A Cause For Concern...And Celebration
The All-Around
final has concluded and Russia's only competitor in the field, Seda Tutkhalyan,
finished in 15th place after a fall on beam devalued her entire routine. She
opened the competition with a strong DTY: legs glued together, slightly piked
in the last rotation, a big hop on the landing but right down the middle. She scored a 14.866, but I
feel she's scored the same with better vaults in the past. I was nervous
for her on bars because, while she's not inconsistent there, it's a weaker event
for her and you can't be sure that a hit routine won't still end up in the 13's.
But I had nothing to worry about. She performed beautifully and the only
complaint I noted was that she wasn't anywhere near vertical on handstands. She got an 8.5 in execution, which I think is a career high for her,
internationally. Go Seda! Moving on to where it all unravelled (a second time
for her at Worlds)...beam.
The RO+LO, she nailed, but the round off to full
twisting layout was completely off center and she skidded off the side of the beam. The rest of the routine
was done very well; I think she might've been very angry with herself, and that extra adrenaline translated to a very assertive performance for
the remainder of the set. You can see it on her face, even when she doesn't
fall, just how badly she wants to master this beam routine. Unfortunately,
because Seda's feet didn't touch the beam after the full twist, the judges
didn't give her credit for the skill and any connection value it included. An enquiry proved slightly successful, but we can only surmise what they decided
to credit her for when they changed her d-score to a 5.3. The damage was done
anyhow; a final score of 12.700 effectively knocked her out of any podium
potential she might've had, and removed her from a top 10 finish as well.
It's
important to understand that the AA field this year was more competitive than
preceding Worlds; the cutoff qualifying score was 55.216 and the difference
between 24th and 12th was just five tenths. In a final where mostly everyone's
potential is distinguished by tenths and half tenths, a score in the 12's is
fatal. It speaks to Seda's fighting spirit and talent that she still closed her
day with a 55.432. We must not give up on her. I do wish that she would find a
suitable fx arrangement and stick to it because she's changed tumbling passes, turns,
and upgraded over the year, and I hate to see her d-score constantly going up and
down because she's not consistent. In the AA final, she neglected her troublesome wolf turn
to double spin combo and had an incomplete memmel downgraded, leaving her with
a 5.3 difficulty, five tenths down from her normal start value! I know it's
tempting to be done with Seda, especially when we are so near to getting
new seniors who are consistent, but where she's shown reason for concern, I see- elsewhere- reason for celebration. We know things didn't go well on beam but look at
Seda's execution on the other three apparatus: 9.066 VT, 8.5 UB, 8.2FX. Russia
can still make a champion of this girl with more time, patience and
encouragement from both the establishment that trains her and her fans. I see a spark in Seda's eyes that lets me know she's hungry for success, but she will need more time to learn how to grab hold of it and not let it go. Onward and forward, Seda, I believe in you!
Other cause for
celebration comes in the form of a REAL apology from Vika, on her newly
created facebook page. Vika said some hasty and very nasty things about her
competitors after losing an easy team medal, Tuesday night, but showed real
character by issuing a second, more sincere apology to those she offended.
Bravo, Vika. I cannot stay mad at someone who genuinely seeks forgiveness,
so on my part I can forgive and move on. And how timely, with the UB
final tomorrow! Vika, I hope to see you as a World medalist in a few hours.
It's been a
crazy World Championships so far: Romania sent to the Test Event, Netherlands
qualifies for Rio, Simone has a three-peat, Cuba wins a medal after years of
not participating in Worlds, Romania has two top 8 AAer's while Russia has
none, and China's MAG dominance is shattered.
I'd be lying if
I said I'm not anxious with the way things have gone for
Russia so far. Both MAG and WAG seemed much stronger teams at the beginning of the season
than what the results are telling us now: it's day 4 and neither has won any
medals yet. But I know that celebration will come eventually in the Russian
camp, and when I consider all the things to look forward to - new seniors, a more seasoned Tutkhalyan, Aliya's return, Nikita Ignatyev's improving
AA potential, and Vika's return to AA- I still find myself saying, "everything's
going to be all right."
Congrats to all the medalists so far.
WAG AA Results here.
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