Surprise silver for Italy’s Linda Cerruti the biggest upset in synchro as Ukrainian favourite loses out
Italy's Linda Cerruti surprises even herself by beating Yelzaveta Yakhno (UKR).
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A busy final day of synchronised swimming featured a major upset for the solo free routine silver-medal contender Yelyzaveta Yakhno (UKR) as Italy's Linda Cerruti improved on her preliminary score to leapfrog the Ukrainian for the second spot on the podium. Cerruti said,
“I was really surprised, but it's great”
"After improving her preliminary score by 1.2 points to 92.5000 in the final and Yakhno dropping by 0.8 points to 92.1333 in the final, the Italian managed to switch podium positions from the preliminary with the Ukrainian favourite.
Yakhno said of her bronze: "I am upset but next time I will do better. The most important thing to improve is I need to be more confident. Of course, (I must) make more changes in technical (moves)."
In the free duet, Svetlana Kolesnichenko (RUS) and Varvara Subbotina (RUS) swept through the final as they did in the technical duet, this time with a score of 96.7000, 3.3 points ahead of Ukraine's Yakhno and Anastasiya Savchuk, who scored 93.4000. Kolesnichenko said of the Russians' routine: "We felt like mermaids and we wanted to show that and pass that on to the crowd and the judges. It was inspired from the Rio (2016) Olympic Games (routine)."
On adapting the iconic Olympic gold medal-winning team routine from Rio 2016, she added: "It's a good routine and we've been successful with it but I think we will let it go under the water after this event."
A disappointed world champion Giorgio Minisini (ITA) was left contemplating his role in the sport after his and partner Manila Flamini's (ITA) routine failed to impress the judges. They were pipped to gold once again in the mixed free duet by Russians Aleksandr Maltsev and Mayya Gurbanberdieva, after failing to beat their rivals in the mixed technical duet on Friday.
"I want to keep it theatrical," Minisini said. "I have to process. I think what is the sense in doing synchro? What is the meaning of it if we don't do the difficult work? If there is no face and expression, what is the point? It is just swimming."
Maltsev, on the other hand, said of his win over the Italians: "It is a competition and we have (shown) our best results. Every team tries to think about our level and tries to catch us."
An exciting final day of competition ended with an entertainment-packed gala event, with plenty of swimmers donning tartan in a nod to the host nation and performing a number of fun-filled routines. It also provided one of Russia's young up-and-coming stars, 17-year-old Subbotina, a chance to showcase her talent as she performed an impressive cat-themed solo, signalling her potential to those judges on the senior stage.
