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Bournemouth Gala Weekend - 1st-2nd March 2008
With 7 performers competing this weekend expectations were mixed.
- Gemma & Natasha needed to simply improve over their last outing just a couple of weeks ago and see a clear way to (i) qualifying to the equivalent FIG B competition for next year and (ii) qualifying to nationals;
- Matt having recently returned to training following problems with his knee (he only recently discovered he had a fracture) was hoping to at least perform well;
- Stephen & Scott, both on fire in training needed to show they could put it on in competition as well;
- Anthony needed to at least qualify to the equivalent National C competition for next year this time, whilst
- Hannah was determined to qualify to grade 1.
In the event they all achieved objectives with a good medal haul as well!
Competing on the Saturday Anthony Williams was first on and surpassed himself. With 3 new personal best scores he was joint first in the Grade 2 Over 19 group after the set and fell back to second place by only a small margin after the voluntary nearly pulling back to level in the final but ending in 2nd place; more importantly he qualified to Grade 2 National Finals and National C competition for next year. A little later Hannah McCann was competing in the Grade 2 Under 13 Validation competition to achieve qualification to Grade 1. With a more difficult set routine Hannah did not expect to improve on her Eastleigh scores but she established a clear lead in the set round, extending it in the voluntary and not only won but beat the qualifying score by 1.4 points being the only performer in the group to qualify!
Sunday saw the Grade 1 and European Trial competitions. Stephen Page competing in the Under 17 Grade 1 once again surpassed his previous personal best scores and stormed to a winning place holding it from set to final; Scott Gregory, meanwhile, competing in the European Trial took the longer route to a win, being in 8th place after the set he inched up to 3rd after the voluntary and then took 1st place in the final by a good margin. Although a win, the trial takes place over two competitions and so the big job is still work in progress. Next to compete were Gemma Phillips and Natasha Holme, also in Under 17 Grade 1. Although finishing disappointingly low in the field both achieved their objectives with a marked improvement over their scores at their last outing and qualification to compete at FIG B level next year - both also narrowly missed qualifying for National Finals.
The last competitor of the day was Matt Wright in the Grade 1 Men's competition. Although not fully fit after his return he put in a good effort staking claim to 3rd place in the set and voluntary rounds and a qualification to Men's National Finals (top 40%) and FIG A competition (top 50%) next year. With the 'zero final' however he added a little difficulty but then paid for that with reduced form and ended in 5th place (although with 4th highest aggregate score). Hopefully once fully fit he will be hitting the medals in future outings!
Their results were:
| Competitor | Group | Set | Vol | SubT | Final | Total | Place | Qualification | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony Williams | O17 G2 | 23.4٭ | 22.1 + 6.8 | (28.9) | 52.3٭ | 23.0 + 6.8 | (29.8) | 82.1٭ | 2/17 | Qualified Nationals & National C |
| Hannah McCann | U13 G1 Val | 23.3 | 23.3 + 4.8 | (28.1) | 51.4 | 51.4 | 1/7 | Qualified Grade 1 | ||
| Stephen Page | U17 G1 | 24.8 | 22.7 + 10.1 | (32.8) | 57.6٭ | 22.9 + 10.1 | (33.0) | 90.6٭ | 1/6 | Qualified Nationals |
| Scott Gregory | Euro Trial | 24.0 | 22.0 + 13.6 | (35.6) | 59.6 | 22.2 + 13.8 | (36.0) | 95.6 | 1/16 | |
| Gemma Phillips | U17 G1 | 23.2 | 22.1 + 7.0 | (29.1) | 52.3 | 52.3 | 16/22 | Qualified FIG B | ||
| Natasha Holme | U17 G1 | 23.9 | 21.3 + 7.0 | (28.3) | 52.2 | 52.2 | 17/22 | Qualified FIG B | ||
| Matthew Wright | Men's G1 | 25.8+2.5٭ | 21.5 + 13.6 | (35.1) | 63..4 | 20.7 + 14.2 | (34.9) | 98.3 | 5/10 | Qualified Nationals & FIG A |
٭ New Personal Best score