Britain pips Russia to win historic gymnastics title

GYMNASTICS:

Great Britain came through a dramatic finale on high bar yesterday to become European Artistic Gymnastics champions for the first time.

Daniel Purvis, Louis Smith, Kristian Thomas, Ruslan Pantelymonov and Max Whitlock pipped Russia to the title in Montpellier, securing an historic gold on the final piece of apparatus.

There was a nervous moment when Whitlock, 19, fell from the high bar, but Thomas produced a

BASKETBALL:

brilliant performance to score 15.133 and overtake the Russians.

Britain had never won team gold at a major gymnastics championship and Smith said: ‘All of us have kind of proved a point. We’re all fit, we’re all ready.

‘We’ve been saying for a long time that this is a young team but they’ve gained in experience and we’ve been progressing over the years. When it all works and it all goes to plan, look at the results that we can have.’

Great Britain fell narrowly short of wheelchair basketball gold at the BT Paralympic World Cup in Manchester, losing 61-56 to the United States in yesterday’s final.

Simon Munn, who scored 16 points and added 15 rebounds, shrugged off the loss as he focused on the bigger picture. He said: ‘That was a preparation game. We will learn a lot from this tournament and that’s why it is so important to us to come here.

‘Now we have to work hard until London.’

ARCHERY:

Team GB’s Naomi Folkard won silver at the European Championship in Amsterdam yesterday.

Folkard said: ‘Winning a medal of any colour at the Europeans is great for the Olympic preparations, and I’ve been really pleased with the way things have gone this week.’

MODERN PENTATHLON:

Heather Fell won silver at the World Cup in China yesterday to keep her Olympic hopes alive.

Fell is now likely to achieve the qualifying mark, leaving Pentathlon GB to decide between her, Mhairi Spence, Freyja Prentice and Samantha Murray for the two women’s places available.