Bristol International 2009

The Bristol International competition has become a popular international club competition and this year’s event, held between 20th and 22nd of February at Yate Leisure Centre, was no exception.

Twelve clubs took part in the two-day event with international representatives from Russia, Germany, Holland and Switzerland. Many clubs from across Britain also took part, including; Spelthorne, Wakefield, Harefield, Oxford, Southampton and hosts, King Edmunds. There were several gymnasts who represented Great Britain at the 2008 World Championships in Glasgow competing with their new partnerships for the first time, and the Russian mixed pair, Maslakova and Kiselev, returned to our shores, now as juniors. With the new code being implemented for the first time and only four weeks until the British Championships, it was a perfect opportunity for many to debut new skills and perfect their routines before the domestic competition in March.

11-16 AGE GROUP
The 11-16 Age Group competition was very popular, with over 60 gymnasts competing over the weekend. The finals on Sunday proved to be a tough competition across many of the categories.
In the womens Groups, Oxford took the gold medal with an impressive score of 28.333. Wakefield trio of Lee, Laycock and Mallas looked well prepared and solid in their skills, and scored 27.733 for their effort. Hosts, King Edmund took the bronze medal, scoring 27.633, making the top three a very tight competition. The popularity of the 11-16 age group will make for a good selection of clubs competing at the British Championships next month.
There were only two mixed pairs competing, and only one eligible for medal (Harefield pair, Bartlett and Spalding were competing as guests), but it didn’t affect the standard of performance. Christopher Longley and Alice Upcott – younger sister of GB squad member Eddy Upcott- impressed the judges with their range of elements and elegant choreography, scoring 27.993. Looking strong like strong contenders ahead of the British, Connor Bartlett and Millie Spalding gave the judges a taste of the level of competition standard to expect in the age group mixed pair competition, scoring a respectable 27.700 for their balance routine.
The womens pairs was an extremely popular competition, and produced some exception performances in Yate. Wakefield are really beginning to make their presence felt in the category, with a beautiful performance from Beth Sykes and Zoe Whitfield which earned them a technical score of 9.30, artistry score of 9.17 and the gold medal, with an overall score of 28.467. The rest of the pack weren’t far behind the Wakefield girls. Oxford took the silver medal, with Evans and Patrick less than 0.3 behind the gold medal winners with a score of 28.167 Abigail Ralph and Amy McKenzie from Spelthorne were even closer, with just 0.034 separating second and third place.
In men’s pairs, the hosts’ boys battled it out for gold and silver, with the cheeky performance of James May and Jake Underdown taking the top place, with Child and Smith coming second with a score of 25.10, after a few wobbles. The 11-16 Mens Group, also from King Edmunds gave a great performance, for both the audience and judges.

JUNIORS 12-19 AGE GROUP
In the 12-19 (junior) competition it was a chance for some who have recently made the transition from 11-16 to demonstrate their new skills. In mixed pairs the Russian’s, who competed but didn’t medal in the 11-16 Age Group in Glasgow, had the chance to make up for it by trying their luck against current junior World Champions, Josh Simpson and Kim Hunter from Spelthorne. This time luck seemed to be on their side. Simpson and Hunter made an uncharacteristic mistake on cut through to handstand in their combined routine, capping their score at 27.300, whilst the Russian pair impressed the judges with their original choreography and skills, including a impressive rodochlar to one arm, one and a half tucked dismount, scoring them 28.367, just ahead of the world champions. The other mixed pair from Spelthorne, Webster and Tate took the bronze medal.
In the women’s groups two very strong trios from Spelthorne took gold and silver after they both performed high-quality routines. The 11-16 World Age games silver medallists, Burgon, Matthews and Seabourne have made the transition to junior very well indeed, challenging their team mates, Cowler, Kemp and Wood with a routine of similar standards, and equally entertaining to watch. World Champion mixed pair top, Shanie-Redd Thorne was competing for King Edmunds as a base of a trio with former World champion mixed pair top, Shelley Evans and Michaela Jones, and with a score of 26.533 the experienced group took the bronze.
There was only one men’s group competing in the 12-19 age group. Wright, Wilmott, Llwellyn and Bates scored 25.817 with the judges and impressed the audience. They four also further highlight the strength of the men’s partnerships coming from King Edmunds this year, and the ever-growing popularity of men’s groups in Britain.

SENIORS
The senior competition was relatively small in comparison with the Age Groups, with many new partnerships on the horizon, but still taking time to finalise their new skills and polish their routines ahead of the British and trials later in the year. There was also the absence of the bronze-medal winning Mens Group (with new top, Jonathan Stranks), much to the disappointment of the audience. There were two new partnerships from Harefield Gymnastics Academy in the London region competing as guests. Grace Blacklock and Claire-Louise Thompson, who finished 9th in Glasgow in October attended, performing their combined routine with new top Robyn Birch. With the Harefield trio not able to medal as guests Southampton trio, sisters Kirsty and Kelly Warren and their top, Sophie Allison were up against Dutch TV stars. Van Duuren, Diender and Luka appeared on Hollands Got Talent last year and in Yate this weekend took the gold medal with a score of 26.501.
World junior women’s group silver medal winning top, Katy Smith also debuted her new partnership, as the top of a senior mixed pair with Luke Frizoni, performing a near-perfect double straight in their combined routine. They weren’t the only mixed pair competing for the first time in new partnerships. The truly world-class combination of Nicholas Illingworth (formerly senior mixed pair with Sarah Cameron) and Katie Axten (previously senior women’s pair with Elizabeth Oliver) showed their newly formed partnership off in style with strong routines all round, again highlighting the strength of the new Spelthorne partnerships. Illingworth and Axten scored 28.100 for their combined routine, taking the gold medal ahead of partnerships from Southampton Gymnastics and Holland. Whilst Frizoni and Smith weren’t eligible for medals they too impressed the judges with their already high-level skills after just a month together. In womens pairs, World junior silver medallists, Maiken Thorne and Mollie Grehan also moved to the senior category and are showing great potential in their field. The pair took the 28.400 for their balance routine despite Mollie being injured. Another new Spelthorne partnership taking to the floor, post-world championships was in the Mens Pairs competition. Senior world bronze medallist, Edward Upcott and his new base, Doug Fordyce also showed great promise together, already scoring a respectable 26.627 for their new combined routine.

All in all, it should make for a very interesting weekend in Fenton next month.