Aerialists finish fourth at worlds
They finished in fourth place with 58.8 points.
Local aerial sport athletes Cheree-Lee Simpson and Alana Jackson did not manage to defend their artistic aerial hoop seniors’ doubles title at the IPSF World Pole and Aerial Sports Championships in Kelce, Poland, last month.
Despite going into the competition as the top-ranked team in the category, they fell outside the top three after finishing in fourth place with 58.8 points.
Last year, the pair scored 62.4 points when they walked away with the title after their storyline about appreciating what you have left the judges stunned.
However, this year, they were beaten by last year’s runners-up, Dumitru Rosca and Rebecca Ghionea-Marinof from Romania, who finished first after scoring 73.1 points.
The Mexican duo of Ivan Alejandro Perez Soria and Maya Barrios Roman were second, while Swiss pair Jessica da Silva Araujo and Deborah Sttret claimed the bronze.
Simpson, from Brentwood Park, and Jackson, from Glen Marais, were part of SA’s strong squad of 85 athletes who returned home with two gold medals and a silver.
Debbie Howes and Kaitlin Rawson won SA’s only gold medals, with Howes clinching the pole sport masters 60 and above women’s title, while Rawson won the para pole sport PPMP1 title with 36.7 points.
Youngster Nakita Santos was second in the juniors’ artistic aerial hoop category with 67.3 points.
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