Gymnastics News: UK/British Team Named

The British squads for the 2014 World Championships in Nanning have been released and some surprises have appeared. The obvious omissions of some of the currently injured gymnasts are clear and have led to some unknowns being named to both the men's and women's team. Below is the list of both squads.

Men: Max Whitlock, Kristian Thomas, Daniel Purvis, Daniel Keatings, Nile Wilson and Courtney Tulloch.

Reserve: Frank Bains

Women: Becky Downie, Claudia Fragapane, Ruby Harold, Hannah Whelan, Kelly Simm, Gabby Jupp and Charlie Fellows.

If anyone is wondering why they named seven gymnasts to the women's team it is because they are going to name the reserve at a later date. It appears as though they haven't fully committed to a certain gymnasts but the way the article was released it could be a battle between Gabby Jupp and Charlie Fellows - possibly even Kelly Simm.

The women's team has suffered an injury to one of their main gymnasts and that is probably the reason why the team is in such a state. I believe the injured gymnast is Tunney but I'm not sure of that. The loss doesn't seem to be a big one but they are trying to pick the gymnast that will likely hit under pressure.

In the end they will likely have beam as their weakest piece and uneven bars their best apparatus. They will be fighting against the Russians for that bronze medal and will not be able to rely on their three double twisting yurchenko vaults to get them ahead of the Russian team. The Russian are likely going to perform three double twisting yurchenko vaults unlike at Euros. It might just come down to who stays on the beam.

The men's team on the other hand is much more experimental with the addition of Nile Wilson and Courtney Tulloch. Nile Wilson is a first year senior that has shown promise but can he hit on the pieces that Max Whitlock was supposed to? I'm not sure where they are going to place them, I know that he's great on pieces but those are usually the ones that the team is already good on. With regards to Courtney I have never heard of him before this time. It appears he is a rings specialist, a piece that the British team is particularly weak on.

The British team is really on an uprise and will probably benefit the most with the additional team member allowed at Worlds. I think with the injuries on some of the other teams this team is the team that is favored for the bronze but not assured. I think that either the Russian or US team can snatch it away with a single mistake by the British team. An example would be Max Whitlock falling off pommel horse and the team losing out on a big score.

What do you guys think of this team?