Baku, Azerbaijan, April 26
By Jani Babayeva – Trend:
I think that Azerbaijani female athletes are very lucky, because they have such a wonderful gymnastics hall where great conditions are created, Belarusian gymnast Anastasia Salos told Trend.
"The organization of the FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup in Baku is very good. There are many volunteers who help, and they will always help when needed," the athlete added.
Speaking about her performance on the first qualifying day of the Cup, she noted that she performed well, although there were a few mistakes.
"The first exercise did quite well, without a failure - but there were a few mistakes here and there, of course. I made a mistake at the very end of the second performance. I think that I could have done much more, but the whole competition is still ahead, and I think I can correct these mistakes. I like all my exercises this year: they are all different in mood, style and form,” she said.
The FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup has kicked off on April 26 at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku.
On the first day of the competitions, qualifications will be held in an individual program with a hoop and a ball, as well as qualifications of teams in group exercises with five balls.
The FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup will last until April 28, 2019.
More than 200 gymnasts from 39 countries are expected to compete at the World Cup. During the event, 25 teams will compete in group exercises and more than 70 gymnasts will perform in individual programs.
Azerbaijan will be represented by Zohra Aghamirova and Veronika Hudis in the individual program, while Ayna Jafarova, Simara Jafarova, Gullyu Agalarzade, Narin Gurbanova, Narmin Jahangirova and Sona Rakhmanova will participate in the group exercises.
Individual Qualifications will be held on April 26 as follows: All-Around: Group A - Hoop, Ball; All-Around: Group B - Hoop, Ball; All-Around: Group C - Hoop, Ball and Groups’ Qualifications All-Around - five Balls.
Individual Qualifications will be held on April 27 as follows: All-Around: Group A – Clubs, Ribbon; All-Around: Group B - Clubs, Ribbon; All-Around: Group C - Clubs, Ribbon and Groups’ Qualifications All-Around - three Hoops and two pairs of Clubs.
The winners in all-round competitions will be named after the Individual Apparatus Finals (hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon) and Groups’ Apparatus Finals (five balls, three hoops and two pairs of clubs) and awarded on April 28.
The gymnast and the team in the group exercises with the highest score for the performance will be traditionally awarded with the AGF Trophy Cup.