Germany's women team defeated Belarus at a dual meet held in Oranienburg near Berlin, Germany on June 30. Birgit Schweigert, who was flown in just for the competition from her school in England, led Germany to a one and a half point victory over Belarus, though the team was hit by the injuries of Lisa Brüggemann, Katja Abel, Dagmar Fehrenschild (all with back-problems) and Daria Bijak (torn ligaments).

"If I take into consideration the fact that some gymnasts of the national team didn't compete, I am satisfied", German national coach Petra Theiss said, "let's not kid ourself, the Belarussians showed their routines for the world championships, and it's normal that they were not stable yet. So be sure, we know how to take these results."

Birgit Schweigert sandwiched this competition in between taking exams back in England. Competing like the veteran she is, even a missed foot on her front pike mount couldn't shake her - she calmly landed on one foot. "I'm really grateful to Birgit for finding the time to compete here regardless of her others obligations. She is our team's most valuable player and a shining light for the younger gymnasts," Petra Theiss said.

The absence of some of the major players on the German team made way for new names like 15-year-old Yvonne Musik, a Hamburg native who recently relocated to the TV Hoffnungsthal club, home of Dagmar Fehrenschild. Musik, who had been inconsistent in the German club championships, did particularly well on beam in Oranienburg. Her routine included a RO- layout mount and featured a pass of ff- one armed ff-layout step out. "At the beginning of the year, I knew Yvonne had the skills to do well, but she just couldn't get it together so far, due in equal parts to lack of experience and nerves. I'm really happy for her that she finally came out and hit all her routines today," Petra Theiss explained. Theiss was also quick to praise Conny Schütz (TuG Leipzig) who has made huge progress according to the head coach. The perky Schütz was thrilled with her performance: "We had a mock competition last week and I was awful, so I knew things could only get better," she laughed.

The Belarussian guests had arrived in Germany on June 26 and spent the days prior to the competition training with the German team at the Olympic base in Kienbaum near Berlin. Both teams felt they benefited immensely from the arrangements. "We learnt a lot from the Belarussian girls, they certainly can do a lot more stuff than we can," Conny Schütz explained, "our coaches told us that we shouldn't expect too much for this meet and that we should just do our routines as well as possible. So, we were surprised when we won!" Team coach Petra Theiss admitted that "we have to see clearly that we are way behind on bars and beam. The training camp was definitely beneficial for us."

The Belarussian team brought only one 2000 Olympian to Germany - Anna Meisak who performed below par on bars and beam (fall on a front tuck). Current Belarussian No1 Tatiana Zharganova was not featured in the team's line up (why and what happened to her, see interview with head coach Nikolai Liskovich below). New talents on display included pert Oksana Kondral, who threw a standing Arabian on beam (fall) and a double turn to immediate double twisting tuck jump combination on floor. Oksana Novikova, coached by Valeri Kolodinksi, mentor to the great Yelena Piskun, braved a double turn on beam and got the crowd going with her "Carnival de Paris" floor routine.

Belarus won vault and bars over Germany, but inconsistencies on beam and floor cost them the win. What they lacked in stability they made up for in body line and presentation. Highlights were Irina Siruts's bars set (beautiful stalder in ellgrip) , the only routine that started from a 10, and Yulia Tarassenka's floor routine. Moving stylishly to the "Pink Panther" theme, she opened with a double Arabian-punch front followed by a pike full-in, added a third pass of running double front and finished with a crisp double pike.

Interview with Nikolai Liskovich

After the competition gymworld chatted to the Belarussian head coach.

Can you give us your take on today's competition?

Well, I'd like to say that we aren't as weak as we may have seemed here. A lot of the girls have new routines this year and we are still testing them. Also, Irina Siruts, who is a very strong young gymnast, injured her knee slightly while vaulting in training. It's nothing serious, but we decided to compete her on bars only. This is not an important competition, and she is still young. We don't want to take any risks.

Some of the big names like Alyona Polozkova and Tatiana Zharganova were missing here. Have they retired?

Polozkova has retired. She's tired, she has worked hard nearly her whole life and made two Olympic teams. Right now, she is deciding what to do with her future - maybe study, maybe coach, she is thinking about going to the USA, but nothing has been finalised. Zharganova is still training, she just had some tooth problems and had to have some complicated treatment. She is recovering from that and we decided not to bring her.

Are the seniors here the gymnasts we will see on the Belarussian team in Ghent?

Yes, Tarassenka, Meisak and Prokharenka will be part of team if all goes according to plan. Plus, of course, Zharganova and 2000 Olympian Marina Zarzhitskaya who recently had ellbow surgery. Looking further into the future, we also have some really good girls born in 1988 who are coming up the ranks now."

Germany vs Belarus * Results

Download here all results as a pdf-file.