International GYMNAST Magazine Online: Glasgow Grand Prix Begins Friday

Glasgow Grand Prix Begins Friday
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Amanda Muxlow on Saturday, November 10, 2007
 
Great Britain is bringing out both its best and its untested for the annual
Glasgow Grand Prix, which begins Friday.   Marissa King
The British field in Glasgow includes superstar Beth Tweddle and fellow world
medalist Louis Smith, but also new under-18 national champion Kristian Thomas
and newcomer Kayleigh Cooke.
Training took place Thursday at Kelvin Hall.
Romania's Steliana Nistor was in top form on uneven bars and has added a new
combination of Maloney, shoot 1/2 to handstand, Stalder shoot to high, a
sequence which takes her A score to 7.0 if she performs full difficulty. Uneven
bars was the highlight apparatus this afternoon with Tweddle, Zhou Zhuoru
(China) and Kristina Palesova (Czech Republic) setting the pace.
On beam, Sanne Wevers from the Netherlands performed an exceptional double turn
with leg at horizontal, while Russian Lyudmila Yezhova worked through difficult
combinations (Onodi, free walkover, side somersault) with ease and aplomb. Her
husband, fellow 2004 Olympian Georgy Grebenkov, is on hand as a coach.
China's Fan Ye made a welcome return after her recent success at the 2007
University Games. Performing full difficulty, Ye showed that she is back and
keen to fight for her position on the 2008 Olympic squad.
American newcomer Darlene Hill excelled on floor exercise. She performed double
pikes and tucked double Arabians alongside a routine which projected artistry
and expression - a definite one to watch in the competition.
The men took a much more relaxed approach to the training today, warming up
skills rather than working full routines. The highlight was Krisztian Berki's
exceptional scissors work, one of which he took right to the handstand before
continuing with the sequence.
2007 Glasgow Grand Prix Participants
Nov. 9-11, Glasgow
Austria: Marco Baldauf, Marco Mayr
Belgium: Donna-Donny Truyens, Koen van Damme
Canada: Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, Nansy Damianova
Chile: Tomas Gonzalez Sepulveda
China: Fan Ye, Zhang Nan, Zhou Zhuoru; Du Wei, Feng Zhe, Lu Bin
Croatia: Tina Erceg; Tomislav Markovic, Robert Seligman, Filip Ude
Cyprus: Giorgalas Iriodotos, Aristotelous Constantinos, Spanos Georgios
Czech Republic: Kristina Palesova, Jana Sikulova, Nicole Pechancova
Spain: Arkaitz Garcia, Christian Guillen, Javier Gomez
Finland: Annika Urntho; Jani Tanskaneen, Tomi Tunha, Olli Torkkel
France: Johan Mounard; Danny Rodrigues, Raphael Wignanitz
Great Britain: Hannah Clowes, Kayleigh Cooke, Marissa King, Beth Tweddle; Adam
Cox, Luke Folwell, Stephen Jehu, Daniel Keatings, Louis Smith, Kristian Thomas
Germany: Jenny Brunner, Kim Bui, Julia Hanel; Brian Gladow, Robert Weber
Greece: Eleftherios Kosmidis, Barmpakis Khonstantionos
Hungary: Eniko Korcsmaros; Krisztian Berki, Vid Hidvegi
Israel: Valeria Maksyuta
Japan: Takehito Mori, Eiichi Sekiguchi
Latvia: Yevgeny Sapronenko, Dmitry Trefilovs
Luxembourg: Sascha Palgen
Netherlands: Verona van de Leur, Sanne Wevers; Yuri van Gelder, Jeffrey Wammes,
Epke Zonderland
Norway: Espen Jansen
Poland: Paula Plichta; Kamil Hulbuj
Romania: Steliana Nistor, Daniela Druncea; Cosmin Popescu, Daniel Popescu,
Robert Stanescu
Russia: Lyudmila Yezhova Grebenkova, Daria Yelizarova; Alexander Balandin,
Dmitry Gogotov, Sergei Khorokhordin, Konstantin Pluzhnikov, Anatoly Vasilyev
Slovenia: Adela Sajn; Mitja Petkovsek, Aljaz Pegan, Saso Bertoncelj, Sebastijan
Straus, Ziga Britovsek
Slovakia: Alexander Benko, Samuel Piasecky
Tunisia: Wajdi Bouallegue
Ukraine: Marina Kostyuchenko, Marina Sergiyenko, Daria Zgoba; Vadim Kuvakin,
Vitaly Nakonechny, Alexander Suprun
United States: Darlene Hill, Natasha Kelly
Venezuela: Regulo Carmona