World Games 2009 Test Events, Kaohsiung (TPE)

KAOHSIUNG (TPE) FIG Office, October 29, 2008: The Rhythmic Gymnastics event of the World Games 2009 Test Series continued today in Kaohsiung (TPE) with Clubs and Ribbon Qualifications and Finals. With impressive consistency, 17 year old Natalia Pichuzhkina (RUS) underscored her dominance in this competition by winning a Gold in all four disciplines.

Clubs

Leading the qualifying round, Russian Aleksandra Ermakova fell back to rank two in the Clubs Final, once again being edged out by her compatriot Natalia Pichuzhkina (16.750 points) with a score difference of .250. Pei-Lung Yu (TPE) brought up her previous score significantly to 15.025 points, which was rewarded with the Bronze medal. Happy with her second Bronze, Pei-Lung commented later that she felt much better today, relieved from yesterday’s tension. And although Wang Yi-Chieh gave the best overall performance of the host country gymnasts at the qualifying rounds, she dropped behind to rank fourth in the Final due to unsteady execution. She scored 14.025. Slightly better than in the pre-round, Sibongile Mjekula of South Africa finished last with 13.675 points.

Ribbon

Her 16.250 points at the Ribbon Final secured a Golden Four for Natalia Pichuzhkina (RUS) today. Pichuzhkina told the press after today’s Finals that she is willing to work even harder to improve her skills, and that she hopes to pursue a successful sporting career. Her dream is to make it to the Olympics. And with London 2012 such a long way off, it’s hard to predict whether she will have a chance to qualify, she said. With a realistic look at Rhythmic Gymnastics in her home country, she explained to what point the sport is popular among her people and just how tough competition can be.

Aleksandra Ermakova (RUS) seems to have booked second rank in this Rhythmic Gymnastics event. With a final score of 14.950 on Ribbon she took home her fourth Silver medal. For a while it seemed that Wang Yi-Chieh’s (TPE) performance on Ribbon would bring her to the podium tonight, having finished fourth earlier in Rope, Hoop and Clubs. A mere .250 points behind South Africa’s Mjekula Sibongile, she was forced to step back and accept yet another fourth place. Sibongile had not really expected to win a second Bronze medal in Kaohsiung, though she was hoping to and was thrilled with her score of 13.675. Though she was under no pressure in this last competition of the Rhythmic Gymnastics event and while she felt ready, Pei-Lung Yu (TPE) finished fifth with 13.225 points.

The World Games 2009 Test Events will continue with the Trampoline, Tumbling, Acrobatic and Aerobic disciplines coming up on Saturday, November 1.