is fantastic and the atmosphere is really good. I think Birmingham is amazing and we have managed to see loads of places. The German market is just like the one in Frankfurt. Henrik Stehlik said: "We are both really happy with our performance and it was great to get first place. I would like to compete at the next World Cup and hopefully with Michael in the synchro event'.
Anna Korobeynikova said: “It was not easy competing today as it is the end of the year and we have had competition after competition. I was very focused and didn't really hear the crowd as you just think about your performance. I have noticed though that English people really enjoy their sport.”
You might also want to take a look at Mikes Gallery on TrampolineGB.co.uk
6.7
4.1
The winners in the previous World Cup Final, in Algiers (ALG) 2004 were as follows:
Trampolining Mens Ind - Yuri Nikitin (UKR) Womens Ind - Irina Karavaeva (RUS) Mens Synchro - Nakata / Kawanishi (JPN) Womens Synchro - Karavaeva / Kolesnikova (RUS)
See the current world ranking ...
The participation is based on the World Ranking List, standing 30 days prior to the 1st competition day.
The top eight gymnasts and pairs of the World Ranking Lists are invited to participate.
In case of a tie at the 8th place of the World Ranking List, the tie will be broken as follows:
Higher number of World Ranking List Points received at the last World Championships, if there is still a tie, the points received at the last World Cup Finals.
In case that the Organising Member Federation has not qualified any gymnasts at all for the Finals, it may nominate one men or one women in Trampoline Individual, one pair (male or female) in TRA Synchro, and one men or one women in Tumbling.
The respective Gymnasts must have participated in the World Cup Series 2005-2006. Gymnasts who benefit from such a Wild Card will receive Prize Money and Medals, but will not receive World Cup Points.
