| The first tournament of the season revealed new names 45 participants from 22 countries came to Moscow to take part in this season’s first international tournament “World Cup - Belkamneft Champions Cup” in rhythmic gymnastics.
Welcoming the participants, President of the All-Russian Federation of Rhythmic Gymnastics Sergei Yastrzhembsky said: “This year, Russian women had the honor of opening a tense and difficult season of major international competitions at home. The premiere promises to be exciting."
Despite the absence of recognized leaders in this sport - Alina Kabaeva and Irina Chashchina, who were disqualified by the International Gymnastics Federation for using furosemide, the Russian team performed successfully.
A new star, Zarina Gizikova from Vladikavkaz, became the winner of the Belkamneft Cup, which gave her the right to be the only Russian woman to compete at the World Cup, which ended late yesterday evening.
The 16-year-old athlete's rivals were very experienced - Bulgarian Simona Peycheva, Ukrainian Anna Bessonova and Tamara Erofeeva, as well as Russian Laysan Utyasheva. The latter was largely prevented from reaching the top step of the podium by a knee injury. Bulgarian Peycheva, who came second, most likely could not cope with her nerves. And the Ukrainians, according to the Russians’ mentor Irina Viner, did complex programs that they simply couldn’t cope with. “I think they overestimated their capabilities when they learned that Kabaeva and Chashchina would not compete,” said Wiener. - However, we again proved that there are many talented athletes in Russian gymnastics. And I am especially happy for Zarina, who, in the most difficult situation for her, demonstrated that she is a real fighter. She performed the programs cleanly and rightfully won the championship title.”
We asked Irina Deryugina, the head coach of the Ukrainian team, to comment on the results of the judging of the first day of the tournament, but she refused. There may have been good reasons for this. The performance results of some athletes were subsequently revised. Summing up the results of the first day, Wiener noted that she was pleased with the performance of her players: “This is quite normal for the start of the season.” Olga ERMOLINA |
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