Greece and Latvia Groups both showed brilliant performance with their respective routines in the 5 Hoops and the 3 Ribbons + 2 Balls finals at the 7th Aphrodite Cup.

Elpida Egglezou, Kalomoira Karoki, Irini Konisti, Korina Lykaki, Katerina Pagoulatou and Marietta Topollai mesmerised the Rhythmic Gymnastics fans who came at the Faliro Olympic Indoor Hall to support the brand-new Greek team, which aspires to make it till the end of the road -the Paris Olympic Games- at the conclusion of the current Olympic-cycle.

The judges gave Greece 27.600 point in the 5 Hoops, a mark better by 0.400 points comparing to their qualification score and 26.233 in the 3 Ribbons + 2 Balls.

Next stop for Greece will be the FIG World Cup (March 18-20) at the same venue, where they will have the chance to compete against the world’s strongest nations.

Latvia’s Group also bettered themselves in the finals in regards with their qualification performance on Day 3 of the 7th Aphrodite Cup, amassing 26.433 and 22.917 points respectively. The Latvians put pressure on Greece with their routines and showed there is still room for improvement in their execution.

Apparatus Finals

Stiliana Nikolova was the star of the Apparatus finals and the leading protagonist at the 7th Aphrodite Cup, claiming three gold medals. The Bulgarian achieved the best marks of all finalists, in the Balls, Hoop and Ribbon getting 30.550, 31.550 and 31.767 points respectively.

Nikolova’s Ribbon mark was the highest amongst all medallists on the third day of action. Fellow compatriot Magdalina Minevska finally won an individual gold in the Clubs with a score of 30.217, following silver medals in both Hoop and Ribbon.

In the Junior category the spoils were shared between Liliana Lewinska, Christina Dragan and Ourania Sygkouna. Poland’s gymnast ranked first in the Ribbon (30.550) and Clubs (31.550) finals, ahead of the Romanian, who was better in the Hoop (30.500 p.). The Greek narrowly edged Dragan in the Ball, courtesy of a better execution (8.600 to 8.200), as both got the same mark, 29.300.

Dragan was the sole gymnast to reach the podium in all four Apparatus finals, claiming a gold and three silver medals.

The full list of Apparatus Finals medallists:

SENIOR

Ball

  1. Stiliana NIKOLOVA BUL 30.550
  2. Radina TOMOVA BUL 30.550
  3. Lidiia IAKOVLEVA AUS 27.200

Hoop

  1. Stiliana NIKOLOVA BUL 31.550
  2. Magdalina MINEVSKA BUL 30.300
  3. Sabina BAKATOVA KAZ 29.900

Ribbon

  1. Stiliana NIKOLOVA BUL 31.767
  2. Magdalina MINEVSKA BUL 31.300
  3. Roza ABITOVA KAZ 12. 29.867

Clubs

  1. Magdalina MINEVSKA BUL 30.217
  2. Bayan KOIBAKAR KAZ 27.883
  3. Nikola VASILJEVA LAT 27.850

 

JUNIORS

Ball

  1. Ourania SYGKOUNA GRE 29.300
  2. Christina DRAGAN ROU 29.300
  3. Liliana LEWINSKA POL 28.900

 

Hoop

  1. Christina DRAGAN ROU 30.500
  2. Milana PARFILOVA KAZ 28.800
  3. Dara STOYANOVA BUL 27.400

 

Ribbon

  1. Liliana LEWINSKA POL 28.933
  2. Christina DRAGAN ROU 28.717
  3. Erika ZHAILAUOVA KAZ 27.333

 

Clubs

  1. Liliana LEWINSKA POL 29.417
  2. Christina DRAGAN ROU 29.383
  3. Lada PUSCH GER 28.350