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| European Age Group Games in Acrobatic Gymnastics |
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Over 220 gymnasts from 15 different countries competed at the 4th European Age Group games in Acrobatic Gymnastics, which were held in Vile do Conde, Portugal on the 27th & 28th September. Sara Rennick & Tricia Sloyan from Carlow, Caley Monks & Niamh Kelly of Ballincollig were Ireland’s representatives in the Women’s Pairs category, while Laura Murphy, Fiona Bruce & Katelyn Bailey from Gymstars Wexford, and Louise Cantillon, Jenny McCarthy & Regina Griffen from the Pyramid Gymnastics club in Foynes were competing in the Women’s Group category.
Sara & Tricia had the difficult task of performing the 1st routine of the whole competition, and they rose to the occasion posting a score of 27.8 which included an execution mark of 9.05 and an Artistry mark of 8.75. This was a crucial score in the context of qualifying as following the Tempo routines in the afternoon Ireland & Germany were tied for the final qualifying spot, but the superior execution score was enough to see Sara & Tricia qualify for their 2nd major consecutive finals. Our other pair Caley Monks & Niamh Kelly, was competing at this level for the 1st time and scored execution marks of 8.8 for both their routines, and can be well pleased with their final ranking of 15th of the 22 competitors.
Following the morning session our Women’s Trio of Laura, Fiona & Katelyn were tied with Germany for a place in the finals, but a harsh time fault in their balance routine allowed Germany to pull ahead in the race for the final qualifying spot. It was however the best performance by an Irish trio at this level since the European Championships of Greece 2005, and they can be well pleased with their efforts, especially with their execution and artistry scores of 8.65 & 8.6 respectively for their Balance routine. Our 2nd pair of Louise, Jennifer and Regina performed a terrific Tempo routine which included an Artistry score of 8.35, but despite scoring 8.2 for both Execution & Artistry in their Balance routine a couple of time penalties allowed Switzerland, Greece & the Netherlands to pass them out in the rankings.
In the Finals, Sara & Tricia were competing against gymnasts from Russia, Great Britain, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Lithuania, and Czech Republic. Once again they gave an outstanding performance but a 0.3 deduction in their final balance was the decisive factor in preventing them from matching their 5th place at last years Worlds. The margins at this level are so tight that just 0.45 separated the 3rd place Polish pair and Sara & Tricia in 8th place. Whilst they were disappointed at the eventual result, Sara & Tricia can be justifiably proud of their achievement of qualifying for finals at both World & European Age Group Games.
Coaches Michael Hughes, John O’Mahony, Joanne Mahoney & Ide Healy can be very proud of their gymnasts, and great credit must also be given to National Squad director Roisin Kavanagh to have 4 groups prepared and able to perform high class routines at this level. A special word of thanks also to our physiotherapist and former international Acrobat David Sheehan who worked tirelessly in making sure all the girls were in tip top shape for the competition.
All routines can be viewed on the UEG Gymnastics web site, just click on the events section and follow the links to the European Age Group Games Acrobatic Gymnastics.
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