The Dutch subdivision has arrived. The Netherlands is very capable of getting into that 161 mix where all the borderline countries are sitting right now. I also loved Spain in PT. So there’s that.

TEAMS: Netherlands, Spain
INDIVIDUALS: Angelica Mesa (COL), Nataly Rodriguez (COL), Maria Villegas (COL), Ana Derek (CRO), Farah Ann Abdul Hadi (MAS), Ang Tracie (MAS), Tan Ing Yueh (MAS), Aleksandra Rajcic (SRB), Kristina Zivadinovic (SRB)

We’ve had the Dutch introduction and it was long and a lot, as one would hope.

Rotation 1

Visser – BB – bhs mount, smallest lean – side somi, good – split jump 1/2 from side, a little lean – side aerial to bhs, way off line and has to grab the beam – double turn, check, sanne’s like GET OUT – 2/1, bounce back

Petsico arched a handstand on her bail but pulled it out, hit routine. Cintia – UB – stalder shap to pak, just some feet – maloney to gienger, a few moments of leg breaks – full to FTDT, hit. 13.8 for her. Wow.

12.466 for Visser

Lieke – BB – small check on bhs mount – split jump, check – wolf to sissone – side aerial, misses her foot and belly flops right onto the beam. L turn 1.5 attempt, drops a littl early for me – double spin, lovely – split leap to side somi, arm wave – aerial, leg-up check – gainer layout, hop. Hrm. Lieke had a bit of a time.

Hit floor from Farah Ann and hit bars from Ana Perez.

Popa – UB – 1/2 turn to piked jaeger, good – Tkatchev to pak, clean – toe full to shap to gienger, nice – DLO 1/1, just a little deep with a hop. Nailed it. Great bars rotation for Spain.

Gigantic wait for Lieke’s beam score. Sanne has been doing side aerials back and forth for 50 minutes.

10.366 for Lieke. Well ouch.

Thorsdottir – BB – switch leap mount – bhs loso series, beautiful – picking fruit as she walks along the beam – onodi, all over the place but saves it with a step back – side aerial, small lean – Y spin – split leap to aerial to split, lovely – 2.5 dismount, step forward. A hit. She had that one moment with the Onodi, but a hit.

Spain 41.690 on bars. Very impressive.

Lovely twisting form from Derek on floor –

13.333 for Eythora and 9th place. Obvious crime.

Sanne – BB – bhs mount – tries to connect to wolf jump fulll but probably no – drops a little early on doubel L turn with a check – side aerial to side aerial, perfection – switch – bhs 1/1 to split jump, good – L turn to full tuen to double turn series, gets it with only a small check at the end but intentionally breaks connection into split leap – gainer pike 1/1, stuck. Not her best but obviously glorious.

Eythora and Sanne saved the day there. Not an ideal beam rotation, but they can work with this.

Derek got 13.033 on floor and well deserved.

Vera Van Pol gets to carry all the bags.

13.200 for Sanne and 11th place. We’ll have no Dutch gymnasts in the beam final.

38.999 is not what NED would have wanted on beam, but they can live with it, especially if the judges are 13.5-level impressed by the floor routines from Lieke and Eythora.

Rotation 2

Volleman – FX – quad turn for credit – full in, two steps back, right into the corner but stays in – double tuck to punch front – double held leg turn – 1.5 to front full, some legs but controlled – good triple turn

Petisco with a leg up check on her bhs bhs series but stays on

12.366 for Petisco.

13.333 for Volleman, good score

Cintia – BB – bhs loso series, very smooth – switch to split leap – side aerial – aerial – split ring jump, leg-up check – check on y spin – hits 2/1 dismount

Visser – FX – Memmel to illusion, hit – whip 3/1 to punch front, got it, although that was surely a back 2.65 – 2.5 to front lay – pretty leap positions – double tuck, short with a hop

Tisha has submitted an inquiry – DIDN’T YOU SEE ME DO THAT QUINT TURN I DIDN’T DO?

13.366 for Visser

Perez – BB – switch to switch 1/2, solid – L turn, smooth – bhs loso, knees, but very secure – NOOOOO falls on punch front

Lieke – FX – leans out of her double L to double turn a little but gets it around – doubel tuck, only a small slide – split leap full – 2.5, controlled step, just some knees – switch ring – switch 1/2 – attempts quint turn but definite triple credit – front full, hop forward – perfect obviously in every way except for the German press members in the row in front who talked through the whole routine and watched none of it. All class.

Popa – BB – aerial, good – bhs layout 2 feet, and falls. Falls for both Perez and Popa on beam. Y spin, correction – side somi, arm wave – split jump 1/2 from side, very solid – split leap 1/2, nice height – bhs bhs 2/1, lunge back

WHOA. Volleman inquiry accepted and now she has a 13.533. I’m blatantly shocked.

13.033 for Lieke, no final. Boo.

Thorsdottir – FX – split ring leap – just the 2.5 mount, not the triple punch – double tuck, step back – double L to double turn to Memmel to illusion it was…well she got through it, though I wouldn’t credit the initial double L, which will change things, a bit of leaning – 2/1 to front tuck.

9.900 for Popa on beam. DEAR ME.

Still waiting on the floor score for Eythora. They’re literally not even going to have a floor score for Eythora as the next rotation starts. I’m sure that turn combination is causing a problem.

Rotation 3

LOL Marina Gonzalez is up there waiting to start this rotation, and the judges are like…we’re not done with Eythora yet.

12.966 for Eythora. YOU MONSTERS.

Gonzalez – FX – wolf turn 3.375 – full in, hop to the side – 2.5, large bounce forward and OOB – front full with a hop – double tuck, bounce back –

Sorry that was Visser, who looks nothing like Lieke cool – hits a full with a bounce back, Visser follows with 13.933 for her 1.5

Volleman – VT – hits her DTY, lunge back and another step back but nice power and height. 14.400

Eythora follows by hitting her DTY as well – a nice one, a bounce back, though less than Volleman’s and just a bit of chest position on landing.

12.533 for Gonzalez

Lieke puts up her clean full int he 4th position, lovely extension, slide back. 13.733. Viable vault rotation for NED. They’re in contention to pass Canada.

Perez – FX – double double, landed it, well short with a lunge forward – whip through to double tuck, very secure – switch ring – Memmel turn, good – 2.5 to front tuck, legs in the twisting – wolf turn 2.5ish – double pike, bounce back

13.200 for Perez, 13th overall on floor.

Rodriguez – FX – double Y spin, good – doubel pike, short with a shuffle forward – split jump 1/1 – split ring leap, pretty – rudi, slide – switch ring to switch side – 2/1, slide back. Beautiful routine. 12.800

Gonzalez score changed to 12.733.

Popa – FX – DLO, nailed it, stuck landing, awesome – whip whip full in, also excellent – triple Y spin and I’d say she got it three times around – front full, dances out – doubel pike, hop back. GREAT routine. That better make the final.

13.800 and into 2nd place. YES.

Netherlands will feel like 3rd place is really doable at this point. We also have an interesting race for Spain’s AA place between Rodriguez and Perez, with the bonus that Popa is probably getting an individual place for the floor final now.

Rotation 4

Cintia vaults a full with a hop back –

Derek – BB – back handspring loso, cehck – switch ring, nice closure – full turn – switch 1/2, secure – aerail to split to bhs, a little pause int he series –

Stuck full for Petisco, just chest down

Eythora – UB – stalder to bail – clear hip 1/2 on low bar – blind change to piked jaseger, caught – FTDT, deep and either puts a knee down or almost does.

13.666 on a full for Perez. That score means Cintia will get the Olympic AA spot for Spain. Small hop back on full for Popa.

11.466 for Eythora. Oof

Spain finished behind Belgium, so Olympic qualification looks out as a team, but they’re ahead of the other contending teams.

Sanne – UB – clear hip to shap to clear hip full to bail to toe shoot – giant full to blind change to Jaeger – DLO, stuck. An actually perfect bars routine, all the handstands so crisp. Warrants our highest E score on bars so far.

13.633. E score of 8.533. Psh.

Visser – UB – stalder full to stalder shap to pak to van leeuwen – excellent – toe on to 1/2 turn to jaeger, very high, and then she collapses on the high bar and has to recast – it was so perfect before that – FTDT, hop.

Farah Ann – BB – side aerial , solid – switch – tour jete – round off back tuck, hit, small check – side somi, check – Y spin and falls – knew it was too good to be true – 2/1, legs, hop back.

13.466 for Visser. So Netherlands needs a good hit from Lieke so they can drop Eythora’s number now.

Lieke – UB – church to Pak, hit – Maloney to bail, solid – toe full to toe shap – blind change – front giant – double front, got scary for a second, but she hits with two steps back. They need something like a low-mid 13 for this routine.

13.900 for Lieke! The Netherlands moves up to 4th, behind Canada but should be safely into TF. Bumps GB to 5th and Italy to 6th. Rough for both of them. They needed NED to mess up.

Item #1: With just 6 eligible teams remaining to compete, we know that France, Canada, and the Netherlands have qualified WAG teams to Tokyo.

Spain is looking at 2 Olympians, with Rodriguez in the AA and Popa for floor.

Unlikely that Eythora can make the AA final after that bars routine.

Farah Ann nearly scored 50 and looks pretty good for the Olympics right now.