Glasgow 2015: routines you can’t miss, part 2

Here is the second part of the list of worth watching routines from Glasgow. It’s important to remember that this article is not supposed to include the absolute best performances we saw during the world championships. On the contrary, the goal is to include athletes who manage to show impressive work despite coming from small gymnastics countries. Some of those routines showcase an impressive level of difficulty, others are unique and others are very artistic but they all caught my attention during worlds.

North Korea’s Pak Sin Hyang performed had a very respectable 5.8 start value on balance beam. Her routine included a front tuck, two back handsprings into a back pike, a switch half, a front aerial into a sheep jump and a double pike dismount done in combination. She was the only member of her team to actually hit a solid routine during qualifications and she posted their highest score on this event.

Ana Derek of Croatia performed an effortless front tuck half out on vault and it definitely looks like she could add an extra half twist in there next year.

Paula Mejias of Puerto Rico, who was a reserve for the vault finals showed an excellent tucked rudi during qualifications. She was also impressive on floor exercise, where she’s capable of great tumbling. She had a big step forwards on her double arabian but the height she got was impressive and she made up for it with a strong 2.5 + front full combination and a fabulous stuck whip + double tuck dismount.

The elegant Katarzyna Jurkowska-Kowalska from Poland started her floor routine with a stuck double front and she continued with 2.5 twists into a front handspring. I’m not sure if this is what she was planning to do or if she had to improvise but it certainly was an interesting tumbling pass. I also loved her double front twist, her original ring jump full and her low to the floor choreography.

Pauline Schaefer wrote history by becoming Germany’s first world medalist on balance beam but she was also quite impressive on floor exercise, where she performed a lovely double layout, a double front twist and a stuck double pike while also showing graceful choreography. Germany had a fair amount of trouble on floor so the solid score she delivered was much-needed.

Puerto Rico’s Andrea Maldonado showed an impressive whip + triple full opening pass on floor exercise before sticking her double tuck and performing an easy but beautiful rudi + stag jump. Her choreography was very entertaining as well.

Yvet Rojas of Venezuela performed a fantastic 1.5 pirouette into a piked jaeger on the uneven bars. The rest of her routine was not spectacular but her bail and her double front dismount were well performed.

The lovely Teja Belak of Slovenia had an excellent performance on her favorite event, showing great form and control during her front tucked full and her yurchenko 1.5.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Thema Williams performed a beautiful floor routine. Her tumbling passes were not the most difficult ones we saw but she showed great control and clean execution during her double pike, her 2.5 twists and her double tuck were. I absolutely loved her memmel turn, her leaps and her choreography, that showed off her great flexibility. Thema, who trains with John Geddert, will represent her country at the 2016 Test Event and she has a brilliant chance to go to Rio.

Sara Raposeiro from Portugal performed one of the most artistic routines we’ve seen during the entire year. She’s such a charismatic and expressive gymnast, who knows how to sell her routine to the crowd and her routine is incredibly choreographed and she’s showing tons of personality. This is probably the performance I enjoyed the most during the entire world championships and I’m in love with her cute choreography and her smile.

Sweden’s Kim Singmuang was very impressive on her best event, the uneven bars, where she showed a high jaeger, a shaposhnikova, a stalder full into a tkatcev and a fabulous full twisting double layout dismount.

Courtney McGregor of New Zealand landed her double twisting yurchenko with just a tiny hop.

The beautiful Emma Larson from Sweden showed power and elegance on floor, where she stuck her double layout cold and got fantastic height during her double tuck and her double pike.

Spain’s Nora Fernandez was lovely on balance beam, where she performed a beautiful silivas mount a lovely back handspring + back handspring + lay out step out series and a difficult double pike dismount.

Argentina’s Ayelen Tarabini did not have the performance she wanted on her favorite event, the floor exercise but she got her redemption on balance beam. She is capable of an impressive standing front tuck, a beautiful switch half, a front and a side aerial and a high double tuck dismount.

Ana Perez Campos from Spain shined on floor where she stuck her two whips + double tuck and her double pike while also landing her tucked full in and showing a unique leap and a double L turn.

Her teammate, Maria Paula Vargras was impressive on balance beam despite some wobbles. She showed a round of into a layout, a switch leap into a side aerial and a double pike dismount. However, the event where she really shined was the uneven bars, where she performed a toe on full + maloney + pak combination, a high jaeger a very unique dismount that nobody else did at Glasgow. Her reaction when she stuck this landing was one of my favorite moments of the competition.

Zhanerke Duisek of Kazakhstan did not really have the best competition of her life and she fell on balance beam, where she also barely put her double pike dismount on her feet. However, her STUNNING philipps mount is a piece of art and it makes this routine worth watching. I also love her back walkover into a pose low to the beam and I’m very impressed with her for not falling on her round of + back tuck, since her right floor barely made contact with the beam.

Spain showed some excellent work on the uneven bars. Roxana Popa unfortunately had a fall but Natalia Ros performed a van leeuwen, a jaeger, a maloney + bail + toe on full combination and a lovely double layout dismount.

Her teammate, Claudia Colom performed a spectacular set which included a high ray, a bhardwaj, a maloney + gienger combination and a double layout. She certainly has some cleaning up to do but I absolutely love her on this event.

Yulia Inshina, who is representing Azerbaijan, had what was probably the best routine we’ve seen from her during this quad. She brought back her double arabian, she was extremely clean during her 1.5 + front full combination and she landed her double pike dismount. It was great to see her hitting this routine and I definitely enjoy her energetic choreography. You can read more about her choreography here

Hong Un Jong is famous for her fantastic vaulting but she’s also capable of a fabulous 1.5 + triple full + front tuck and two whips into a double pike on floor exercise. Her choreography leaves a lot to be desired but I actually think this is the more she has danced during her career.

Dorina Boczogo from Hungary is a fabulous floor worker, capable of a double layout, a piked full in, a double front, a ferrari and a memmel turn. A couple of her landings were a bit off during qualifications and this hurt her execution score but I definitely enjoyed her tumbling and her elegant choreography and I’m hoping to see her being successful on this event in the future. She unfortunately had a fall on balance beam but her one hand handstand mount is to die for.

I am obsessed with Ilaria Kaeslin’s work on balance beam! She has a world class routine, which includes a switch ring, an onodi + sheep jump and a kochektova, she shows fabulous flexibility and elegance throughout her entire performance and her mount is simply stunning. I can’t wait until she upgrades her dismount into a D rated gainer layout and fights for medals on this event

Tjasa Kysselef of Slovenia has one of the most artistic floor routines in the world and I absolutely love her choreography, her attitude and her ability to perform to the crowd.

Part 1

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