Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Baku will welcome elite gymnasts from around the world in Artistic Gymnastics on February 19, and preparations are in full swing for the tournament.

Many world-known gymnasts, including Kenzo Shirai and Kaya Kazuma from Japan, Marcel Nguyen from Germany, Alexander Shatilov from Israel, Oksana Chusovitina from Uzbekistan, Flavia Lopes Saraiva from Brazil and Dorina Boeczoego from Hungary will exhilarate the fans with their thrilling performances during the three-day FIG World Challenge Cup AGF Trophy 2016.

The first thing that attracts the foreign coaches and athletes in the tournament is the preparatory work and the level of training prior to the event.

Holger Albrecht, a member of the FIG Technical Committee for Men’s Artistic Gymnastics praised the conditions created in Baku, for holding an upcoming major gymnastics event.

“The conditions for holding the World Challenge Cup in Artistic Gymnastics in Baku are among the best in the world,” he told Trend, expressing confidence that the competitions will be excellent. “The arena for competitions is located in a comfortable place, while wonderful conditions have been created both for the athletes and judges.”

He added that the FIG decided to hold the first stage of the World Cup 2016 in Baku for several reasons.

“Baku perfectly organized and hosted the First European Games in 2015 and it became a big test for the country,” he said, adding that all the feedbacks received from the world of gymnastics were positive.

Albrecht added that many people from around the world know that Azerbaijan creates perfect conditions for major competitions.

He didn’t rule out that Baku can host world and European championships in the future, since all the conditions in the city meet the highest standards, underlining the excellence of the National Gymnastics Arena, with a large hall for competitions and numerous seats.

Japan’s three-time World Champion (Floor & Team Competition) Kenzo Shirai highlighted the performance of Azerbaijani athletes.

“Azerbaijan has very strong gymnasts, who can be serious rivals for other athletes,” he said. “Oleg Stepko is a very strong athlete. His potential has been known since the Olympic Games in London. I think he is one of the main rivals as well.”

According to Shirai, he intends to demonstrate successful performances at the FIG World Challenge Cup in Artistic Gymnastics to be held in Baku.

“As the current year is an Olympic one, my goal is to perform successfully at all events. I will try to win the "gold" at the upcoming World Cup,” the athlete noted. “At the same time, no matter what place we take at the event, it is important for us is to perform with dignity and demonstrate all the skills we are able to execute.”

He mentioned that his main rivals at the competitions are his team-mates from the Japanese national team.

Head coach of the Spanish national team in artistic gymnastics Fernando Siscar stressed Spanish gymnasts hope to win two medals at the World Cup in the artistic gymnastics, reaching the finals on the four types of events.

“We have already visited Baku to participate in the first European Games, and then our athlete Rayderley Miguel Zapata won the gold medal in men’s floor exercise,” the coach said. “Therefore, the National Gymnastics Arena is familiar to us, we believe that it is just ideal for competitions and we would like to repeat our success.”

Iranian team’s coach Hamid Ghorbani also believes that Azerbaijan is excellently prepared for holding the World Challenge Cup in Artistic Gymnastics.

He expressed confidence that the competitions will be held at a high level.

“The accommodation, transportation and training issues have been settled completely, which proves that Azerbaijan is fully ready to host the World Cup,” the Iranian coach said.

Ghorbani said prior to this visit he had once been to Azerbaijan.

“It was 22 years ago and everything was different that time,” he said. “It is amazing that the country took such a big step forward during this period.”

“A wonderful arena has been built and all the conditions have been created for developing sports in Azerbaijan,” according to Ghorbani.

Azerbaijani gymnast Yuliya Inshina in her interview with Trend said the national athletes will compete for the top places at the FIG World Challenge.

The National Gymnastics Arena has been ready to host the tournament for the long time.

“Arena is ready and waits for the spectators, athletes and guests, who will come to watch the competitions. It is ready to host absolutely any tournament,” Inshina said.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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