No Euros for Pavlova (20th April, 2006)

Russia's Anna Pavlova will not compete at the upcoming European Championships in Volos, Greece. Following an internal control competition in the ‘Dinamo‘ gym in Moscow on April 4, Russian head coach Andrei Rodionenko named the five gymnasts who will compete for Russia as Anna Grudko, Irina Isayeva, Tatiana Kazantseva, Yulia Lozhechko and Polina Miller.

Second all-around at the 2005 Europeans in Debrecen, Pavlova had failed to make an impact at the World Championships last November. At the recent national championships and Russian Cup held in Novosibirsk, Pavlova medalled on vault and beam but finished only seventh in the all-around.

‘I have almost completely changed my bars routine to meet the requirements of the new code,’ the 18-year-old told Russian TV after the competition, ‘there were some new elements I have never done before. The routine I did before was not suited to the new code, so I had to change it.’Commenting on the choice of gymnasts, Rodionenko told the Russian media: ‘Anna Grudko earned her spot through her performances at the Russian Cup. There were no doubts either about Irina Isayeva who competed excellently at the World Cup in Germany, winning two gold medals.’

The team trained at Round Lake until their departure on Monday 17th April for Greece.