The preliminaries of the first World Cup of 2008 took place today at the Sports Hall-Olympic Stadium in Wroclaw, Poland.  In parallel, the preliminaries of the 3rd Wroclaw Cup were held.  The preliminaries of the Wroclaw Cup took place this morning.  The afternoon and the evening were reserved to the World Cup preliminaries.  The women's and men's individual trampoline preliminaries led the way, followed by the women's tumbling preliminaries, and the men's tumbling preliminaries. 

The event is a Category A World Cup in trampoline and a Category B World Cup in tumbling.  It is also the 8th World Cup of the 2007-2008 World Cup series.

MEN'S INDIVIDUAL TRAMPOLINE PRELIMINARIES REPORT

The results of the men's individual preliminaries appeared a little unconventional as the marks of the Swiss Judge number 4 ended up not being taken into account, and were replaced by the average of the marks of the four other judges.  This disqualification of Judge 4's marks had an impact on which athletes qualified for the final of this 2008 Wroclaw World Cup. 

In the absence of the Chinese, Japanese, and German trampolinists, the men's individual trampoline preliminaries of the 2008 Wroclaw World Cup were dominated by the Russian team.  Dimitri Ushakov (RUS) took the lead of these preliminaries with 69.73 pts, more than 1.00 pt clear off his rivals.  The 2004 European Youth Champion made the difference with his first routine, the best of the competition with 30.65 pts.  Ushakov built on his lead with the second best optional of these preliminaries, obtaining 39.08 pts thanks to a superior 16.00 pt tariff.  Ushakov, who was a finalist at the 2007 World Championships and won a bronze medal at the 2007 Olympic Test Event, will try to win his first individual World Cup gold medal tomorrow, few months after winning his first World Cup medal, which was a silver medal at the 2007 St Petersburg World Cup. 

The Russian domination of these preliminaries was completed by the performance of 1998 World Champion German Khnychev (RUS - pictured on the right).  The veteran of the men's circuit proved that he was still one of the top performers in the world, reaching the final of a World Cup in which he competed for the 10th consecutive time.  Khnychev, who won the World Cup Finals in 1999 and 2000, took the second place of these preliminaries in Poland with 68.68 pts thanks two solid routines, including an optional that obtained 38.75 pts (15.60 pt tariff).  The third place of these preliminaries was taken by 2002 Edmonton World Cup winner Peter Jensen (DEN).  Jensen obtained 68.58 pts with two strong routines, including an optional that scored 38.95 pts (15.60 pt tariff). 

Sebastien Martiny (FRA - pictured on the left) took the 4th place of these preliminaries and will compete tomorrow in the first final of a World Cup of his whole career.  The talented Frenchman performed the best optional of the preliminaries (39.35 pts with a 15.80 pt tariff), scoring overall 67.70 pts in these preliminaries.  The good performance of the French team was also underscored by the 6th place taken by 2002 World Cup Final winner David Martin (FRA).  The experienced Frenchman, who recently trained in the United States, will compete tomorrow in his second consecutive final of a World Cup.  In Wroclaw, Martin obtained 66.88 pts.  Martin followed Flavio Cannone (ITA), who took the 5th place with 67.06 pts thanks to a solid optional (38.48 pts with a 15.80 pt tariff).  The last two finalists of this World Cup were Diogo Ganchinho (POR - 7th with 66.53 pts) and Viacheslav Model (BLR - 8th with 66.23 pts), who both also reached the final of a World Cup last year. 

Model managed to barely edge Scott Brown (AUS - 9th with 66.20 pts) for the last spot in the final by only 0.03 pts, as well as world record holder Jason Burnett (CAN - 10th with 66.13 pts) by 0.10 pts.  Burnett would have actually qualified for the final if the marks of the Judge 4 would have been taken into account.  Burnett unfortunately also touched the mat at the end of his compulsory routine, which cost him precious tenths.  Viacheslav Makovetsky (UKR) came in 11th with 65.98 pts, followed 2004 Pan American Champion Bryan Milonja (CAN - 12th with 65.88 pts after modifying the last skill of his optional).  Romain Legros (FRA) took a good 13th place with 65.63 pts, edging Yakov Rakitsky (BLR - 14th with 65.05 pts), Evgeni Zhukovsky (BLR - 15th with 64.76 pts), Nuno Merino (POR - 16th with 64.58 pts), 2001 World silver medalist Alexander Chernonos (UKR - 17th with 64.48 pts), and local hope Tomasz Adamczyk (POL - 18th with 64.33 pts).  Some of the athletes who struggled in these preliminaries included Gregoire Pennes (FRA - 20th), who ended up modifying his optional, Russian Champion Sergei Chumak (RUS - 23rd), Nikolai Kazak (BLR - 28th), 2005 World Champion Alexander Rusakov (RUS - 33rd) and 2004 Olympic Champion Yuri Nikitin (UKR - 35th), who both crashed after a few skills in their optionals.

WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL TRAMPOLINE PRELIMINARIES REPORT

2000 Olympic Champion and 5-time World Champion Irina Karavaeva (RUS - pictured on the right) resumed her domination of the World Cup circuit right where she left off in 2007 where she won a record 6 World Cups, sweeping all World Cups in which she competed.  In the preliminaries of this Wroclaw World Cup, the most decorated trampolinist ever took the lead with 68.00 pts, more than 1.00 pt clear off her rivals.  Karavaeva performed the best first routine (30.20 pts) and the best optional of these preliminaries (37.80 pts with her traditional 14.70 pt tariff).  Tomorrow, Karavaeva will attempt to win her 28th World Cup gold medal in individual, which would be her third in a World Cup held in Polan. 

2003 World silver medalist Elena Movchan (UKR - pictured on the left) delivered another great performance, a little more than three months after triumphing at the Beijing Olympic Test Event.  In Poland, Movchan scored 66.90 pts with two solid routines, obtaining 37.50 pts for her optional (13.90 pt tariff).  2007 World bronze medalist Rosannagh MacLennan (CAN), who obtained the silver medal at the Olympic Test Event, also continued on her streak of great performances, scoring 66.60 pts and taking the 3rd place of these preliminaries (14.00 pt tariff).  MacLennan tied for the best first routine of these preliminaries.  2005 World silver medalist and former European Champion Natalia Chernova (RUS) came in 4th in these preliminaries with 66.10 pts (13.40 pt tariff).

Yulia Domchevska (UKR), who was a bronze medalist at the 2007 Sofia World Cup, captured the 5th place of these preliminaries with 65.90 pts (13.40 pt tariff), preceding 2004 European silver medalist Marina Ducroux-Murinova (FRA - 65.00 pts with a 13.30 pt tariff), Tatiana Prischepova (BLR - 7th with 64.50 pts) and Ekaterina Mironova (BLR - 8th with 63.80 pts).  Marina Kyiko (UKR) barely missed the final of a World Cup once again, coming in 9th with 63.60 pts, followed by Anna Savkina (UZB - 63.10 pts with a 13.00 pt tariff), Maria Gridchina (BLR - 11th with 62.80 pts with a 13.10 pt tariff), Ekaterina Khilko (UZB - 12th with 62.20 pts).  2004 European Youth Champion Ana Rente (POR) struggled in her optional and had to settle for the 13th place with 60.00 pts, followed by Anastasia Velichko (RUS - 14th with a 13.70 pt tariff but below average execution marks), and Agnieszka Stanek (POL - 15th), who was not as successful as at the 2007 Zielona Gora World Cup where she took the bronze medal.  2006 European bronze medalist Tatiana Petrenia (BLR) struggled in her optional and ended up in 18th place.

MEN'S TUMBLING PRELIMINARIES REPORT

In the men's tumbling preliminaries of this Wroclaw World Cup, the crowd was pleased by the success of local hope Jozef Wadecki (POL - pictured on the right).  The 2005 World Games Champion relied on his powerful style to take a convincing lead in these preliminaries.  Wadecki obtained the first place with 74.20 pts thanks to the best second pass of the competition (37.80 pts with an 11.30 pt tariff).  Charlie Burrows (GBR) took a very good 2nd place in these preliminaries with 71.60 pts thanks to two consistent passes, followed by 2006 European Youth Championship bronze medalist Dimitri Darashuk (BLR), who obtained 71.10 pts. 

2006 European silver medalist Alexander Goncharov (RUS) came in 4th with 70.70 pts, closely followed by World Champion Andrei Krylov (RUS - 70.60 pts), who did not displayed his usual domination despite the best first pass of these preliminaries.  Sergei Primakov (BLR) took the 6th place of these preliminaries with 70.10 pts.  The last two spots for the final were captured by Adrian Brylka (POL - 69.70 pts) and Mickael Gosset (FRA - 69.40 pts).  Sebastian Sondel (POL), Peter Mewse (GBR), and Viktor Koforenko (UKR).  Some of the main victims of these preliminaries included Kalon Ludvigson (USA - 12th), who struggled in his second pass, 2004 World Cup Final winner Andrei Kabishev (BLR - 15th), Yuri Freyuk (UKR - 16th), and World bronze medalist Sergei Artemenko (BLR - 17th). 

WOMEN'S TUMBLING PRELIMINARIES REPORT

The top 3 of the women's tumbling preliminaries of this 2008 Wroclaw World Cup ended up being the exact same top 3 as the medalists of the 2007 World Championships with Anna Korobeynikova (RUS), Elena Chabanenko (UKR), and Anastasia Isupova (RUS).  The preliminaries were close to a walk in the park for 2-time World Champion and 2-time World Cup Final winner Anna Korobeynikova (RUS), who captured the first place with a more than 2.00 pts lead.  Korobeynikova performed the best first pass (33.40 pts), but really made the difference with a second pass that outclassed her rivals (34.20 pts with an 8.20 pt tariff).  Overall, Korobeynikova obtained 67.60 pts.  3-time World Champion and 2-time World Games winner Elena Chabanenko (UKR) took the 2nd place like at the last World Championships.  Chabanenko obtained 65.30 pts thanks to the second best second pass (32.10 pts).  Chabanenko barely edged 2007 World bronze medalist Anastasia Isupova (RUS), who obtained 65.10 pts with two solid passes. 

Sarah Turner (GBR) followed at a distance, taking the 4th place with 63.00 pts, tied with Emily Smith (CAN - 63.00 pts), who took the 5th place under the tie-breaking rules since her second pass scored less than Turner's second pass. 2007 Sofia World Cup winner Laura Houson (GBR) closely followed with 62.90 pts.  Two French tumblers secured the last two spots for the final: Amandine Arnaud (FRA - 61.50 pts) and Justine Lescalmel (FRA - 60.40 pts). 

Detailed results added at the bottom of this report.

AcrobaticSports.com would like to thank Konrad Bojakowski and Stephan Duchesne for their assistance.    

Link to the official website of the Wroclaw World Cup