Azerbaijani gymnasts successfully perform in Portugal [UPDATE]

12 March 2019 13:25 (UTC+04:00)

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By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijani gymnasts have successfully performed in Portugal.

Maia International Acro Cup 2019 is the first tournament in which the national team of Azerbaijan participated this year.

Azerbaijani gymnasts Ruhidil Gurbanli and Abdulla Al-Mashaihi, performing in the mixed pair, finished the tournament with a bronze medal, Trend reported.

The first place was taken by the Russians, the second - by the representatives of Belarus. Another mixed pair of Azerbaijan, Nurjan Jabbarli and Aghasif Rahimov, failed to reach the finals.

In the finals, the male pair Seymur Jafarov and Murad Akbarov also performed, however, the mistake made during the program’s performance separated them from the medal, and the pair finished fifth.

Along with pairs, for the first time, the women's group also participated in the adult program in the Cup.

It was the first experience of Laman Mammadova, Emilia Nazarli and Razi Seyidli. The gymnasts managed to reach the final and finished in seventh place.

Today, gymnastics has become a favorite and popular sport in Azerbaijan. National gymnasts mount the podium at significant competitions.

Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation (AGF), which was founded in 1956, has experienced revival since 2002 and the renewed federation lifted this popular sport to a new level. Currently, AGF comprises seven gymnastics disciplines recognized by the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG).

The National Gymnastics Arena specialized in all six competitive gymnastics disciplines and hosted all large-scale competitions held in Baku from the day of its opening in 2014, is in the spotlight of not only the gymnasts, willingly joining the training camp, but, all the sports fans from different countries of the world with its uniqueness.

The high level organization of the gymnastics events did not remain unnoticed.

International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has included the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation (AGF) into the list of the meritorious federations.

Thus, the AGF has managed to be in the spotlight with its exemplary activity just like it was in the previous year.

FIG academies for coaches in rhythmic, artistic and aerobic gymnastics, the FIG Congress and other international competitions and meetings as well as AGF’s active participation by duly submitting necessary entries for the events in six FIG recognized competitive gymnastic disciplines were highly appreciated by the FIG again and the AGF took the first place.

The AGF succeeded to be included into the FIG ranking of the best 10 federations in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and ranked first in 2017.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova