April 1st, 2007, marked the official kick off of the 2007-2008 World Cup series in trampoline and tumbling with the exciting preliminaries of the Lake Placid World Cup.  It was the first time that a World Cup was held on U.S. soil since 2002.

The top 8 athletes from the preliminaries were qualified for tomorrow's finals.  The scores will be reset to zero for tomorrow's finals.  The top 8 athletes who made it to the finals will compete in the reverse order of the preliminaries' standings.

More pictures as well as the videos of the event should follow soon on AcrobaticSports.com.

MEN'S INDIVIDUAL TRAMPOLINE REPORT

The men's individual trampoline preliminaries were full of upsets as the two main favorites for the win in Lake Placid were not able to reach the final.  A combination of the depth of top level athletes competing in Lake Placid and the bad luck of competing in a first flight where the execution marks may have been a little lower than what they could have been, meant that 2006 World Cup Final winner Yasuhiro Ueyama (JPN) and 2005 World Champion Alexander Rusakov (RUS) both missed the final.  Ueyama, who swept all 5 World Cups in 2006 and became the first man to win 5 World Cups in a row, clearly did not begin 2006 on the same note.  The 2005 World silver medalist opted for his 16.20 pt tariff rather than his less risky 15.50 pt tariff.  The strategy did not pay off as well as expected this time even though his routine was well performed and with little traveling.  Ueyama finished in 11th place with 67.90 pts.  His main rival, Rusakov, who took the silver medal at the 2006 World Cup Final, also suffered from competing in the first flight.  The 2006 European Champion took only the 13th place with 67.60 pts, despite performing his well-seasoned 16.20 pt tariff. 

The unfortunate fates of Ueyama and Rusakov served Henrik Stehlik's (GER - pictured on the left) bid to win the gold medal at this Lake Placid World Cup.  The 2003 World Champion continued on the path that led him to the gold medal at the 2007 Flower Cup few weeks ago and took the lead of the preliminaries in Lake Placid with 69.30 pts.  Stehlik delivered a neat routine with his traditional 15.60 pt tariff.  Olympic Champion Yuri Nikitin (UKR) took the second place of the preliminaries, just 0.10 pts off Stehlik.  Nikitin, who performed his well-seasoned 16.20 pt tariff with class, reaffirmed his successful comeback to the front of the international stage after several injuries.  Nikitin clearly appeared head and shoulders above his rivals from the second flight, dominating them by more than 2.50 pts.  

The 3rd place of the preliminaries was taken by Lu Chunlong (CHN - pictured on the right), who despite performing in the first flight, obtained a score of 68.80 pts thanks to a mix of clean execution and mastered difficulty (15.70 pts).  The 2006 Asian Games silver medalist and 2005 Chinese Games winner appeared to make a strong push to win the second World Cup medal of his career, a little less than a year after winning the bronze medal at the 2006 Ghent World Cup, the first World Cup of his career.  His teammate Dong Dong, who was competing in his first World Cup, also made it to the final (6th place) with 68.60 pts thanks to a reduced 15.80 pt tariff.  Dong Dong is a newcomer on the Chinese team after edging the talented Liu Qipeng for the 4th spot on the team.  Both Lu Chunlong and Dong Dong will turn 18 within the next two weeks.  They will be the youngest athletes in tomorrow's men's final.   

Despite Ueyama's disappointing fate, Japan will have two very strong chances to win a medal in the men's individual final tomorrow thanks to Shunsuke Nagasaki (pictured on the left) and Tetsuya Sotomura.  Nagasaki, who won the bronze medal at the 2006 Asian Games, took 4th place of the preliminaries in Lake Placid with 68.70 pts, betting on clean execution and a tariff lower than most of his rivals (15.50 pts).  Sotomura, who won the bronze medals at the 2005 World Championships and at the 2006 World Cup Final, also made the same bet.  Sotomura took the 7th place of the preliminaries with 68.40 pts with a new 15.60 pt tariff.  Sotomura seems to have shrugged off all consequences from his loss of skills suffered last year. 

The last two men to make it to tomorrow's final were veteran former World Champion German Khnychev (RUS), who delivered a nice and powerful performance thanks to his exceptional twisting skills.  Khnychev, who took the silver medal at the 2006 European Championships, took the 5th place of the preliminaries with 68.70 pts, losing the tie with Nagasaki as his second routine obtained a lower score than Nagasaki's.  The last man to make the cut was Pan American Champion Jason Burnett (CAN), who took the 8th and last spot with 68.30 pts, performing a 16.00 pt routine that suffered a little from traveling.  There is little doubt that Burnett, who will compete first tomorrow, will step up his degree of difficulty in the final to put some significant pressure on his rivals.  

The unlucky athletes who missed the final of this 2007 Lake Placid World Cup despite performing strong routines include French Champion Gregoire Pennes (9th with 68.20 pts), who obtained the best World Cup result of his career, 6-time U.S. Champion Ryan Weston (10th with 68.10 pts) who gave his best, and Peter Jensen (DEN - 12th with 67.90 pts).  They were followed by 2005 Krasnodar World Cup winner Adam Goetz (GER - 14th 67.20 pts), 2004 Pan American Champion Bryan Milonja (CAN - 15th with 67.10 pts), Masaki Ito (JPN - 16th with 67.10 pts), and 2000 European Youth Champion Karsten Kuritz (GER - 17th with 67.10 pts).  Asian Games Champion Que Zhicheng (CHN) struggled and missed the final.  So did his teammate Ye Shuai (CHN), who crashed.  Reigning U.S. Champion Chris Estrada (USA) suffered the same fate.

WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL TRAMPOLINE REPORT

Tomorrow's women's individual trampoline final promises to be very suspenseful as the three primary favorites asserted their domination over their rivals in the preliminaries in the absence of Olympic Champion Anna Dogonadze (GER) due to injury.  2000 Olympic Champion and 4-time World Champion Irina Karavaeva (RUS - pictured on the right) took the lead of the preliminaries with 69.90 pts, performing her traditional 14.70 pt tariff.  She was closely followed by 2003 World Champion and 2006 World Cup Final winner Karen Cockburn (CAN).  The 2-time Olympic medalist obtained 69.40 pts thanks to her new 14.60 pt tariff, which she brilliantly executed.  In her first routine, Cockburn set a new world record for the highest scoring first routine as she obtained a score of 30.60 pts.  The prior world record was held by Olympic Champion Anna Dogonadze (GER) with 30.50 pts for a routine performed at the 2005 World Championships.  The third favorite of this Lake Placid World Cup, 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Huang Shanshan (CHN), came in 3rd place of these preliminaries with 68.10 pts.  Huang, who won the 2006 Savognin and Salzgitter World Cups, played it a little safer than usual, diminishing her tariff from a traditional 14.50 pt degree of difficulty to 14.10 pts.  As a result, the 2006 Asian Games Champion was a little outdistanced by her two rivals.

Zhong Xingping (CHN - pictured on the right), who was silver medalist at the 2006 Asian Games, adopted the same strategy, and made it safely to the final.  Zhong took the 4th place with 67.20 pts (14.20 pt tariff).  Li Meng (CHN), 17, took the 5th place of these preliminaries with 65.50 pts (13.40 pt tariff), but will unfortunately miss tomorrow's final as only two athletes per country can qualify for such final.  U.S. Champion Erin Blanchard (USA) delivered a brilliant performance to defend the stars and stripes colors in tomorrow's final.  Blanchard, who was a finalist at last year's Savognin World Cup, took the 6th place of the preliminaries with 13.70 pts.  She was followed by 2006 World Cup Final bronze medalist Claire Wright (GBR - 7th with 65.20 pts and her new 14.60 pt tariff), 2007 Flower Cup winner Jaime Moore (GBR - 8th with 64.90 pts), and Yulia Domchevska (UKR - 9th with 64.80 pts), who will all three join Blanchard in the final.

Former double mini-trampoline World Champion Sarah Charles (CAN - 10th with 64.50 pts) missed the final by few tenths.  So did her teammate and 2006 Savognin World Cup bronze medalist Rosannagh MacLennan (CAN - 11th with 64.20 pts) after one of her skills was ruled to be repeated.  2005 World silver medalist Natalia Chernova (RUS - 12th with 64.10 pts) surprisingly missed the final after so-so preliminaries.  Chernova was followed by Brittany Dircks (USA), Luo Dan (CHN), 2004 European silver medalist Marina Ducroux (FRA), and 2004 European Youth Champion Ana Rente (POR).  2006 European bronze medalist Tatiana Petrenia (BLR) and 2006 Asian Games bronze medalist Ekaterina Khilko (UZB) unfortunately crashed in these preliminaries.

MEN'S SYNCHRONIZED TRAMPOLINE REPORT

Yasuhiro Ueyama (JPN - pictured on the left) bounced back from his disappointment in the individual competition by taking the lead after the preliminaries in the synchronized trampoline competition, paired with Tetsuya Sotomura (JPN).  The Japanese pair, which might be the association displaying the purest skills at the moment, obtained the score of 89.00 pts thanks to a 15.10 pt tariff.  They tied with 2005 World Champions Nikolai Kazak-Vladimir Kakorko (BLR), who obtained the same score but had to settle for the 2nd place as their second routine had obtained a lower score than the Japanese.  The pair made of the talented Masaki Ito and Shunsuke Nagasaki (JPN) came in 3rd with 88.80 pts, but will have to miss tomorrow's final as only one pair per country can qualify for the final.  German Khnychev-Alexander Leven (RUS), who performed the highest difficulty of the preliminaries, and Jason Burnett-Phil Barbaro (CAN) followed closely in 4th and 5th places, respectively with 88.20 pts and 88.00 pts.  The Russian pair Alexander Rusakov-Yuri Koziakov (6th with 88.00 pts), who won the 2005 Levallois World Cup, will also miss the final as one Russian pair already had qualified.  

The rest of the finalists include 2006 Chinese Champions Ma Yanqing-Lou Ming (7th with 88.90 pts), newly formed pair Adam Goetz-Karsten Kuritz (GER - 8th with 87.40 pts), 2005 World silver medalists Michel Boillet-Ludovic Martin (SUI - 9th with 86.40 pts), and 2006 European silver medalists Diogo Ganchinho-Nuno Merino (POR - 10th with 86.30 pts).

WOMEN'S SYNCHRONIZED TRAMPOLINE REPORT

2006 World Cup Final winners Karen Cockburn-Rosannagh MacLennan (CAN - Cockburn pictured on the right) left very little doubt about their ambitions for tomorrow's synchro final as they dominated their rivals with ease in the preliminaries.  The 2005 World silver medalists, who have never finished at a worse place than 2nd at major international events, took the lead with 85.50 pts, securing a more than 3.00 pt margin over their next rivals.  The Canadian pair coached by Dave Ross at the Skyriders place in Richmond Hill near Toronto relied mostly on almost perfect synchronization to take such impressive lead.  Ekaterina Mironova-Tatiana Petrenia (BLR) and Yulia Domchevska-Marina Kiyko (UKR) took the 2nd and 3rd places of the preliminaries with 82.20 pts and 82.00 pts respectively.  They were followed by Jaime Moore-Claire Wright (GBR - 4th with 81.50 pts), Anna Savkina-Ekaterina Khilko (UZB - 5th with 81.30 pts), and Marina Ducroux-Julie Perreten (FRA - 6th with 81.10 pts).  The second Ukrainian pair made of sisters Elena and Svetlana Sivanich will miss tomorrow's final despite taking the 7th place of the preliminaries. 

2005 World Champions Irina Karavaeva-Natalia Chernova (RUS) delivered a below average performance, taking the 8th place of the preliminaries with 79.90 pts despite performing the most difficult routine (13.00 pt tariff).  They nevertheless made it to tomorrow's final.  Erin Blanchard-Brittany Dircks (USA) clinched the last spot for tomorrow's final.

MEN'S TUMBLING REPORT

European Champion and 2006 World Cup Final silver medalist Tagir Murtazaev (RUS) edged undefeated World Champion and World Cup Final winner Wang Jiexu (CHN) 72.30 pts to 72.00 pts in the preliminaries of this 2007 Lake Placid World Cup.  Murtazaev delivered two consistent passes.  Despite his 2nd place, Wang should be regarded as the favorite for tomorrow's final where he will try to remain undefeated in international competition.  2005 World Games winner Jozef Wadecki (POL) took the 3rd place of these preliminaries with 70.00 pts without taking too much risk.  

The talented Kalon Ludvigson (USA) took a good 4th place in these preliminaries with 69.60 pts.  The U.S. tumbling and double mini-trampoline Champion will try to win his first World Cup medal tomorrow on home soil.  Michael Barnes (GBR - 5th with 69.00 pts), Oskar Lipa (POL), Chris Adair (USA), and Ji Ruikun (CHN) also made it to the final.  Veteran Yves Tarin (FRA) unfortunately suffered from an Achilles' heel injury and was forced to withdraw. 

WOMEN'S TUMBLING REPORT

In the absence of Samantha Palmer (GBR), who dominated the year 2006 by winning the World Cup Final and the European Championships, apparently due to an injury that also made her miss last week's British Championships, reigning World Champion Anna Korobeynikova (RUS - pictured on the right) had little trouble dominating the preliminaries of the Lake Placid World Cup.  The 2-time World Cup Final winner obtained a score of 67.50 pts, more than 3.00 pts clear of her second, Alina Yarullova (RUS - 64.10 pts).  Yarullova, the young 2006 European bronze medalist, delivered a solid performance to clinch the 2nd place of these preliminaries.  The two Russians were followed by two British, Sarah Turner (3rd with 63.30 pts) and 2007 British Champion Laura Houson (4th with 63.00 pts).

Emily Smith (CAN - 5th with 62.70 pts), Susannah Johnson (USA - 6th), Ana Conde (POR - 7th), and Ashley Speed (CAN - 8th) also qualified for the final.   The unfortunate event of these preliminaries was the calf injury suffered by Yuliya Hall (USA), the U.S.' best chance to win a medal in this competition.    

AcrobaticSports.com would like to thank Stephan Duchesne, T&T High Performance Director at Gymnastics Canada and FIG Judge for the updates and the detailed results of the event.  AcrobaticSports.com would also like to thank Steve Sarafian for his fantastic pictures that you can look at on the next page of this report.  AcrobaticSports.com would also like to thank Dave Sabourin for the heads up on the world record and FIG Trampoline Technical Committee member Ulf Andersson for its confirmation.

Link to the official website

Individual Trampoline Results

Synchronized Trampoline Results

Tumbling Results