Up and Coming: Zeng Siqi

This next gymnast is often considered the baby of the Chinese Team, but she has some big skills that are making her a very exciting prospect. Zeng Siqi was the All-Around Champion at the 2012 Asian Championships and a bronze medalist on floor and beam, as well as helping Team China to a nearly ten-point lead over North Korea for a gold medal. At the Chinese Individual Nationals earlier this year, she took first in All-Around and the beam final.

She is exciting to watch on all the apparatus, but especially on beam and floor. She has so much character and charm on floor that it just draws you into her routine. Plus, isn't her smile just the cutest?

As I mentioned, she has several big skills on beam, combined with beautiful choreography and execution. This is her silver-medal routine in the 2011 Chinese Nationals event finals. She placed second only to Sui Lu, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist on beam.

 



 

It was a very solid, clean routine, and had Sui Lu not had an extrodinarily beautiful routine, I think this little lady might have had a change at a gold.

 

Another beautiful routine from her was on floor in the team final of the 2011 Chinese Nationals:

 

 

 



As I mentioned she just as a way about here that draws you in, much like Jiang Yuyuan does. There were a few hiccups (steps on landings and a hop on one of them), but over all it was very good.

 

Since the Chinese team is traditionally weak on floor, I think Zeng Siqi stands a very good chance of becoming a mainstay on the team, not only on floor, but also in the all around. Compared to some of her teammates (namely Huang Huidan), her bars routine is a bit shaky, and while she is capable of a double-twisting Yurchenko, she has only been vaulting a full-twisting Yurchenko due to an ankle injury. I think if she can update those two events however, she could very well be China's star in the coming quad.

 





Up and Coming: Huang Huidan

Huang Huidan was actually age-elligible for London but was not chosen for the team. She is a first year senior, but is still considered a junior in many respects because she doesn't have a lot of international experience. In September she took silver in the all-around and gold on uneven bars at the Chinese Individual Championships, and earlier this year she took fourth on beam and silver on bars at the Chinese Nationals.

She is exceptional on bars and beam, as evidenced by her medal haul this year. She is very elegant and beautiful to watch. Check out this sheep jump:

 

This is her beam routine from the 2011 Chinese Individual Championships. She tied for gold with a 14.35, and the deductions came from the little wobbles throughout and the step on the landing. Over all a good routine, though:

 



 

Another beautiful routine is her uneven bars routine in the event finals of this year's Individual Nationals, where she also took gold:

 

 

As shown she is beautiful on bars and beam. Floor has low difficulty, as does vault - her most difficult vault is a full-twisting Yurchenko. However, if she updates floor and vault and maintains her beautiful elegance on bars and beam, I think she could become a good all-arounder. And even if she doesn't her bars and beam routines will certainly help Team China in coming years, and maybe earn her a few more medals along the way.



That moment...

No junior post today because I have a lot of homework, but this is one of my favorite pictures ever. When I said Nadia's first 10 was one of the most exciting things in gymnastics, this is a close second. It is just so striking to me for some reason.

 

 

For those of you who can't tell, this is the end of Cheng Fei's floor routine in the Team Final in Beijing. In the background are He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan, and Yang Yilin. I only wish you could see Cheng's face as well, because her expression is so amazing - she knows she's done it for her team.



Up and Coming: Maria Kharenkova

Unlike Olivia Cimpian, Kharenkova has already made a name for herself. She has beautiful choreography paired with impressive tumbling on her two best events - floor and beam. She is also fairly good on vault, but struggles on uneven bars sometimes, and it is her weakest event - surprising for a Russian.

Did I mention her beautiful choreography on beam?

 

That choreography and her incredible (and clean!) tumbling won her a gold in the event finals at the 2012 European Championships. There were a few wobbles but nothing major, and all in all it was a very good routine:

 



 

She also has wonderful choreography and fluidity on floor, where she won a second well-deserved gold medal in the event finals in Brussels:

 

 

I think Maria will continue to shine on beam and floor, and maybe vault as well - she won a bronze medal in the event finals in Brussels. If she can polish up her bars I think she could become a very good all-arounder. Right now she seems to struggle in all-around competitions, but gaining some maturity and experience should cure that. Regardless if she becomes a stronger all-arounder or if she sticks to her three best events, the gymnastics world better watch out - Russia is definitely back.

Up and Coming: Olivia Cimpian

This little star is quite something. She recently switched from rhythmic to artistic gymnastics - never a bad thing. It makes her fascinating to watch, especially on floor. Many gymnasts, unfortunately, don't have the natural feel for the music that produces fluid and - dare I say it? - artistic routines. Olivia does. Also, check out this switch ring. I haven't seen one this beautiful since Ana Porgras.

As I said, her floor routine is something else. This one is from event finals at the 2012 Romanian Junior Nationals (October 26-27):

 

Minus the fall and some wobbles throughout, her beam routine from the same meet (all around) is pretty good as well. She has beautiful lines, and you can see her rhythmic background here as well:

 

 

If these videos are any indication, she will turn out to be a beautiful beam and floor worker. While she struggled in the all-around at this meet (vault was clean, but her bars routine was shaky at best), I think as she gets older those two events will become stronger. It almost looked like she was too tiny to get all the way up to handstand on bars, and when she faltered, she was too light to muscle her way around. I think once she grows some and gets a little stronger, those things will correct themselves.

 

Either way, she is an exciting prospect who will surely be one to watch in coming years.





 



Up and Coming...

I'm starting a series called Up and Coming. Basically, it's my favorite Juniors, and maybe some new seniors that haven't gotten talked about a lot. I'll post pictures and links to good routines, and something about each gymnast: what I like about them, what makes them so promising, etc.

Day 20: When & Why Did You Start Watching Gymnastics?

The earliest I probably watched gymnastics was in 2000 or 2004, but I don't remember either. I watched some in 2008, but I didn't really get into it until this year in London.

As for why, I don't really know. Maybe it's a bit of regret that I was never into it enough when I was younger to go very far in it. But either way, I love it now!