Swiss Cup 2009
Zurich (SUI), November 1, 2009

LAUSANNE (SUI), FIG Office, November 2, 2009: This year saw the 21st edition of the Swiss Cup held as a mixed pairs competition, but it was the first time that a pair from Germany claimed the Gold. In the presence of 6,500 enthusiastic spectators, Kim Bui and Matthias Fahrig won the traditional meet in Zurich on Sunday, edging out yet another German duo, their team-mates Elisabeth Seitz and Thomas Taranu. Just as in 2006, the host country’s first entry Ariella Kaeslin and Niki Boeschenstein placed third. Qualified second for the Final, Ukrainians Yana Demjantschuk and Mykola Kuksenkow finished on rank four.

Crucial to the German triumph was the final round, when all four qualified pairs’ previous scores were set to zero. World Championship finalist and European medallist on Vault, Matthias Fahrig, outclassed his competitors with a high score of 16.050. Taranu also impressed his fans with 15.600 points. In Women’s, World Silver medallist Kaeslin scored the highest with an average of 14.825 in the Final. She was the only gymnast to perform two vaults and with a total of 56.750 for the four routines, Kaeslin was the best female gymnast in this competition, placing just ahead of Demjantschuk (56.350).

After two rounds, former winners of the Swiss Cup China (9.), Romania (10.) and Russia (12.), with a reputation as gymnastic powerhouse countries, were eliminated surprisingly early this year. World Champion Marian Dragulescu’s fantastic performance on Vault was not enough to preserve the honour of favourite Romania after Diana Chelaru’s fatal 9.800 on Uneven Bars. European Champion Ksenia Semyonova (RUS), who paired up with Sergei Khorokhordin, gave a disappointing performance on Beam (12.650) and Floor (12.250), while China’s He Ning and Liang Fuliang were unable to best a joint 55.550 after two apparatus. Canada placed second to last and along with Switzerland’s second duo Linda Stämpfle / Daniel Groves (8.), pairs from the Netherlands (5.), France (6.) and Italy (7.) were benched after three rounds.

Check out the detailed results!