Greece, Kazakhstan and Israel were the most successful nations on Day 3 of the 9th Aphrodite Cup held in the Faliro Olympic Indoor Hall between 15-17 March.

The hosts dominated the Senior Team Apparatus Finals winning gold in both events, Kazakhstan won three disciplines in the Senior Individual Apparatus Finals, while Israel swept all gold medals in the Juniors’ Individual Apparatus Finals.

The Aphrodite Cup served as the ideal warm-up event for the upcoming FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup first leg which is due take place in the same venue between 22-24 March and will bring back in Greece the elite of the sport.

Senior Team Apparatus Finals

The 9th Aphrodite Cup held in the Faliro Olympic Indoor Hall served as a warm-up test for Greece’s team ahead of the upcoming World Cup and it was a successful one.

The hosts’ Team of Eira Laoura Gkikoka, Eirini Konisti, Marieta Topollai, Marilna Triantou and Alesia Hatellari won both gold medals in the Apparatus Finals (5 Hoops and 3 Ribbons + 2 Balls) and showed they are on the right track to achieve their biggest goal for 2024 i.e. qualification for the Olympic Games.

A strong performance by Australia (Olympic hopefuls as well) with 3 Ribbons + 2 Balls, brought them in the second place, leaving Mexico, who have already qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, in third. In the 5 Hoops Mexico was second and Australia ranked third.

Results

5 Hoops
Team (Nation) Score
1. Greece 33.400
2. Mexico 31.850
3. Australia 30.700
4. Kazakhstan 30.000
5. Malaysia 25.650
6. Great Britain and NI 23.600

3 Ribbons + 2 Balls
Team (Nation) Score
1. Greece 28.500
2. Australia 28.150
3. Mexico 27.150
4. Kazakhstan 26.750
5. Great Britain and NI 22.900
6. Malaysia 21.550

Senior Individual Apparatus Finals

Aibota Yertaikyzy was the main protagonist of the Seniors Individual Apparatus Finals on the third and final day of the 9th Aphrodite Cup. The Kazak gymnast, who ranked second behind local heroine Panagiota Lytra in the Individual All-Around classification, emerged victorious in two Apparatus finals: Clubs and Ribbon.

Yertaikyzy additionally snatched bronze in the Ball final won by her fellow compatriot Erica Zhailauova, while Greece’s Panagiota Lytra prevailed with her performance with Hoop and was second in the Clubs competition.

Overall the Kazaks won six medals on Day 3 with Individual All-Around bronze medallist, Milana Parfilova adding silver (with Ribbon) and bronze (with Clubs) to their overall sum.

Others to step on the podium at the Seniors Individual Apparatus Finals were Japan’s Reina Matsuaka who was third in the Hoop and Ribbon finals, and Naruha Suzuki (second with Ball) as well as Bulgaria’s Nikol Todorova who ranked second with her routine with Hoop.

Results

Hoop
Athlete (Nation) Score
1. Panagiota Lytra (Greece) 34.300
2. Nikol Todorova (Bulgaria) 33.450
3. Reina Matsusaka (Japan) 32.700
4. Kristina Ternovski (Israel) 32.200
5. Milana Parfilova (Kazakhstan) 31.150
6. Aibota Yertaikyzy (Kazakhstan) 30.850
7. Yana Golovan (USA) 30.800
8. Anna-Maria Shatokhin (Germany) 30.700

Ball
Athlete (Nation) Score
1. Erica Zhailauova (Kazakhstan) 32.650
2. Naruha Suzuki (Japan) 32.650
3. Aibota Yertaikyzy (Kazakhstan) 32.500
4. Nikol Todorova (Bulgaria) 32.450
5. Reina Matsusaka (Japan) 31.700
6. Panagiota Lytra (Greece) 30.350
7. Sarah Mariotti (USA) 29.800
8. Kristina Ternovski (Israel) 28.400

Clubs
Athlete (Nation) Score
1. Aibota Yertaikyzy (Kazakhstan) 32.000
2. Panagiota Lytra (Greece) 31.150
3. Milana Parfilova (Kazakhstan) 31.000
4. Yana Golovan (USA) 30.350
5. Naruha Suzuki (Japan) 30.000
6. Nikol Todorova (Bulgaria) 29.850
7. Kristina Ternovski (Israel) 29.500
8. Ourania Sygkouna (Greece) 28.550

Ribbon
Athlete (Nation) Score
1. Aibota Yertaikyzy (Kazakhstan) 32.050
2. Milana Parfilova (Kazakhstan) 31.450
3. Reina Matsusaka (Japan) 30.450
4. Sarah Mariotti (USA) 29.900
5. Panagiota Lytra (Greece) 29.550
6. Viktoria Steinfeld (Germany) 28.000
7. Havana Hopman (New Zealand) 26.650
8. Kristina Ternovski (Israel) 25.550

Junior Individual Apparatus Finals

Israeli junior gymnasts dominated the Individual Apparatus Finals winning all four available gold medals. Alona Tal Franco won the competition with Hoop and Clubs while Meital Maayam Sumkin ranked first with her routines with Ball and Ribbon. Both girls targeted the Apparatus finals as they elected to perform only two routines each, during the first two days of action.

The victor of the Individual All-Around, Poland’s Olivia Maslov added two silvers (Hoop and Ball) and a bronze (Clubs) to her tally, while second-placed Akmaral Yerekesheva of Kazakhstan won silver with her performance with Clubs and bronze with the Ball.

US gymnast Natalie de la Roda was second in the Hoop and Ribbon competition, while Romania’s Amalia Lica and Bulgaria’s Dara Malinova offered their countries their sole Individual Apparatus Finals medals capturing bronze in their routines with Hoop and with Ribbon respectively.

Results

Hoop
Athlete (Nation) Score
1. Alona Tal Franco (Israel) 33.500
2. Olivia Maslov (Poland) 32.100
3. Amalia Lica (Romania) 31.950
4. Magdalena Valkova (Bulgaria) 29.800
5. Paraskevi Bilia (Greece) 29.450
6. Isabella Chong (USA) 29.450
7. Akmaral Yerekesheva (Kazakhstan) 29.350
8. Ekaterina Sharova (Cyprus) 27.850

Ball
Athlete (Nation) Score
1. Meital Maayan Sumkin (Israel) 31.800
2. Olivia Maslov (Poland) 31.050
3. Akmaral Yerekesheva (Kazakhstan) 30.150
4. Alja Ponikvar (Slovenia) 29.150
5. Natalie de la Rosa (USA) 28.900
6. Magdalena Valkova (Bulgaria) 28.450
7. Elys Kretelle Kukk (Estonia) 27.850
8. Elena Vukmir (Hungary) 26.150

Clubs
Athlete (Nation) Score
1. Alona Tal Franco (Israel) 31.350
2. Akmaral Yerekesheva (Kazakhstan) 30.250
3. Olivia Maslov (Poland) 29.950
4. Isabella Chong (USA) 29.800
5. Dara Malinova (Bulgaria) 29.550
6. Amalia Lica (Romania) 29.000
7. Alja Povinkar (Slovenia) 27.050
8. Alice Lebedeva (Latvia) 26.800

Ribbon
Athlete (Nation) Score
1. Meital Maayan Sumkin (Israel) 29.400
2. Natalie de la Rosa (USA) 28.900
3. Dara Malinova (Bulgaria) 28.000
4. Amalia Lica (Romania) 27.700
5. Olivia Maslov (Poland) 27.250
6. Irena Berezovskaya (Kazakhstan) 27.250
7. Sofia Jakovleva (Estonia) 26.400
8. Ursa Kracman (Slovenia) 24.050

Junior Team Apparatus Finals
The two national junior teams that made the trip to Greece to take part at the 9th Aphrodite Cup Team competition shared the two gold medals up for grabs in the Apparatus Finals. Georgia had the better of the rest of the line-up with their performance with 5 Pairs of Clubs and Kazakhstan prevailed with their routine with 5 Hoops.

Additionally, Georgia was second in the 5 Hoops final and Kazakhstan third in the 5 Pairs of Clubs final.

Palaio Faliro club GOPF Armonia gave local fans two good reasons to celebrate winning silver in the 5 Pairs of Clubs and bronze in the 5 Hoops finals.

Results

5 Pairs of Clubs
Team (Nation) Score
1. Georgia 24.450
2. GOPF Armonia (Greece) 24.350
3. Kazakhstan 22.250
4. AO Palmos Argyroupolis (Greece) 22.200
5. Silhouettes of York (Canada) 22.100
6. Gezyra SC (Egypt) 20.600
7. York Stars RGC (Canada) 19.200
8. Elaia GC (Greece) 14.650

5 Hoops
Team (Nation) Score
1. Kazakhstan 24.950
2. Georgia 23.350
3. GOPF Armonia (Greece) 23.000
4. AO Palmos Argyroupolis (Greece) 22.750
5. Silhouettes of York (Canada) 22.600
6. Elaia GC (Greece) 18.400
7. Gezyra SC (Egypt) 14.800