Our teams are ready for the European Championships!

Next week, Glasgow (Scotland) will host the Women and Men's European Championships. From August 2 to 5, our Juniors and Seniors Women's teams will compete, while our Men's teams will be on the field from August 9 to 12th.

Credit : GymFed

Women's European Championships: 2-5 August

Women's first! Belgium will be represented by both a Juniors and a Seniors team in Glasgow. The Juniors are Stacy Bertrandt, Jade Vansteenkiste, Fien Enghels, Margaux Daveloose and Noémie Louon, replacing Lisa Vaelen, initially on the team but who injured her ankles last week. 

Fien, the reigning Belgian Champion, will only do bars and beam. Stacy, Jade and Margaux should do all four events. The unknown here is Noémie, who fractured her ankle a few months back. She returned to competition three weeks ago on Heerenveen and competed everywhere but on vault. If healthy, she can also be a great asset to the team. Belgium could place in the top 12, while also placing two gymnasts in the top 24.

Our Seniors team is composed of Nina Derwael, Maellyse Brassart, Axelle Klinckaert and Senna Deriks. Rune Hermans unfortunately had to withdraw from the team, and Julie Meyers is still injured (knee). Belgium is thus only sending 4 gymnasts. Nina, Axelle and Maellyse are set to compete on all four events, all capable of scoring in the 52-53s, even though there will be no AA competition this year. We'll have to see what Senna has in store. She's been batteling injuries for quite some time and only competed on bars in Heerenveen three weeks ago.

If everything goes according to plan, the team can place in the top 8 and qualify to the team final. We also have great prospects for the event finals. Nina currently has one of the strongest uneven bars routine in the world right now and showed some upgrades in Heerenveen. She should easily qualify for the final. Axelle Klinckaert also has a shot of making the floor final.

Schedule:

02/08/2018: Seniors team and event finals qualifications

03/08/2018: Juniors team and all-around finals and event finals qualifications

04/08/2018: Seniors team final

05/08/2018: Event finals (Juniors and Seniors)

Men's European Championships: 9-12 August

Belgium is sending two strong teams for the Men's competition. Justin Pesesse, Nicola Cuyle, Ward Claeys, Mattis Bouchet and Liam De Smet are composing the Juniors team. The competition has been quite intense, with Ward and Nicola placing on the top two spots at a qualification test and Belgian Championships. Justin Pesesse is also in the mix. He was the best Belgians in Rotterdam in June, earning a great 77+. Liam has a shot at making the rings and pommel horse finals, while Mattis can contribute on parallel bars and high bar.

This team should place in the top 8 and place two gymnasts in the top 24 in the all-around, as well as qualifying for one or two event finals.

The Seniors team consists of Maxime Gentges, Dennis Goossens, Noah Kuavita, Jonathan Vrolix and Luka Van den Keybus. This team is a pretty good one, with a rings specialist and four good all-arounders that can factor into the team total. Jonathan and Noah have been the more solid in the all-around in the past few months, while Dennis continues to impress on rings. Maxime has had some issues with his vault, but can contribute on all the other events, especially on pommel horse. Luka's skills on vault and high bar will also be a factor to the team total.

As for the women, there will be no all-around competition this year. If they all go clean, the team can place in the top 10 and can hope for at least one event final.

Schedule:

09/08/2018: Seniors team and event finals qualifications

10/08/2018: Juniors team and all-around finals and event finals qualifications

11/08/2018: Seniors team final

12/08/2018: Event finals (Juniors and Seniors)

RTBF and Sporza should broadcast the finals, but keep an eye on the UEG YouTube channel for the qualification sessions. And of course, check our blog and social medias accounts for more updates!