Anthems of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Portugal and Russia played as Baku 2018 concludes

Competition report of the fourth and final day at the Trampoline Europeans in Baku (AZE)

Today Baku’s National Gymnastics Arena hosted all individual finals plus the synchronised trampoline finals.

The atmosphere kept on building throughout the day, thanks to the fantastic performances of the finalists. Several big surprises and home success added to the vibe…

 

Individual Trampoline

Last performer Yana Pavlova overtook the entire field, confirming the same order on the podium as two years ago in Valladolid, with Hanna Hancharova (BLR) taking silver and Great Britain’s Kat Driscoll bronze. In the men’s competition Portugal Diogo Ganchinho claimed the big title he has been dreaming of for a long time. His teammates honoured him beautifully by singing the national anthem at the top of their lungs. The pure joy with which Ganchinho accepted his medal shows that hard work does pay off. Mikita Ilyinyikh (BLR) made a successful transition to the senior level as he claimed the silver. Allan Morante beat teammate Sebastien Martiny for the bronze medal.

The Belarussian juniors have been top of their game these Championships, showing off the deep pool of talent they have at home. Katsiaryna Yarshova and Aliaksandra Staliarova went 1-2 in the girls’ competition while Ivan Litvinoch returns home with the gold in the boys’ category. Great Britain confirmed they are keen to keep up their trampoline success: Corey Walkes and Andrew Stamp collected silver and bronze. Greece’s Anastasia Papadimitriou gave her country a second bronze medal.

 

Synchronised Trampoline

Belarus totally dominated the synchro competition, winning all 4 gold medals! Defending Champion Vlad Hancharou paired with Aleh Rabtsau to successfully defend the title he won with Mikalai Kazak two year ago. Wife Hanna teamed up with Maria Makharynskaya for the victory and the junior individual winners also claimed gold here. The Baku crowd went through the roof when they realised their synchro pair, Veronika Zemlianaia and Sviatlana Makshtarova, won the silver medal ahead of Ukraine!

 

Double Mini-Trampoline

Major upset here when European and World Champion Mikhail Zalomin was off on his second pass, dropping him to fifth place. The title went to his equally talented teammate Vasili Makarski. In the women’s competition the top qualifier did not disappoint. Great Britain’s Kirsty Way produced two wonderful series to claim the gold. She surely got her inspiration from the victory of her younger teammate Ryan Devine in the junior category just an hour before. The organisers of the next Trampoline Europeans, Sweden, lived up to their DMT reputation: 2016 Champion Lina Sjoeberg took the bronze and Jonas Nordfors did one better, silver for him. Spain’s Melania Rodriguez defended her junior title for Valladolid 2016, holding off Russia’s Aleksandra Bonartseva by just 2 tenths!

 

Tumbling

Double victory for Great Britain! Lucie Colebeck took top honours and was joined on the podium by teammate Megan Kealy. Living legend Anna Korobeynikova botched her second run, taking her out of medal contention. Instead it was her teammate Viktoria Danilenko who stood on the podium. British junior Jaydon Paddock has been impressive all week, he certainly made a big name for himself here in Baku. He held off a challenge by Portugal’s Diogo Vilela and Russia’s Arsenii Stepanian. Two more British juniors on the podium but not on the highest level: Russia’s Diana Bratkova beat Jessica Brain and Kaitlin Lafferty for the gold medal.

And we saved the best for last … the National Gymnastics Arena exploded when Mikhail Malkin’s victory was clear! With his spectacular series he overtook 2016 junior Champion Rasmus Steffensen with Vadim Afanasyev in third place.

Find the full results on our website! http://www.ueg.org/fr/event/results.html?id=180

These Championships also served as qualification for next year's European Games.

This concludes these 26^th European Championships in Trampoline, Double Mini-Trampoline and Tumbling! The Swedish city of Gothenburg will host the next edition from 7 to 10 May 2020.