Three of the Sapphire School of Gymnastics boys squad competed in the Men’s artistic gymnastics Elite and Club grade National finals that were held in Birmingham from the 9th-11th of November. The national finals are one of the biggest competitions of the year for any young gymnast, which involves the top gymnasts from every region across the U.K competing for the individual championships and competing for their regional team. Every gymnast in the U.K has to compete the same routines for their age and level (club or elite).
On the 9th, Dylan Yang competed in the club grade level 3 category. Dylan put in some great performances with a few errors on some apparatus and finished in a respective 23rd place overall out of 46 gymnastics also helping the East region team finish in 3rd place.
In the afternoon, Maxwell Hyde competed in the Club grade 1 category and put in an impressive all-around performance scoring 65.65/ 70.00 across 7 routines with a perfect 10 on vault. This result was enough for the East region team to win and for Max to be crowned the Club Grade level 1 champion with an opportunity for Max to train at Lilleshall National sports and conferencing centre in a reward camp.
On the 11th, Uzair Chowdhury competed In the Elite grade level 1 category. Uzair scored a record-breaking overall score of 68.25/ 70.00! Which consisted of 10’s on pommels, Vault and High bar. He finished 2.3 ahead of second place and helped the East region become the Elite level 1 champion and was crowned the Elite grade level 1 national champion. Uzair has been offered a place to trial for the G.B foundation squad in December. In which he will battle it out with gymnasts who finished in the top 6 in his elite age group and age groups that are 2 years above for a place in the squad.