ROTATION 2:
Alexei Nemov only managed a 9,4 SV for his pommel horse routine (struggle in the middle) - and Maxim Devitatovski didn't show enough to pull Russia up from fifth place. Two time world champion Vlassios Maras caught his Pegan a little close on high bar but worked in and out of his combinations well and nailed his dismount. Over on pommels, Marian Dragulescu showed very little hip lift but put up a brave fight through his routine while team mate Marius Urzica floated through his  with all the routine of the veteran he is. 9,800 is the highest score of the competition to date. Germany put in another solid effort over on vault with a double twisting Yurchenko from Sven Kwiatkowski. Young Matthias Fahrig attempted to qualify to the event finals, but sat down his second vault of handspring double front.
Olympic champion Igors Vikhorvs (LAT) put in a good, if not excellent effort on his party piece - floor. Alex Barranechea of Spain came of parallel bars crushing some Spanish dreams.
After two events, Romania remains ahead of Germany, Belarus, France and Russia.

ROTATION 3:
Marian Dragulescu inserted some swing into the first half on his rings routine and took a huge step on his tucked double-double dismount for a mere 9,362. The Germans suffered a set back with only an 8,837 for Kwiatkowski's parallel bars routine after a huge break.
Swiss Patrick Domniguez took a nasty fall on his full-twisting punch 1 1/2 front to forward roll, landing on his neck, but was able to finish his routine unharmed. Jesus Carballo, injured for a long time, came back here to compete well on high bar (stalder+ counter hecht with 1/2 turn) but only dismounted with a tucked full-twisting double back. Nonethless, his score of 9,700 should earn him a trip to the final.
Florent Marée stuck his handspring double front (very cowboyed second salto)
Nikolai Kryukov dared to be different on rings with a triple back tucked dismount and displayed his usual elegance. The judges took a long time deciding his score. Alexander Safoshkin was clean, strong and stable and capped off his routine with a double layout.
Romania still are the ones to beat at the halfway stage followed by Belarus. Russia has moved up two places and is third now. Germany has dropped to rank four. France is fifth.

ROTATION 4:
Nemov only vaulted once, thus giving up his chance of a final berth, showing a RO-1/2 -layout 1 1/2 off. Russia's vaulting star Anton Golotsutskov twisted his ankle during the first day of training in Ljubljana and cannot compete. Safoshkin put his hands down on his Yurchenko double pike.
Romania had a strong rotation on vault with Marian Dragulescu taking a step back on his handspring double front half. The amount of air time he has is incredible.
Dmitri Karbonenko had some trouble after a healy on parallel bars but showed a nice 1 1/2 pirouette on one rail.
Rafael Martinez put in a solid floor routine for Spain, dismounting with an original 2 1/2 punch barani.
Ivan Ivankov gave a clinic in form and beautiful handstands on parallel bars with a very solid routine.
Romania is now two points ahead of the Belarussians, who came here hungry to show the world the are still a gymnastics force. Russia remains in third place ahead of Germany, France, Spain and Ukraine.

ROTATION 5:
Germany's Thomas Andergassen went out of bounds on his first tumble and looked a tad uninspired throughout his floor routine. Team mate Kwiatkowski had problems as well, landing his double front second pass in a squat and going out of bounds on his dismount.
Alexander Kruzhylov swung a dynamic set on high bar for Belarus with a Kovacs and nice elgrip work. Ivankov  competed almost nonchalantly - full-twisting tucked Kovacs and piked Kovacs, nailing his double twisting double layout for a 9,387 (9,70 SV).
Ioan Suciu showed the first sign of nerves when he completely lost his mount sequence on parallel bars.
Over on floor, Ukraine made up some lost ground with a strong set from Alexander Svetlichni - nice piked full-in dismount. Roman Zozulia looks on track for a good all-around showing.
Safoshkin threw a double piked between the rails on parallel bars, but struggled a little. Kryukov showed one of the nicest double pike dismounts at the end of another elegant perfromance.Nemov engaged in some fast thinking when he only was able to straddle the bar with one leg, which refelected in his score. (No bonus for originality, here!)
Going into the final round, Romania looks unstoppable. Belarus and Russia remain on track for silver and gold respectively. France in fourth place followed by Germany and Spain.

ROTATION 6 - Final Rotation....:
The final rotation had Italy on rings and finally Yuri Chechi's long awaited come back on the event he dominated for so long. 14 years after winning his first European title, Chechi claimed a 9,650 on the event with his trademark strength moves and good technique.
Russia finished the competition on high bar, vyying for the bronze. Deviatovski ran into problems on his full-twisting inside stalder but avoided serious trouble. Kryukov threw a rare Gaylord and presented a clean routine while Nemov suffered a disaster with a fall on his release sequence. After a piked Tkachev-straddled Tkachev, he failed to catch the second piked Tkachev, a mistake which would be very costly.
Meanwhile the French team was working well on floor with good tumbles. Florent Marée showed excellent lines everywhere and a nice front layout to double front opener. Though he may not have known it at the time, veteran Dmitri Karbonenko's tucked full-twisting double back clinched the bronze medal for France.
Also finishing on floor were the Belarussians, who continued their clean and calm work. Denis Savenkov may have taken a step on his double pike dismount but he was greeted by high fives from Ivankov and a silver medal when he stepped off the podium.
With a huge lead going into the final rotation, Romania had only to avoid disaster on high bar - and they did just that. Dragulescu was good, if not brillant but threw both a full-twisting Kovacs and a Def. Marius Urzica, the final gymnast of the night, wowed the crowd with a Winkler.
Romania was never in danger of losing the title won in Patras two years and calmly marched to the gold. The Belarussians redeemed themselves with a silver, putting the disappointing 13th place of Anaheim behind them while France can celebrate the bronze. Russia once again failed to hold it together when it counted.

(Reported by Nora Schuler)

Final Standing:

>> back to News