Diana Graham continued her winning ways Saturday night in Tampa, Florida. Dianna Graham edged out France’s Nathalie Mur by one point for her the win. Just a week ago Diana achieved IFBB Pro status at the NPC Jr. Nationals. Quite the accomplishment to go into your pro debut and take top honors. Last year Ali Rosen and Nicole Nagrani did that and have gone on to be top pros.
Nathalie was previously qualified for the Olympia by placing third at the 2010 Ft. Lauderdale Cup. Third place went to Candyce Graham who was also making her pro debut. Candyce achieved pro status at the 2011 NPC Jr. USA earlier this year. She nabbed the final qualifying spot by one point over Tianna Ta. Tianna was at her all time best and many felt she would leave with an Olympia qualification here.
Dianna was the clear winner in my eyes as she was poised, confident and her physique was on point. It was her best showing and she’ll continue to make an impact in any pro show she enters. Second on my score card would have gone to Tianna Ta with third being Candyce Graham. Tianna was at her best and balanced her upper and lower body from New York. Candyce wasn’t quite as sharp as she was in Charleston but still looked great. She seemed a little nervous in prejudging but more relaxed at the evening show. Nathalie Mur is an attractive woman and can hang with any woman from the front. I thought she needed to be a little tighter in the booty for a near win here. The judges didn’t see it that way and she missed the top spot by one point.
India Paulino was one point away from fourth and two away from third. She was a little off a prejudging with her energy and presentation but rocked it at the night show. This was her pro debut and I look for her to be in the mix at a future show and head to the Olympia before the year’s over. Kristy Robbins looked classy and was the lone blonde in the field of 12. She finished in the sixth place position and she’s finding her groove in the division. There was a three way tie for 7th place between Kira Rivera, Angela Leong and Trina Goosby. I like Angela’s look and would have had her in the mix for top 5.
The judges had the women stand facing the year and not move, pose, wiggle or look over their shoulders. The women all stood with their legs apart and personally I didn’t care for it. I know the judges did it in order to try and better judge the physiques however part of the bikini division is posing and personality. When the women stand in like they did it wasn’t flattering in my opinion. I also think some of the women are taking the posing a bit over the top with the flinging of their hair. It’s just a personal taste but I like when the women pull their hair off their back instead of whipping it away. Also Ali Rosen did a little hip tick-tock at the end of her posing and most of the women here were doing a similar thing. I guess to each their own but I’d like to see the women find the style of posing that works for them instead of all doing the same thing as it feels choreographed and forced many times.
Tim Gardner and his staff did a great job of taking care of the athletes and put the show on at a first class event center. I’d like to see more women enter this show and support a promoter like Tim who goes the extra mile to take care of the competitors. Twelve is a fair sized show but there’s no reason we shouldn’t see 20 or more women in a Florida Pro show.
Check out photos from the show on Bodybuilding.com.
IFBB Tampa Pro Bodybuilding Weekly Women’s Bikini Results:
1. Diana Graham – 8 points
2. Nathalie Mur – 9 Points
3. Candyce Graham – 18 points
4. Tianna Ta – 19 points
5. India Paulino – 20 points
6. Kristy Robbins – 35 points
7. Kira Rivera – 43 points
7. Trina Goosby – 43 points
7. Angela Leong- 43 points
10. Jennifer Dietrick – 45 points
11. Brandy Leaver – 48 points
12. Samantha Morris – 57 points
