Gymnastics Canada – BERLIN, GER (April 8, 2017) – Dorian Doan from Futures Gymnastics in Mississauga, ON and David Sandro from Gold Medal Gymnastics in Milton, ON headlined the Canadian junior team that competed at the International Junior Team Cup in Berlin, GER this weekend taking home a bronze medal each on the floor and pommel horse respectively.

Primarily a team competition, Canada’s goal was to place top-6 overall which they did with a total score of 225, 400 to finish 6^th, just ahead of the Ukraine. Russia took the top spot with 238,650, the USA silver with 233,550, and Switzerland 1 the bronze with 232,650.

“Some of the teams here looked very well prepared for this competition, and this is because they are centralized which gives them the opportunity to work more as a team and as individuals,” said Markos Baikas, junior/youth national team coach for men’s artistic gymnastics at Gymnastics Canada. “Overall our skill level is very good, we just need to improve more in competition and I believe we are on the right path – we just need a bit more time.”

Sandro was the top all-around athlete as well, placing 6^th overall in the 14-16 age category. Evgeny Siminiuc, also from Futures Gymnastics finished 7^th all-around and Doan placed 9^th. Vladislav Gudz of Russia took the all-around title for this age group.

In the 17-18 age category, Darren Wong from Phoenix Gymnastics in Vancouver, BC finished 18^th while Alex Watters who trains out of the Halifax Alta Gymnastics Club in Halifax, NS finished 22^nd overall. Mikhail Khudchenko of Russia was the all-around champion in this age group.

QUOTES:

Dorian DOAN, Futures Gymnastics – Mississauga, ON

“I’m very proud of my performance at this competition. For the next competition I’ll be looking to have more consistency with the skills that give me more trouble, and just being more confident with my entire routine. A goal for the next few comps is to do my best and to just keep working.”

David SANDRO, Gold Medal Gymnastics – Milton, ON

“Our goal at this competition was to come top-6 which we did – we just topped off the Ukraine, so I’m proud of that. I also came 6^th overall with a couple of mistakes. I fell on P Bars, but I did a decent pommel routine and then took bronze today.”

Evgeny SIMINIUC, Futures Gymnastics – Mississauga, ON

“The first day went pretty well, I could have had some improvements on some events, but generally it was pretty good, I was happy. I made two finals which was parallel bars and high bar. I could have done a lot better on parallel bars – I had some mistakes that I don’t usually do in the gym. I was happy with my high bar. Generally I think I could improve on my skill difficulty and execution – that would help me achieve better progress in the future.”

Alex WATTERS, Halifax Alta – Halifax, NS

“Overall the competition went well, I had a few mistakes that I’ll fix when I get back home and hopefully improve and get more difficulty in my routines. Overall I had a great experience, great competition, met a lot of kids from other counties so I was happy to compete here.”

Darren WONG, Phoenix Gymnastics – Vancouver, BC

“The competition didn’t go as well as I had planned – I know I could have done much better. Part of it was my lack of confidence and that’s what I need to improve on for my future competitions. Despite that, I managed to make P bars and pommel finals. Canada as a team did well, our goal was top-6 and we came 6^th as a team. Looking at the all-around scores from this competition, and from previous competitions and in-training, I think I would have made top-3 all-around if I had competed the way I had prepared for this competition. Unfortunately, finals were not ideal either and this competition has shown me what I need to improve on.”

FULL CANADIAN RESULTS:

14-16 Age group:

Dorian Doan: 9^th AA; FX – Bronze
Evgeny Siminiuc: 7^th AA; PB – 4^th, HB 5^th
David Sandro: 6^th AA; PH – Bronze

17-18 Age Group:

Alex Watters: 22^nd AA
Darren Wong: 18^th AA; PH – 5^th, PB – 6^th

For full event results, please visit: http://www.internationaler-junior-team-cup.de/results.html

ABOUT GYMNASTICS CANADA

First established in 1969, Gymnastics Canada is the national governing body for the sport of gymnastics in Canada. Gymnastics Canada works closely with the twelve Provincial Federations and the 700 local clubs to provide a broad range of programs and services to meet the needs of all participants. From athlete development, to coaching and judging education, Gymnastics Canada sets the operating standards and practices for the sport in Canada. Our mandate is to promote and provide positive and diverse gymnastics experience through the delivery of quality and safe gymnastics programming. Visit www.gymcan.org for more information, or follow us @CDNgymnastics. 

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For more information, contact:

Julie Forget
Director, Communications and Marketing
Gymnastics Canada
Cell: 819.210.2064
Email: jforget@gymcan.org