Breanna Scott delivered a brilliant beam routine to clinch the Women’s All Around Australian crown in a heart-stopping finale on the Gold Coast last night, edging out hometown hero and Paris Olympic team-mate Ruby Pass, who produced a show-stopping final night performance but fell just short.
While Ruby produced the night’s stand-out scores on vault and uneven bars, Breanna achieved arguably her career-best beam event as her 14.025 score was enough to pip Pass by only 0.025.
Breanna (105.725) defeated defending champion Pass (105.700), who was leading by 1.075 coming into the final rotation.
“It means the world to me to win the Australian championship this year,’’ Breanna said. “After coming back from last year’s Olympics, it has been a long journey, but it’s been so worth it after this weekend’s performance.’’
In the men’s competition Paris Olympian Jesse Moore backed up Thursday’s successful defence of his national All Around title with three spectacular gold medal winning performances in the individual apparatus finals.
Jesse, who finished 21st in the Men’s All Around final at last year’s Paris Games, nailed his high-risk high bar routine (14.45), was flawless on pommel horse (14.00) and hit his difficult tumbling passes to win on floor (14.2).
Jesse said he was especially happy to produce one of his best-ever high bar routines in the Australian spotlight and it will give him confidence leading to his first world championships, where he has the routines to clinch final spots in the All Around as well as high bar and pommel horse.
“I was happy to redeem myself from mistakes I made in the first night, especially on high bar, so it has given me confidence heading to the world championships that I was able to fix things up when it counted,’’ he said.
Last night’s other men’s individual winners were NSW team-mates Lachlan Smith on Parallel Bars (13.4) and Hinata Kabeya, who won double gold, on rings (13.55) and vault (14.325).
Queensland’s best performer was All Around silver medallist James Hardy, who won a trio of individual bronze medals, on rings (13.05), floor (13.45) and vault (13.45).
The quality performances of Ruby, Breanna and Kate McDonald, who won gold on uneven bars and floor, showed Australia had the potential to field a strong contingent for the world championships in Jakarta, Indonesia, in October.
West Australian Summa Hill won the vault gold medal (25.788).
Breanna (53.2) was overnight leader but needed to perform one of her best ever routines on beam to hold off a focused Ruby, whose 12.925 on her final event, floor, sent out the challenge.
The Victorian responded by showing impressive mettle under pressure to produce the best score of the night with a sterling 14.025 on beam, the event she narrowly missed competing in an Olympic final last year.
Gold Coast Club’s Ruby (51.575), who finished 13th in last year’s Olympic final, increased difficulty in her beam and uneven bars last night in a performance which pleased her coach Misha Barabach.
“She put on a real show. She came from behind and showed a high level of performance, and she’s on track for the world championships,’’ Barabach said.
Ruby added, “It’s looking really good for Australia, with so many people competing well and pushing each other. Hopefully we’re inspiring a younger generation, so they push themselves as well and can see that anything is possible.’’
Gymnastics Australia
