JUNIOR GROUPS, 5 HOOPS, 2ND ROTATION Late-riser locals missed out on the
Austrian juniors, who were first in the rotation. Miles better than yesterday (though I overheard a conversation yesterday when a gymnast of the group was asked how was it and the answer was a plain "Scheiss!"
15.100
Serbia with 14.183.
The
Turkish girls still have amazing hair and amazing buns, it's like a tower. One big save on a long throw, big cheers, "Türkiye" chanting. 13.600
Lithuania gets 12.666
Bulgaria, of course, is a level above. Big cheers. Beautiful middle part, great catches, clean, too. Great exchanges, but a mishit and a drop with quick re-catch at the end. Pity as it was great thus far. Still, it should score well. It does, 16.266.
Estonia 15.100
France 14.016. I still like their leo a lot.
Latvia with a 14.750.
Germany also in red all over, looks like there is something the Germans and the French agree on
Mistake, a forlorn hoop spinning away from the girl. Two not-so-elegant catches later on. But they get the ending right. 14.533
Hungary. Our fan group overtook the Czechs for numbers I think, fans blowing of the roof of the Stadhalle. This is much, much better than yesterday's, actually this could be a final contender, but the mistakes yesterday probably buried the chances. 15.266, just one point less than Bulgaria. Nice!
Switzerland. Lot of fans, too, including cowbells. They really seem to be working well with groups, this is an impressive showing. And it shows in the results, 15.833, good one!
Norway 13.266
Poland: hoop crash resulting in a drop. A gymnast out of rhythm in the end. They don't look to happy about it. 13.166
Spain: a not-so-convincing catch at the end. 14.791 with a 0.05 penalty.
Romania 11.775, that won't get out of them from the last position.
Ukraine: the full-carpet kickthrough element is great. Should the girls also try football? I feel it was better than yesterday's, and they need it to be in the final. 15.683
Italy. I like the music choice as well as the performance, good ideas in this one. The ending is superb, Italian fans trying to destroy the Osttribüne. Big chanting. 15.641, puts them 2nd after Bulgaria.
Finland. Cool ending. 14.516
Azerbaijan. Needless to say, the Azeri fans go nuts and get additional support from the Turkish. Some insecurities. ROAR at the end. 16.075, puts them second, in front of Italy but behind Bulgaria. Russia, Belarus, Israel, Czech Rep. and Slovakia still to go.
Slovakia. Canary colours
They leave something in the middle of the carpet, probably part of a skirt. Their "raise by all hoops and hang upside down a gymnast" element is certainly spectacular (I don't want to know how many times the girl fell out of that in trainings!). Nicely done. 13.600
Israel. Final contenders but they need to be alert, can't afford mistakes. I felt some synchronisation problems, but otherwise they got through safe. Up third, 16.450
Russia. The glimmering of the leos is blinding, I'm still seeing stars! They send a message to the others, brilliant last combinations, 16.816, in the lead, what else?
Belarus. The last catch was a very, I mean VERY close shave, but the girl caught it. 16.250, the score took a hit for some whistles in the crowd. Still second, so we're out of the finals.
Czech Rep. Outside chance of a final, but they'll never get a 15.900 which is needed to overtake Ukraine for 8th. 15.300 is not enough.