Junior European Gymnastics Championships 2012

Gabby Jupp has leapt into the record books with a 5th place overall at the Junior European Championships in Brussels this weekend and a third place on floor.

Gabby is only the 2nd British Gymnast to medal at the Junior Europeans and the 1st gymnast to medal for 8 years.

All of Gabby's hard work in the gym and the time away from home has paid off with this spectacular result.

As a spectator at this event, to see the GB flag being raised when the medals were being awarded was one of the proudest moments in my 30 years of association with Sapphire.

Congratulations to Gabby, Steve and Team Sapphire.

European Championships 2012

Congratulations to Gabby Jupp who yesterday made Sapphire Gymnastics history when she qualified for the Junior European Gymnastics All-around finals in 7th place. She also qualified for the Beam final in 2nd place and the floor final in 7th.

The all around finals are on Friday night and the apparatus finals are on Sunday.

Get all the news as it comes in on the BG facebook page here:

http://www.facebook.com/britishgymnastics

Regional Club Grades Final 2012

Yesterday, 9 Sapphire gymnasts competed in the Regional Grades finals in Ipswich.

Between them, they won 4 Golds, 1 Silver and a 2 Bronze medals.

In the Club grade 14 category Camille White placed first.

In the Club Grade 12 category, Tilly Hedges placed first and Emily Dixon was third.

In the Club Grade 11 category age 10/11, Peri Clayton was first and Charlotte Hedges was third.

In the Club Grade 11 category age 12+, Ellie Boad placed first with Emma Hurley a very close second.

Also competing were Sasha Cherry in Club Grade 14, who placed a respectable 10th and Molly Jeffries in club Grade 12, who also place a respectable 10th.

Junior European Championships 2012

Gabby Jupp has been selected to represent Great Britain in the European Championships in Brussels next month.

The selection process involved four competitive trials and of the three that Gabby participated in, she placed first in all of them.

She will be accompanied by Steve to this event as he has been selected as one of the two GB team coaches for this event.

We wish them both the best of luck.

Click here to see the BG press release  

British Compulsory National Finals 2012

Over the weekend of 21st / 22nd April, 4 Sapphire gymnasts competed in the Level 4 and 3 National finals.

On Saturday at Level 4, Hallie Copperwheat and Milly Gall, in their first National final had a great competition to finish 7th and 28th respectively.

On Sunday, Stephanie Ponder and Alyieana Rahim competed in the Level 3 event and Steph became Sapphire's first

British Champion of 2012.

Well done to all the girls. 

Boys London Open 2012

After the success of the regional qualifiers, 3 of Sapphire’s boys squad competed in the London Development Open, against gymnasts from all over the country. The boys were all competing in the same age groups and levels as in the regional qualifier, so it is a good opportunity to see how they may fair at the national finals in May.

Kyle Kerr-Miller was sapphire’s lone entrant in the Level 1 competition. He finished a very respectable 8^th place overall against very tough competition.

Josh Underwood had a very tough but good competition finishing in 6^th place overall. He also came 3^rd on Rings.

Finally, Arthur Hardman had a difficult time in the level 4 competition. He was closely battled by 1 boy all the way, and managed to finish in 1^st place overall, by 0.05. Arthur also won gold medals for his performance on the pommel, parallel bars and high bar.

Hertfordshire County Grades March 2012 

Sapphire Gymnasts were in fine form last weekend at the Hertfordshire County qualifier of the club grades when all girls passed with distinction.

In the first grade (14) 8/9 age group, Sasha Cherry was 2^nd with 61.10, Amelie Goosey 8^th 59.55 and Holly Parkes 9^th with 59.35. In 10+ Camille White was 2^nd with 61.45.

In grade 13 Elizabeth de Jongh was 2^nd with 61.00 and Madeleine MacDonald 10^th with 56.35. Grade 12 was excellently performed to have Emily Dixon and Tilly Hedges tie for first place with 48.70 and Molly Jefferies in third with 46.90.

Grade 11 had Charlotte Mitchell in 1^st and Peri Clayton in 2^nd with 47.90 and 46.75 respectively in the 10/11 age bracket. In 12+ Emma Hurley was 1^st with 48.25, Ellie Boad 2^nd with 47.95 and Isabelle Gibbons 5^th with 45.20.

All girls in 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd places go through to the regional final in Ipswich at the end of April.

Boys Regional Grades 2012

4 of Sapphire’s boys squad went to Ipswich on 25^th March to compete in the Eastern Counties regional qualifier.

Kyle Kerr-Miller was the youngest boy competing in the Level 1 (under 9) category.

 He competed against the largest entry of boys ever in the region. He competed extremely well,

 but an uncharacteristic fall on vault, he managed to finish in 4^th place overall.

 He was 3^rd place on pommels, floor, parallel bars and high bar, and he was 1^st place on rings and PPP.

Josh Underwood was representing Sapphire in the Level 2 (under 10) category.

His performance showed exceptional flare and he was deservedly the regional champion taking home his first ever gold medal.

Arthur Hardman and Sakyi Acquaah competed in the level 4 (under 12) category.

They were up against stiff competition from boys they compete against regularly.

Sakyi did a superb job to finish in bronze medal position, and

Arthur set the standard with exceptionally high scoring to win the gold and the title of Level 4 regional champion.

The region award the Carol O’Kennedy trophy to the most stylish gymnast of the entire competition,

across all levels. Arthur was this year’s recipient, and this is the 2^nd time he has won the award.

All 4 gymnasts placed high enough to be selected to represent the East region in the national finals in May.

English Championships 2012

Gabby Jupp, Teal Grindle and Niamh Ryan all competed in the 2012 English Championships this weekend.

The Espoirs competed on Friday and for the first time, Teal was competing against girls both her age and 1 year older.

Teal completed the competition in 4th place and placed 1st on Floor.

Saturday was the turn of the seniors and Niamh was competing in this age category for the first time. Niamh placed 15th overall.

Sunday was the Junior competition and Gabby stormed away from the beginning to place 1st overall and she also won Vault, Beam and Floor.

Congratulations to all the girls.

Compulsory Grades Regional final February 2012

Seven Sapphire gymnasts competed at the recent Elite Grades in Ipswich.

All seven girls passed their grades and five will now go on to compete in the National finals in Birmingham next month.

In Compulsory 5, Ondine Achampong placed 2nd overall.

In Level 4 Out of Age, Arwen Rich placed 1st overall.

In Compulsory 4, Hallie Copperwheat placed 5th and Milly Gall was 6th.

In Compulsory 3, Stephanie Ponder placed 1st overall and Alyieana Rahim was 5th and Nemiah Munir was 6th.

Congratulations to all the girls and Good Luck in the forthcoming National Finals.

The British Challenge Cup 2011

On Sunday November 20th, Ellie Thompson competed in

the National Challenge Cup Championships.

Ellie was in the Junior category and placed 3rd overall.

She also won the Vault trophy for the highest score overall a

nd was 3rd on floor.

This event also serves as a qualifier for for the 2012 British Championships

and as Ellie scored 47.85 , well above the qualifying score, she will join the

other Sapphire gymnasts,

Gabby Jupp, Imogen Davies, Danielle Hubbard, Niamh Ryan and Teal Grindle

at next years British Championships in the Echo arena, Liverpool.

The British Age Group Championships 2011

Teal Grindle triumphantly won the GB Individual and All-Around Level 2 title on Saturday 5th November

by over 6 clear marks.

Teal was also 1st place on every piece of apparatus. She result has guaranteed her place in the GB start squad

for 2012 and has also been selected to represent GB in her first International competition in Arques ( France )

at the beginning of December.

Stephanie Ponder competed on Sunday at the Level 4 Championship. Steph place 2nd Overall in this category

and has also guaranteed her place in the GB Home Nation's Squad for 2012.

Congratulations to both girls.

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