Page 1 - WORLD ACROBATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2006 WOMEN’S PAIRS

4 PAGE PHOTO SPECIAL FROM THE WORLD ACROBATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS ON GYMNASTICS ONLINE!

1st - Katsiaryna Murashko and Alina Yushko from Belarus became the new World Acrobatics Women’s Pairs Champions after a superb performance made them very worthy but perhaps unexpected winners of the Title. 

The Pair had already shown excellent form going into World’s after winning the bronze medal in the 2005 European Junior Championships and Gold in the 2006 Puurs World Cup. A beautiful balance exercise in Qualifications received 29.002 and left them in 3rd place behind both Russian Pairs. Their combined exercise received 28.560, just one tenth of a point behind Elena Faleeva and Marina Novikova. A stunning performance in the Final gave them 28.530 for their combined routine to win the World Title and push the Russians into 4th place.

2nd - This promised to be a nail biting final, and we were not dissapointed! Yanna Cholaeva and Anna Melnikova  from Russia, the 2005 European Champions and 2005 World Games Winners led qualifications by just 0.256 ahead of their Russian team mates Elena Faleeva and Marina Novikova with a total of 85.876. However their combined exercise received only the 3rd highest score with 28.307, with Belarus and the other Russian pair both receiving higher scores of 28.560 and 28.570.

Yanna and Anna achieved great consistency but were unable to improve on their Qualifying score as they were once again awarded 28.307 for an excellent routine to claim their first World Championships Silver Medals.

All photos on this Site are copyright of Sing Lo, Samantha Davies, Philip Morton, and World Gym Art. All photos are copyright and must not be used  without permission.

3rd - Yitiiug Liu and Zhiyue Wang China. The Chinese duo impressed in Qualifications with a 4th place finish including a 28.767 for their balance routine which was the 3rd highest in Qualifications. The fine form continued into the World Championships Final where a fascinating contest with the Russians and Belarus ended with China scored 28.266 to win the bronze medals only 0.046 ahead of Elena and Marina.

6th - Natalia Kakhntuk and Kristina Maraziuk were the second Mixed Pair from Belarus to qualify for the World Championships Finals. The winners of the 2006 Flanders International Cup performed an excellent balance routine to score 28.540, and qualify in 6th place for Finals with a margin of 1.336 ahead of the pair from Azabaijan. Their combined routine was not quite as strong as the other Finalist’s as they received 27.740 but a top 6 place in a World Championship’s Final is a fantastic achievement for the young Belarus pair.

The 9th place in Qualifications went to Sonia Pinto & Andreia Conceicao from Portugal who are shown above. A good result for the Portuguese gymnasts who were a big favourite with the home crowd in Coimbra and received a final total of 80.470.

Juanna Rehmann & Mandy Scherr from Germany placed 10th in Qualifications finishing some distance off the other contestants with 76.60. Juanna and Mandy will be dissapointed with their scores after working so hard to qualify for World’s, but to compete in the top 10 in the World is still a fantastic achievement.

AMAZING NEW 4 PAGE PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE 20TH WORLD ACROBATIC GYMNASTICS  CHAMPIONSHIPS!

We are very proud to bring you a fantastic 4 page photo special from the World Sports Acrobatics Championships! This features amazing new photos from Isabel Silva and Eloisa Valdes who are fantastic sports photographers who filmed the IAGC and World Championships. Don’t miss these fabulous 4 pages of photos as they include some of the best photos from the Championships including all your favourite Sports Acrobats!

Isabel and Eloisa specialize in Ice Skating on Isabel’s Web Site where she has some incredible photo galleries and they are also increasing their Sports Acrobatics coverage. Isabel is a regular visitor to Gymnastics Online and has kindly allowed me to use some of their fantastic photos here. All photos in this feature are copyright of Isabel Silva and Eloisa Valdes and must not be reproduced or copied without permission.

Full results from the World Championships and links to every group of photos for the Women’s Pairs, Mixed Pairs, Women’s Groups and Men’s Pairs are shown below. The photos capture all the excitement and drama in Coimbra and include 5 photos of nearly every Great Britain Team member at the World Acrobatics Championships plus all the medalist’s! Our first page features the Women’s Pairs Finals with new World Champions from Belarus. We are also proud to feature a fantastic 9 page photo special from the International Age Group Championships. Just click here to see these amazing photos too!

Please visit Isabel’s fantastic Site to see many more amazing photos from the International Age Group Championships and the World Acrobatics Championships! See her IAGC Photos here and World Acro Championships photos here!

20th ACROBATIC GYMNASTICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

14th to 17th June 2006 in Coimbra, (POR)

Women’s Pairs Qualifications

15 June 2006

1 RUS CHOLAEVA Yanna / MELNIKOVA Anna

Balance Exercise 28.809

Tempo Exercise 28.760

Combined Exercise 28.307     Total 85.876

2 RUS FALEEVA Elena / NOVIKOVA Marina

Balance Exercise 28.290

Tempo Exercise 28.750

Combined Exercise 28.570     Total 85.610

3 BLR MURASHKO K. / YUSHKO Alina

Balance Exercise 29.002

Tempo Exercise 27.970

Combined Exercise 28.560     Total 85.532

4 CHN LIU Yiting / WANG Zhiyue

Balance Exercise 28.767

Tempo Exercise 28.080

Combined Exercise 27.466   Total 84.313

5 UKR LOMACHENKO A. / ZHORNYAK Elena

Balance Exercise 28.369

Tempo Exercise 28.260

Combined Exercise 27.640   Total 84.269

6 BLR MARAZIUK Kristina / KAKHNTUK Natalia

Balance Exercise 28.540

Tempo Exercise 27.570

Combined Exercise 27.790   Total 83.900

7 AZE ABBASOVA Dinara / AHMADOVA Ayla

Balance Exercise 27.504

Tempo Exercise 28.080

Combined Exercise 26.980   Total 82.564

8 GBR CAMERON Julie / CROW Amy

Balance Exercise 28.290

Tempo Exercise 27.400

Combined Exercise 25.950   Total 81.640

9 POR PINTO Sonia / CONCEICAO Andreia

Balance Exercise 27.730

Tempo Exercise 26.300

Combined Exercise 26.440   Total 80.470

10 GER REHMANN Juana / SCHERR Mandy

Balance Exercise 27.150

Tempo Exercise 25.120

Combined Exercise 24.330   Total 76.600

20th ACROBATIC GYMNASTICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

14th to 17th June 2006 in Coimbra, (POR)

Women’s Pairs Finals

17 June 2006

1 BLR MURASHKO K. / YUSHKO Alina 28.530

2 RUS CHOLAEVA Yanna / MELNIKOVA Anna 28.307

3 CHN LIU Yiting / WANG Zhiyue 28.266

4 RUS FALEEVA Elena / NOVIKOVA Marina 28.220

5 UKR LOMACHENKO A. / ZHORNYAK Elena 28.140

6 BLR MARAZIUK Kristina / KAKHNTUK Natalia 27.740