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2 October - RHYTHMIC GYMNASTS READY FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
RACHEL AND HEATHER SET FOR WORLD’S DEBUT!
A fabulous line up of Rhythmic Gymnasts will compete at the 27th Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan from 3rd - 9th October. A total of 250 gymnasts from 47 countries will take part including 2004 Olympic Silver medalist Irina Tchachina from Russia, bronze Olympic medallist Anna Besonova from the Ukraine and fourth placed Natalia Godunko. Other major contenders for the World Title include Aliya Yusopova who was 5th in Athens, Simona Peychiva from Bulgaria, Simona Peycheva and three time Olympian Almudena Cid plus in form Russian star Olga Kapranova. The list also includes Aliya Yusopova who was 5th in Athens, Simona Peychiva from Bulgaria, and Inna Zhukova from Belarus who were 7th and 8th in Athens. Also scheduled to compete are three time Olympian Almudena Cid and Elizabet Paisiyeva. Sadly the defending World Champion Alina Kabyeva was not selected by the Russian Team to compete in Baku but we will watch with interest how her replacement Svetlana Putinsteva does at Worlds.
Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Italy, Bulgaria, Kazakstahn, Spain and the hosts Azerbaijan are all expected to feature strongly in the challenge for podium finishes in the Group and Individual Finals but the new FIG Code will clearly be a major challenge as it is hoped this will include improvements to artistic interpretation, in what should be a fascinating contest.
For Great Britain, we will be cheering 18 year old Rachel Ennis from Hillingdon RGC and 16 year old team mate Heather Mann from Southview RGC, who will compete in their first World Championships after qualifying from the Berlin Masters Tournament on 17-18 September in the final Trial for selection to World’s. Both girls are looking forward to the challenge, and national Coach Nadia Alexandrova was delighted with their preparation saying “Both our gymnasts have worked very hard and looked really well during the Podium Training. Their most important task in Baku is to perform without major mistakes, to make their names better known on the International stage and to gain precious experience in the company of the best gymnast’s in the world”. Good luck girls!
We will bring you all the news and results from Baku and don’t forget that Eurosport are showing action from Worlds starting on Wednesday at 5th October from 6 - 7pm, with further coverage on Thursday evening at the same time. Then on Friday RG fans will be able to watch LIVE action direct from World’s from 10 - 11-30am followed by further coverage from 6-7pm! Further live action will be shown next weekend as we witness new World Champions being crowned! Live coverage of the whole Championships is available in the USA for just $9.95 from the World Championships Sports Network where live action will be shown on the net!
The full competition schedule is shown below.
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