Gymmin' Miel!

The Sokol Grand Prix de Gymnastique takes place on the 23rd of November with competition getting underway at the Sportovni Hall at 4.30pm (Brno local time). Competing as "couples" the competition is divided into three rounds. All couples compete in the first round with the gymnasts each competing on two apparatuses each. After the conclusion of the round, the eight teams with the highest combined scores move on to the next round, where each gymnast will compete on a third apparatus. The results from the first round do not carry forward. At the end of this second round, the top four ranked teams move onto the Final. In this Final, each gymnast of the pairing competes on one event - the Women are allowed to pick which of the four apparatuses they will compete on, whilst the fourth apparatus for the Men is to be one they have yet to compete on during the day. Six gymnasts in the field for this year competed last year - a competition that was won by Ukrainians Maksym Semiankiv and Mariya Livchikova. 

COMPETITORS:

The Romanian duo of Larisa Andreea Iordache and Andrei Vasile Muntean took out the title at the 2013 Swiss Cup competition which was held on the 3rd of November at the Zurcher Hallstadion in Zurich, Switzerland. The German team of Fabian Hambuechen and Elisabeth Seitz finished second with the Swiss pairing of Claudio Capelli and Giulia Steingruber. The Ukrainian duo of Angelina Kysla and Oleg Verniaiev where the other team to make the Finale round. 

FINALE ROUND: 

HALF-FINALE ROUND:

1. ROMANIA: Larisa Andreea Iordache (BB: 14.950, UB: 14.700, FX: 14.550); Andrei Vasile Muntean (VT: 14.350, PB: 15.000, SR: 15.050) 88.550
2. GERMANY: Elisabeth Seitz (UB: 14.300, FX: 14.100, BB: 14.150); Fabian Hambuechen (SR: 14.850, HB: 15.350, PB: 15.100) 87.850
3. SWITZERLAND 1: Giulia Steingruber (UB: 14.150, VT: 15.000, FX: 14.500); Claudio Capelli (VT: 14.800, PB: 14.650, FX: 14.950) 88.050
4. UKRAINE: Angelina Kysla (FX: 13.800, VT: 13.775, UB: 11.700); Oleg Verniaiev (PH: 14.750, SR: 15.150, PB: 15.700) 84.875
5. CANADA: Maegan Chant (FX: 13.250, VT: 14.175, BB: 13.650); Kevin Lytwyn (SR: 15.000, FX: 14.400, HB: 13.550) 84.025
6. ITALY: Chiara Gandolfi (UB: 13.650, BB: 13.450, FX: 13.150); Paolo Principi (FX: 14.800, HB: 14.600, SR: 14.250) 83.900
7. GREAT BRITAIN: Raer Theaker (FX: 13.450, UB: 13.750, BB: 13.700); Reiss Beckford (FX: 14.450, HB: 14.400, SR: 14.150) 83.900
8. SWITZERLAND 2: Ilaria Kaeslin (UB: 12.300, BB: 13.850, FX: 13.400); Oliver Hegi (PB: 14.300, PH: 14.500, HB: 13.700) 82.050

1. ROMANIA: Larisa Andreea Iordache (BB: 14.950); Andrei Vasile Muntean (VT: 14.350) 29.300
2. GERMANY: Elisabeth Seitz (UB: 14.300); Fabian Hambuechen (SR: 14.850) 29.150
3. SWITZERLAND 1: Giulia Steingruber (UB: 14.150); Claudio Capelli (VT: 14.800) 28.950
4. UKRAINE: Angelina Kysla (FX: 13.800); Oleg Verniaiev (PH: 14.750) 28.550
5. ITALY: Chiara Gandolfi (UB: 13.650); Paolo Principi (FX: 14.800) 28.450
6. CANADA: Maegan Chant (FX: 13.250); Kevin Lytwyn (SR: 15.000) 28.250
7. GREAT BRITAIN: Raer Theaker (FX: 13.450); Reiss Beckford (FX: 14.450) 27.900
8. CHINA: SHANG Chunsong (UB: 14.550); ZHANG Chenglong (VT: 12.450) 27.000
9. FRANCE: Manon Cormoreche (FX: 12.700); Arnaud Willig (PB: 14.150) 26.850
10. SWITZERLAND 2: Ilaria Kaeslin (UB: 12.300); Oliver Hegi (PB: 14.300) 26.600

Yulia Belokobylskaya (RUSSIA) - Image by Thomas Schreyer for Intlgymnast.com 

(From 2011 DTB Team Cup. See here)

This year see the Swiss Cup head into it's 30th year. The competition will be held on the 4th of November, 2012 at the Hallstadion Zurich in Switzerland. The competition rounds out a busy four day programme which includes the Swiss Cup Kids Day and for the first time will see the 1st Junior Swiss Cup which will take place as a 3-nation tournament with Switzerland, Belgium and Netherlands sending participants.

For those unfamiliar with The Swiss Cup, it is a Pairs competition - usually with a MAG and WAG Gymnast from the same Nation, however in some cases it may be a WAG Gymnast from one Nation and a MAG Gymnast from another. All pairs compete in the first two rounds on two apparatuses of their choice, with the two gymnasts' scores combined at the end of the second round with the top eight pairs moving onto the Half-Final. Each Gymnast in the pair then competes on another apparatus of their choice (cannot be an apparatus they competed on in the first two rounds). At the conclusion of the round the scores from the Half-Final are added to the combined total from the first two rounds to receive a "Team All Around Score" with the four highest scoring teams moving onto the Finale. In the Finale, scores go back to zero with each member of the Pair competing on one apparatus of their choosing (can be an apparatus they have already competed on), with the two apparatus totals combined to come up with the winning pair.

ANNOUNCED PAIRS:

• TEAM SWITZERLAND 1: Giulia Steingruber, Claudio Capelli
• TEAM SWITZERLAND 2: Jessica Diacci, Nils Haller
• TEAM GERMANY 1: Elisabeth Seitz, Fabian Hambuechen
• TEAM GERMANY 2: Kim Bui; Marcel Nguyen
• TEAM KOREA: Ji Hye Sung; Yang Hak Seon
• TEAM RUSSIA: Yulia Belokobylskaya; Igor Pakhomenko
• TEAM UKRAINE: Mariya Livchikova; Oleg Stepko
• TEAM GREAT BRITAIN: Niamh Rippin; Sam Oldham
• TEAM ITALY: Carlotta Ferlito, Paolo Ottavi 
• TEAM BELARUS: Nastassia Marachkouskaya; Andrey Likhovitskiy