COMMONWEALTH Games gold medallist Daniel Purvis will be back in action next weekend as he defends his all-around title at the 2015 Scottish National Gymnastics Championships in Perth.
It will be the first time the Southport-based gymnast will have competed on home soil since Glasgow 2014 when he was part of the five-strong men's team that won silver for Scotland. Purvis went on to claim gold on the parallel bars and bronze on rings at the Games.
Joining him in the fight for titles at Bells Sports Centre will be Frank Baines and Liam Davie, who were also part of that Glasgow 2014 silver medal-winning team.
Baines, who came third at the Scottish championships last year, is a team-mate of Purvis at Southport YMCA, while Coatbridge-based Davie will be competing for City of Glasgow.
Missing from the line-up is Daniel Keatings, the reigning Commonwealth Games pommel horse champion and all-around silver medallist, who will now likely concentrate his efforts on competing in the 2015 British National Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool at the end of next month.
That throws an interesting mix of names into contention for the senior men's titles including Tom Barnes (Tolworth), James Griffin (West Lothian), Douglas Ross, Andrew Mackie and five-time Scottish junior champion Barry Koursarys (City of Glasgow). Daniel Iley (Exeter GC) announced his withdrawal due to injury last week.
Last year's men's all-around competition was a nail-biting affair with only 0.001 separating second and third-placed Keatings and Baines in the final standings.
In the women's event, with reigning all-around champion Emma White having retired from the sport after the Games, four-time Scottish all-around champion Amy Regan (Largs GC) will be gunning to regain her crown after not competing last year due to a broken foot,
Also challenging for medals in the senior women's events will be Carly Smith (City of Glasgow) and reigning junior champion Izzy Tolometti (Garioch GC). Erin McLachlan (Diamonds GC) has withdrawn due to injury.
Budding star Louise McColgan (Largs GC), the Scottish espoir champion the past two years running, will make the step-up to junior level, as will Sarah McKenzie (Dundee Gymnastics Club 2K), a silver medallist on floor at the 2014 Espoir British Championships in December.
The championships will run over two days with the all-around competition on Saturday and the individual apparatus finals on Sunday.
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