The field for next week’s Anadia World Challenge Cup will pull from countries across the globe, with top gymnasts from places as far as China, Australia, South Africa, and Brazil expected to travel to Portugal for the eighth challenge cup meet of the season.
For the women, the list includes many who have already qualified to the Olympic Games as well as those still attempting to earn spots on their countries’ teams.
One of the most exciting will be a preview of four very likely to make Brazil’s team, as Rebeca Andrade, Jade Barbosa, Lorrane Oliveira, and Flavia Saraiva will all compete. Their team has yet to be named, but these four plus Daniele Hypolito are looking like the top options, so this could be one of the final determining competitions before things are made official.
Italy will also send a couple reaching for the games, including Vanessa Ferrari, a near-lock but needing a test like this as she’s spent so much time out due to injury since worlds. Sofia Busato, who went to Euros just for her big vaults, is also expected to compete. She’s more of a long shot for the team without her other events, but she could make an interesting last-minute bid if she can add something else to her program.
Both Greece and Mexico earned two spots at the Olympic Test Event and one Olympic spot apiece, with the contention for these spots between Vasiliki Millousi and Argyro Afrati for Greece and Ana Lago and Alexa Moreno for Mexico. Millousi won’t compete here, but Afrati – this year’s national champion – will hope to impress enough to earn the spot. Lago and Moreno, meanwhile, are both so close in their all-around potential, the decision between them will be nearly impossible. With Moreno capable of making the vault final, she could be the best option, but next weekend’s meet could give the federation a good idea as to who is most prepared at the moment.
As for those who have already qualified for the Olympics, we’ll see Isabella Amado of Panama, Teja Belak of Slovenia, Farah Boufadene of Algeria, Simona Castro of Chile, Ana Derek of Croatia, Catalina Escobar of Colombia, Katarzyna Jurkowska of Poland, Zsofia Kovacs of Hungary, Emma Larsson of Sweden (alongside her teammate Veronica Wagner, back for the first time since worlds), Jessica Lopez of Venezuela, hometown standout Filipa Martins of Portugal, Larrissa Miller of Australia (along with teammates Emily Little, Rianna Mizzen, and Lauren Mitchell), and Ariana Orrego of Peru.
The World Challenge Cup in Anadia will be held from June 23-26. A full list of MAG and WAG contenders is below.
ALGERIA | |
Farah Boufadene | |
AUSTRALIA | |
Emily Little Larrissa Miller Rianna Mizzen Lauren Mitchell |
|
AUSTRIA | |
Alexander Benda Lukas Kranzlmüller Severin Kranzlmüller |
Jasmin Mader |
AZERBAIJAN | |
Petro Pakhnyuk Oleg Stepko |
|
BRAZIL | |
Arthur Mariano Sergio Sasaki |
Rebeca Andrade Jade Barbosa Lorrane Oliveira Flavia Saraiva |
CHILE | |
Simona Castro | |
CHINA | |
Cen Yu Sun Wei Wang Bo Weng Hao Zhu Xiaodong |
Liu Jinru Lyu Jiaqi Xie Yufen Wu Jing |
COLOMBIA | |
Jossimar Calvo Javier Sandoval |
Catalina Escobar |
CROATIA | |
Matija Baron Andrej Korosteljev Anton Kovacevic Tomislav Markovic Marijo Moznik Filip Ude |
Ana Derek |
CUBA | |
Manrique Larduet Randy Leru |
Marcia Vidiaux |
FINLAND | |
Juho Kanerva Oskar Kirmes Sakari Vekki |
Annika Urvikko |
FRANCE | |
Samir Ait Said Julien Gobaux Zachari Hrimeche Danny Pinheiro Rodrigues Cyril Tommasone |
|
GREECE | |
Michail Doulkeridis Nikolaos Iliopoulos Charalampos Kalidis Konstantinos Konstantinidis Antonios Tantalidis |
Argyro Afrati Evangelia Monokrousou Ioanna Xoulogi |
HONG KONG | |
Jim Man Hin | |
HUNGARY | |
Vid Hidvegi | Dorina Böczögö Zsofia Kovacs Noemi Makra |
ISRAEL | |
Andrey Medvedev Alexander Shatilov |
|
ITALY | |
Sofia Busato Vanessa Ferrari |
|
JAMAICA | |
Reiss Beckford | |
JAPAN | |
Kazuma Kaya Shogo Nonomura Yasuhiro Okamura Wataru Tanigawa |
|
JORDAN | |
Ahmad Abu Al Soud Majdi Al-Hmood Adham Alsqour |
|
LATVIA | |
Vitalijs Kardasovs Rihards Trams Dmitrijs Trefilovs |
Alina Circene Valerija Grisane |
LITHUANIA | |
Tomas Kuzmickas Robert Tvorogal |
|
MALAYSIA | |
Farah Ann Abdul Hadi Tan Ing Yueh Ang Tracie Rachel Yeoh Li Wen |
|
MEXICO | |
Ana Lago Alexa Moreno |
|
MONGOLIA | |
Erdenebold Ganbat | |
NORWAY | |
Pietro Giachino Stian Skjerahaug |
Solveig Berg Martine Bjørshol |
PANAMA | |
Isabella Amado | |
PERU | |
Ariana Orrego | |
POLAND | |
Katarzyna Jurkowska | |
PORTUGAL | |
Simao Almeida Vasco Miguel Barata Tiago Barbosa Simao Da Silva Almeida Francisco Fragoso Ricardo Martins Gustavo Simoes |
Mariana Carvalho Zoi Lima Mariana Marianito Filipa Martins |
PUERTO RICO | |
Paula Mejias | |
SINGAPORE | |
Nadine Joy Nathan Sze En Tan |
|
SLOVENIA | |
Saso Bertoncelj Alen Dimic Luka Kisek Rok Klavora Ziga Silc |
Teja Belak Ivana Kamnikar Tjasa Kysselef Adela Sajn |
SOUTH AFRICA | |
Bianca Mann | |
SPAIN | |
Andres Martin Joel Plata Alberto Tallon Kevin Traid |
Laura Bechdeju Ana Palacios Paula Raya |
SWEDEN | |
Emma Larsson Veronica Wagner |
|
TUNISIA | |
Wissem Harzi | |
VENEZUELA | |
Jessica Lopez |
Article by Lauren Hopkins
Do you think that if Emily Little, Lauren Mitchell or Rianna Mizzen perform super well that they can take the spot that Miller currently holds?
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I don’t think so, based on what they’ve said. It’s basically to keep the alternates performing at a high level (plus, there’s a monetary prize if you make finals).
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It seems to be a pretty good mix of gymnasts who are testing themselves for the Olympics and gymnasts who are simply trying to get as much mileage as they can out of the season. Is Rebeca Andrade still only doing 1-3 events or will she debut floor here?
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I think Rebeca is looking to do beam and floor here.
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Hi, I´m from México and the federation has already given the sole spot to Alexa, based on her vaults and possibilities to make EF, It has been announced in some national media and local news, she is from Baja, not exacty know where. Hope this update helps 🙂
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Thank you! That’s what I thought but I hadn’t heard anything from the federation…but that’s great for her!
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Nice to see Veronica Wagner again!
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“The World Challenge Cup in Cottbus will be held from March 31 through April 3” – I believe this sentence belonged in a previous article. 🙂
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