I've been so incredibly busy for the past week I couldn't get around to viewing the juniors at RG Euros until yesterday. I suppose the wait was good in that it gave me time to reflect on my feelings about the girls, beyond their scores. Three days of competition highlighted two countries as primed to dominate the scene next quad: Russia and Belarus. The challenge was fierce, as Belarusians, Italians, and Israelis gave our girls a hard time the first day of the team all around, with Belarus leading the Russians and Israel not far behind them. On the second day, the Italians, led by stable performances from Alexandra Agiurgiuclese, pulled ahead of Israel for an exciting third place finish. By day 2, the Russians had overpowered the Belarusian team, but not without some sketchy scoring from the e-panel that didn't fully represent the work that was shown. Alina had a very shaky balance in the clubs (9.233 e-score), dropped her ball (9.00 e-score), and Polina had to chase the clubs almost oob (9.266 e-score). Now I'm aware that one mistake cannot devastate an overall good performance but I do consider these types of e-scores to be sacred, and should not be given out for anything less than perfection. The girls did very very well, but by my estimate, are ignorant of what needs improvement thanks to overzealous judges.
2 Golds, Team and Rope
Alina Ermolova did the all around, being the only member of her team to compete every apparatus. It was her reward for a year of strong performances in several domestic and international tournaments. She lived up to her hype but turned out not to be the most successful girl at Euros. I see a lot of people are looking at Alina to be the next big thing because of her obvious talent and who's backing her, but the rise to the top will require overcoming many current seniors in the top 10 in Russia who are sticking around next quad. Ermolova is that rare creature who is loved for the same reason she is criticized: she is a mini Yana Kudryatseva. They do share certain physical attributes. But beyond that, she moves with a practiced lightness and an easy elegance that mimics the queen. Like Yana, she aims for perfect execution. And like Yana, I think she lacks the spark of life. Not that I have a problem with clean consistent work- never! - but both young ladies perform with the levelheadedness one has when taking an exam, and they can come off as...wooden, even when they're trotting to festive music. Nevertheless, I love a gymnast who shows cool composure when no small amount of dexterity is required and Alina has it. I can't bear to listen to her cloyingly cute rope music so here are the clubs instead ( her face as soon as the music ends):
3 Golds, Team, Ball, Clubs
One of the youngest gymnasts to compete in Holon was also the most successful by the conclusion of the championships. Polina's fandom grew out of admiration for her being one of the few juniors who've already found their hallmark style. Her shorter build is different from the long and leggy gymnasts typically coming out of Russia, but "though she be but little she is fierce." She's quick and determined in her movements, and can win any audience over with her expressive face. She's a joy to watch, in short. I'm as enthusiastic about her as others are because she's got the best of our current leaders (Soldatova, Mamun, Kudryatseva) in her. Her golden ball routine (I am sad there aren't any closeup of her face, she really sold this at Nat's):
2 Golds, Team, Hoop
Maria contributed to the team gold with rope and hoop and qualified into the latter final. She has great amplitude on her leaps and her ring pivot is lovely but I find her winning routine to be a bit on the bland side. Her smile, her choreography, it all seems "put on." She also showed minor sloppiness in her apparatus handling throughout the competition and others have been quick to accuse her of being the most overscored at Euros. I think it's less controversial for anti-Russian fans to attack an athlete like Sergeeva because her work currently lacks substance and it's easier to attack someone who doesn't inspire or impress you. Contrasting the various uploaded videos of Maria with her teammates, the comment sections don't dare go after Alina or Polina although they got gifts as well. I'm sure Maria will make her contribution to the medal machine but if she doesn't try to evolve, by the time she's a senior she might serve to further the careers of more artistic gymnasts. Still, she's is a great utility player and definitely belonged on this team because the choices that were left at home are inconsistent with their results. Each girl made at least one individual final- hard in a one per country meet- and they swept the gold medals.
While nothing unexpected upset the Russians, that doesn't mean there weren't a lot of nice surprises from emerging talent, some of whom outdid Russia in either d-score or e-score. This is not an exhaustive list but some standout performances:
Full results here
Photos belong to Russian Daily VK
I've been so incredibly busy for the past week I couldn't get around to viewing the juniors at RG Euros until yesterday. I suppose the wait was good in that it gave me time to reflect on my feelings about the girls, beyond their scores. Three days of competition highlighted two countries as primed to dominate the scene next quad: Russia and Belarus. The challenge was fierce, as Belarusians, Italians, and Israelis gave our girls a hard time the first day of the team all around, with Belarus leading the Russians and Israel not far behind them. On the second day, the Italians, led by stable performances from Alexandra Agiurgiuclese, pulled ahead of Israel for an exciting third place finish. By day 2, the Russians had overpowered the Belarusian team, but not without some sketchy scoring from the e-panel that didn't fully represent the work that was shown. Alina had a very shaky balance in the clubs (9.233 e-score), dropped her ball (9.00 e-score), and Polina had to chase the clubs almost oob (9.266 e-score). Now I'm aware that one mistake cannot devastate an overall good performance but I do consider these types of e-scores to be sacred, and should not be given out for anything less than perfection. The girls did very very well, but by my estimate, are ignorant of what needs improvement thanks to overzealous judges. 
her face as soon as the music ends):
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