International Gymnast - November 2011

FOUR MEDALS FOR ISRAEL

Female gymnasts from Israel won four medals, including two golds, at the 44th annual Ivan Sala-munov Memorial, an FIG Challenger Cup meet held Sept. 23-25 in Maribor, Slovenia.

Impressive results were achieved by gymnasts from other less strong countries, too. Iceland’s Thelma Hermannsdottir finished fourth on women’s vault, and Syria’s Fadi Bahla wan won silver on rings.

Born June 17, 1993, in Reykjavik, Hermannsdottir began training in 1996. She trains at the Gerpla club under coach Gudmundur Brynjolfsson. She placed 109th all-around at the ’ 10 worlds, a 10-rank improvement from ’09; and 49th all-around at the ’ 11 Europeans, a two-rank improvement from ’09. Hermannsdottir placed first at this year’s Icelandic championships.

Bahlawan, a mainstay for Syria over the past two Olympic cycles, was born Jan. 25, 1983, in Damascus. He was ninth all-around at the ’06 Asian Games; sixth on floor and eighth on pommel horse at the ’08 Asian championships; and seventh on floor at the ’08 World Cup of Doha.

•Priessmandominantat Japan Junior Invite
• Nastia Liukindeclarescomebackofficial
• Catching Up With…Natalia Frolova

BY JOHN CRUMLISH

men’s team at the 2011 worlds, was born Aug. 16, 1993, in Chiba. He began training in ’99, and is coached by Shinji Kanda. (Kanda placed 10th all-around at the ’85 World University Games and was a member of Japan’s fifth-place team at the ’87 worlds.) Nonomura placed first at the ’ 10 Asian junior championships.

Men’s AA: 1. Shogo Nonomura JPN 87.00; 2. Ryohei Kato JPN 85.95; *Chishou Hasegawa JPN 85.05; 3. Wang Bo CHN 83.55; 4. Wang Peng CHN 83.45; 5. Frank Baines GBR 83.30; 6. Adrian De Los Angeles USA 82.30; 7. Mykyta Yermak UKR 81.60; 8. Sean Melton USA 81.55

*ineligible for all-around awards

Women’s AA: 1. Lexie Priessman USA 55.70; 2. Amelia Hundley USA 54.10; 3. Sung Ji Hye KOR 51.30; 4. Maegan Chant CAN 50.80; 5. Yuki Uchiya-ma JPN 50.70; *Nanase Ashikawa JPN 50. 40; 6. Sakura Yumoto JPN 49.80; *Yoshi Sugimoto JPN 48.80; *Yuri Ishii JPN 48. 35; 7. Jordyn Pedersen CAN 46.95; *Azumi Ishikura 46.95; 8. Jazminne Casis 45.00.

INTERNATIONAL I.D.

• Nastia Liukin/USA: The 2008 Olympic all-around champion announced during the 2011 world championships in Tokyo that she will make a comeback for London 2012, focusing on uneven bars, balance beam and possibly floor exercise.

Women’s VT: 1.Valeria Maksyuta ISR 14.125; 2. Teja Belak SLO 12.875; 3. Orsolya Nagy HUN 12.80. UB:1. Kristyna Palesova CZE 13.75; 2. Maksyuta 13. 10; 3.Tina Erceg CRO 12.80. BB:1. Vasiliki Millousi GRE 14.00; 2. Maksyuta 13.95; 3. Adela Sajn SLO 13. 40. FX: 1. Roni Rabinovitz ISR 13.60; 2. Erceg 13. 20; 3. Sajn 13.00.

Men’s FX: 1(t). Rok Klavora SLO, Fadi Bahlawan SYR 14.625; 3. Kieran Behan IRL 14. 40. PH: 1. Zhang Hongtao CHN 15.725; 2. Zoltan Kallai HUN 14.80; 3. Saso Bertoncelj SLO 14.70. SR: 1. Eleftherios Petrounias GRE 15.725; 2. Liao Junlin CHN 15.525; 3. Robert Weber GER 14.85. VT: 1. Matthias Fahrig GER 15.812; 2. Marek Lyszczarz POL 15.387; 3. Huang Yuguo CHN 15.375. PB: 1. Wang Guanyin CHN 15.75; 2. Mitja Petkovsek SLO 15.150; 3. Fahrig 14.55. HB: 1. Vlasios Maras GRE 15.275; 2. Fabian Leimlehner AUT 15.025; 3. Roman Kulesza POL 14.925.

PRIESSMAN, NONOMURA BIG IN JAPAN

Lexie Priessman of the U.S. won the women’s all-around and three event titles, and Japan’s Shogo Nonomura won the men’s all-around title and two event titles, at the Japan Junior Invitational, held Sept. 24-25 in Yokohama.

Profiled in the May 2010 issue of IG, the 14- year-old Priessman placed fourth all-around and first on vault at the 2011 U.S. junior championships. Earlier this year she earned the same rankings at the City of Jesolo trophy in Italy. Amelia Hundley, Priessman’s clubmate at Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy, placed second to her in Yokohama.