Azernews.Az

By Gulgiz Dadashova

Azerbaijan's gymnasts delivered amazing performances at the FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup Pesaro in Italy held on April 26-28.

According to the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation, Azerbaijan's junior gymnastics team comprising Gulsum Shafizada, Nilufar Niftaliyeva, Sabina Hummatova, Emilya Bagiyeva and Aynur Mustafayeva performed with five hoops in the final exercise.

The Azerbaijani gymnasts left behind the strong team of Belarus and won bronze at the tournament. The girls fell behind the Russian team, which took the second place, and the Bulgarian gymnasts, who won gold.

Azerbaijan's Marina Durunda managed to enter the four finals. The 16-year-old athlete from Baku was fifth -- next only to the gymnasts from Belarus, Korea and Ukraine.

Another athlete of the Azerbaijani team, Lala Yusifova, become the 12th in the all-around competition.

Finally, the adult team comprising Sabina Abbasova, Irada Ahadzade, Mansura Bagiyeva, Sabina Garatova, Siyana Vasileva and Aliya Pashayeva was sixth in the combined event. They qualified for the finals with three balls and two ribbons, ranking third, but lost in the final.

Head coach of the national team Mariana Vasileva highly assessed the performances of the Azerbaijani gymnasts.

"Anyway, I am very glad that our gymnasts, both individually and in a group, are among the finalists and winners," she said, voicing hope that even better results would be achieved until the European championship in Vienna.

The 2013 FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup series was held in conjunction with the 5th Torneo Internazionale "Citta Di Pesaro". The World Cup competition saw both Individual Seniors and Senior Groups take to the floor, whilst the "Citta Di Pesaro" saw Junior Groups and Individual Senior contest for the titles.