Great Britain were always in medal contention tussling for positions with Russia and Germany. Finishing on bars the GB girls could only watch the scoreboard as they leapt above Russia and then nervously awaited Russia’s (169.329 for bronze) scores to come through confirming the British silver and joyous tears for gymnasts and coaches.
The format of the competition meant three girls competed on each apparatus with every score counting to the team total – meaning every performance mattered. Starting off the competition on beam the girls shone under pressure, the close team dynamic standing out as all the girls grew with confidence as each gymnast produced fault free routines. On floor the girls showed great expression and performance whilst on vault they completed clean nicely controlled routines. Finishing on bars – where GB excelled in qualification – the girls again performed sensationally under huge pressure with highly difficult routines. The result matches GBR’s best performance to date when they also took silver in the European Championships in Birmingham, 2010.
Germany created a bravura power supply, lost at the floor on one point, but managed to improve on uneven bars and balance beams on and so pushed the last third-placed Italians (2012 Brussels) with 166.796 points excellent fourth - the best finish by far the seventh or eighth ranks.
Within this closed team performance of the German girls shone Sophie Scheder (European Junior Champion 2013) with the highest bars score (15,000), which was the third-highest apparatus level in the entire field, meaning legitimate medal hopes for tomorrow's finals.
The 2012 bronze medalist Italy itself was outclassed by about 5 points from the Germans almost and took time with 161.488 points Rank 5, ahead of Spain (160.921), followed by Belgium (160.728) and Switzerland (160.397), the point differences between the latter three nations only marginally were, but the Swiss girls on beam and floor did not have their best day in particular .
►► TEAM FINAL, Results