BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Kazakh gymnast Nariman Kurbanov, who will present an exercise on the pommel horse on the second qualifying day of the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Baku, told Trend he's set for victory.
"The competition in Baku is the third stage of the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup. At the first one, in Cairo (Egypt), I made a small mistake and took fifth place; in Cottbus (Germany), I won the competition; and in Baku, I'm also determined to win," the athlete said.
"I have been coming to competitions in the capital of Azerbaijan for the sixth year and also have training sessions here every year. I like Baku; it's a very nice city. The organization of competitions here is always at the highest level. This time, our team arrived in Baku a week before the start of the World Cup, directly from Cottbus," he noted.
Speaking about the development of gymnastics in Azerbaijan, Kurbanov highlighted that Azerbaijani athletes participate in major international competitions and achieve prize positions.
"Azerbaijani gymnast Ivan Tikhonov competed in the Olympic Games in Tokyo, and Nikita Simonov regularly wins medals at competitions. Right now, I've been training with young Azerbaijani gymnasts, and they have good preparation," he added.
To note, the Artistic Gymnastics Apparatus World Cup is being held at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku (March 7–10). Representatives of 67 countries around the world take part in the competition.
Azerbaijan is represented by Nikita Simonov, Ivan Tikhonov, Rasul Ahmedzade, Mansum Safarov, and Murad Agarzayev in men's artistic gymnastics competitions and Nazanin Teymurova in women's artistic gymnastics competitions.
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