By Kane Green
Gymnasts from Earlestown’s Hope Acrobatic Gymnastics Club travelled to Stoke-on-Trent at the beginning of May to compete in the NDP National finals.
Two pairs from the club qualified to compete for national titles by winning gold at the North West Prelims earlier in the year.
Mia Ellison and Daisy Denmade took their place in the highly competitive IDP1 Women’s Pair category, facing some of the UK’s most talented gymnasts. An extraordinary performance of grace, strength and poise saw them score a personal best score of 26.300 in the opening Balance routine – enough to see them lie in 2nd place at the halfway stage.
In the Dynamic section, Ellison and Denmade were first up in the category. An early mistake did not knock the pair out of their stride and they recovered magnificently to post another solid score. All they could do was wait to see if they had done enough for a medal as their opponents took to the floor one by one. As the competition came to an end, Ellison and Denmade were confirmed in 3rd place and a well deserved bronze medal.
In the Grade 1 Men’s Pair, youngsters Noah Graham and Max Harrison showed their huge potential in their first experience at national level. They produced a fantastic performance which was duly rewarded with a superb bronze medal to cap a great weekend for the Hope gymnasts.
A week earlier, six Hope gymnasts also travelled to Stoke to compete at the British Schools Finals. Competing as reigning Under-14 Women’s Group British champions, Libby Williams, Hannah Gannon, Lola Sitko, Hattie Lloyd, Eva Barron and Jessica Bithell finished 3rd in a highly competitive category to claim bronze.
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