Presentation of official website, promo video of Rhythmic Gymnastics Euro Championship held in Baku - UPDATE - PHOTOS - VIDEO

Azerbaijani gymnasts will try to fittingly perform at the European Championship and please the fans, head coach of the national team, Mariana Vasileva said at a press conference held in Baku on April 5.

Vasileva, who is an ethnic Bulgarian, made a speech in the Azerbaijani language, which is a manifestation of respect for Azerbaijan.

"The national team has experienced a change of generations. Aliya Garayeva, who led the national team for many years, left it after the Olympics. At the same time, this change was painless for the team: during the European Championship in Turin, two our gymnasts won a license for the First European Games in Baku," Vasileva said.

The expectations for the upcoming tournament are not confined with this, she added.
"Of course, we are expecting surprises, the first of which is the arena, for which I want again to thank the country's First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva. I believe that this tournament will be remembered for not only the highest level of organization, but also for the high level of performance of athletes," Vasileva said.

She said that Azerbaijani athletes are preparing for the competition just like the organizers.

"As you know, both adult and junior athletes will take part in the tournament. The junior team will perform eight exercises in the team tournament. Each country may be represented by two to four gymnasts. The last day of the competitions will see finals in the exercises with hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon. Very likely, Jala Pirieva and Zuleikha Ismailova will perform," the coach said.

Vasileva also added that Azerbaijani adult gymnasts did not participate in group competitions in the European championships held earlier.

"Thus, they will perform at the European championship at home for the first time. The team will include Sabina Abbasova, Siyana Vasileva, Aliya Pashayeva, Aynur Mustafayeva, Diana Doman and Alexandra Platonova. In the group performances the team will take part in all-around and individual events," the coach said.

"Some 20 gymnasts will compete in the individual event - Azerbaijan will be represented by two athletes out of those who showed good results in the last European Championship held in Vienna. One of them will be Marina Durunda. I have not yet made a final decision regarding the second candidate - it will either be Gulsum Shafizade or Lala Yusifova or Nilufer Niftaliyeva."

Azerbaijani national team's coach believes that the current year has started well for the gymnasts.

"We have already successfully participated in several Grand Prix and World Cup stages and prior to the European Championship our athletes will take part in several more such events. Aside from that, the national championship will kick off on April 19. I believe we will see a very interesting struggle in the adult competition," Vasileva added.

She also said all conditions have been created for the athletes.

"We are already training at the National Gymnastics Arena. This is perhaps the most beautiful such a complex in the world. I am grateful to Mehriban Aliyeva on behalf of all coaches and athletes for the care rendered to us. We will try to justify her hopes," the coach said.

The Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championship will be held in Baku between June 13 and June 15. Some 33 countries have made bids for participation in the championship.
Some 258 gymnasts will compete for nine sets of awards in Baku.

***
Fantastic conditions and infrastructure have been created in Azerbaijan for gymnastics, the representative of the European Union of Gymnastics (UEG) from Switzerland, Gilberte Gianadda told Trend on April 5 in Baku.

The Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championship to be held in the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku is of great significance for the world gymnastics, according to Gianadda.

The Swiss representative of the UEG also pointed out that Azerbaijan pays considerable attention to the development of gymnastics, the bright example of which is the construction of the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku.

Gianadda said he believes that the Azerbaijani female athletes will achieve big results in the upcoming European Championship.

The European Championship will be held in the National Gymnastics Arena near Koroglu subway station in Baku from June 13 to June 15. This modern building is among a number of Baku's new sports venues.

The delegations of the participating countries will stay near the competition venue in the sports village, built for the first European Games.

Local and foreign media will cover the championship.

***
Azerbaijani gymnasts have made great progress in recent years, the head of the Technical Committee for Rhythmic Gymnastics of the European Gymnastics Union, Heide Bruneder told Trend on April 5 in Baku.

"The athletes representing your country are among the gymnasts of top five strongest countries in this type of sport. I remember the last tournament during which the gymnasts from Azerbaijan won medals," Bruneder said pointing out that very good conditions have been created in the country for holding the European Championship.

Bruneder went on to add that not everything depends on couches in the successes of gymnasts.

"Coaches cannot do anything when a gymnast is on the carpet. If a gymnast is strong and hardworking, then everything is possible," she noted.

The European Championship will be held in the National Gymnastics Arena near Koroglu subway station in Baku from June 13 to June 15. This modern building is among a number of Baku's new sports venues.

The delegations of the participating countries will stay near the competition venue in the sports village, built for the first European Games.

The local and foreign media will cover the championship.

***
The upcoming championship in Baku promises to be amazing, head of the Technical Committee for Rhythmic Gymnastics of the European Gymnastics Union (EGU) Heide Bruneder said at a press conference in Baku on April 5.

The Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championship will be held in Baku from June 13 to June 15.

"We are sure it will be beautiful and amazing competition," Bruneder said, and wished the hosting country good luck.

Bruneder also appreciated good preparation of the organization for the upcoming event, and praised Baku's National Gymnastics Arena.

"I can say that it is amazing. The place for the training and competition is perfect, beautiful," she said. "We are not here for the first time for the European championships , and we got the possibility to see the new arena, it is amazing."

Further, Bruneder revealed the new format of the upcoming competition. In particular, she said, the new format will apply to the competition of the junior teams.

"Before we had competition with maximum four gymnasts and each gymnast could perform only one exercise. It means only 4 exercises for each country," Bruneder said.

And now, according to Bruneder, it was decided for the juniors to perform eight exercises. "But we will only count six best scores per team," she said.

She stressed that Azerbaijan has two gymnasts among 20 of Europe's best, all of whom are present in the group A of the competition.

Bruneder also mentioned that the forthcoming championship is special.

"We will have the 30th anniversary, and it will be the first competition in this new beautiful arena," she said.

***
The casting of lots of the Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championship took place in Azerbaijan's Baku on April 5.

The Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championship will be held in Baku from June 13 to June 15.

Some 258 gymnasts will compete for 9 sets of awards in Baku. About 33 countries have made bids for participation in the championship.

Azerbaijani junior gymnastics team will perform 9th, while the group team will perform 3rd. Azerbaijani gymnasts will perform 6th and 7th at the individual competitions.

The European Championship will be held in the National Gymnastics Arena near Koroglu subway station in Baku. This modern building is among a number of Baku's new sports venues.

The delegations of the participating countries will stay near the competition venue in the sports village, built for the first European Games.

The local and foreign media will cover the European Championship. As for the press representatives (TV, journalists, photographers, electronic media, bloggers , etc.), they can receive online accreditation through the website of the European Union of Gymnastics here - https://www.fig-gymnastics.com/media/

The deadline for press applications is May 28, 2014.

***
The First European Games to be held in Baku have become the historical event even before taking place, Vice-President of Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation (AGF), Altay Hasanov said at a press conference in Baku on April 5.

"I am confident that the games will be organized at the highest level," Hasanov said, adding that the Gymnastics Federation has a more difficult task.

"The European Games program will include six gymnastics' disciplines. The competition as a whole is a call for federations and the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and for the entire Organizing Committee of the European Games," he said.

Hasanov expressed his confidence that the organizers will successfully cope with the task and the European Games will be held at the highest level in Baku, and the results will follow.

The Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championship will be held in Baku from June 13 to June 15. About 33 countries have made bids for participation in the championship.

***
The presentation of the official website of the Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championship (http://baku2014.agf.az/application/), which will be held in Baku from June 13 to June 15, and its promotional video that will be shown on TV channels, took place in Baku on April 5.

The event was attended by Vice-President of Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation (AGF), Altay Hasanov, head of the Technical Committee for Rhythmic Gymnastics of the European Gymnastics Union (EUG) Heide Bruneder, Secretary General of AGF, vice-president of the European Union of Gymnastics Farid Gaibov, head coach of Azerbaijani artistic gymnastics team, Mariana Vassileva, Marketing Director of the European Championship, Sabri Gulmaliyev and referee of international category, director of the European Championship, Natalia Bulanova.

"The ticket sales for the upcoming European Championship in Baku will begin on April 20, the marketing director of the organizing committee of the tournament," Sabri Gulmaliyev said.

"The tickets will be available at the National Gymnastics Arena, around the city, as well as on the tournament's website," he said.

The website is available in three languages, according to the the marketing director of the organizing committee.

/Trend/