Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Passion, beauty and grace were all put on display at the FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup held in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku on April 28-30.

A total of 94 strongest gymnasts from 21 countries throughout the world showed their best performances at the Baku National Gymnastics Arena. As many as 37 of them competed in individual program and 57 performed in composition of 10 group exercises.

Zhala Piriyeva, Zohra Aghamirova, as well as silver medalists of the European Championships within team in group exercises – Siyana Vasileva, Diana Doman, Aleksandra Platonova, Ayshan Bayramova and Elif Zeynep Celep represented Azerbaijan during the competitions.

During the three-day competitions, along with the well-known Azerbaijani gymnasts, the spectators got an opportunity to watch the performances of favorite athletes from abroad: Aleksandra Soldatova (Russia) – two-time World and European Champion, Nicol Zelikman (Israel) – bronze medalist of the European Championships, silver medalists of the Olympic Games from Spain, bronze medalists of the Olympic Games from Bulgaria, bronze medalists of the World Championships from Belarus.

Speaking at the opening ceremony Azerbaijani Minister of Youth and Sports Azad Rahimov cordially greeted all participants of the prestigious competition.

“The organization of international sports events in Azerbaijan has already become a tradition,” Rahimov said. “The number of international competitions organized in Azerbaijan for the last years is measured in hundreds and increases year by year.”

Rhythmic gymnastics is a favorite sports discipline that attracts large audience in the world, including our country, the minister said.

“I am confident that this competition will play an important role in improving sport skills of our gymnasts, increasing the interest to this sports discipline as well as facilitate to its further development,” he added.

Russian gymnast Arina Averina won gold in a hoop exercise with 18.800 points in the final. Another Russian athlete Aleksandra Soldatova with 18.450 points won silver. Belarusian gymnast Alina Gornosko with 17.650 points took the bronze medal.

In a ball exercise Russian gymnast Aleksandra Soldatova won gold, Arina Averin earned silver. Bulgarian gymnast Neviana Vladinova took the bronze.

Gymnasts from Italy won gold in group exercises with five hoops, scoring 18.700 points. Athletes from Belarus with 18.700 points took the silver, while athletes from Bulgaria with 18.650 points took the bronze.

Gymnasts from Ukraine claimed gold in group exercises with three balls and two ropes, scoring 18.200 points. Bulgaria with 17.350 points took the silver, while athletes from Belarus with 17.100 points took the bronze.

Ukrainian ambassador to Azerbaijan Alexander Mischenko after the World Cup in Rhythmic Gymnastics told Trend that Azerbaijan and Ukraine do not compete, but complement each other not only in politics, but also in sports.

"As a sports fan, I highly appreciate the level of organization of the World Cup in Baku, I am very glad that our team won a gold medal and this shows the high level of development of sports in Ukraine. I do not doubt the level of sports in Azerbaijan, because I have been working in Azerbaijan for a long time and I saw how this sphere developed and continues to develop in the country," the ambassador said.

Every performance is a pleasure and a holiday for me, US gymnast Evita Griskenas, participating in FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup, told Trend.

Griskenas ranked seventh in a hoop exercise, scoring 16.050 points in the final.

"I am pleased with my performance,” she said, also expressing gratitude to the fans for their support.

Thus Baku has successfully held another prestigious international event with colorful performance and high professionalism and in the preparations for next two more important sporting events to be held this year.

--

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

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz