The spoils on Day 2 (16 March) of the 9th Aphrodite Cup held in the Faliro Olympic Indoor Hall were shared between Mexico, Kazakhstan, and Poland.

It was a day where four gold medals and qualifiers for the Apparatus finals were decided.

Mexico’s Senior Group narrowly edged hosts Greece in the All-Around ranking by a scant 0.150 points, snatching gold with a total of 64.350 points. Greece trailed with 64.200 points, while Australia was third in 56.200 points.

Mexico took the upper hand on Friday (15 March) when their routine with Hoop and Ball earned them 35.100 points, but Greece was better on Saturday with 3 Ribbons and 2 Balls with 30.600 points. Nevertheless, the former held off the hosts’ surge to turn the tide, with their 3 Ribbons and 2 Balls performance which awarded them 29.250 points i.e. a difference of 1.350 p. from Greece’s score which was enough for the gold medal.

Senior Group All-Around

Nation                                                 5 Hoops           3 Ribbons + 2 Balls     Total

  1. Mexico 100             29.250                         64.350
  2. Greece 600             30.600                         64.200
  3. Australia 350             25.850                         56.200
  4. Kazakhstan 050             23.600                         55.650
  5. Great Britain and NI 800             21.150                         45.950
  6. Malaysia                         550             17.550                         40.100

Kazakhstan won the Juniors’ Group All-Around with a total of 48.050 points. Local club GOPF Armonia was second in 46.850 and Canada’s Silhouettes of York ranked third with 43.700 points.

The Kazakhs got 24.950 for their performance with 5 Clubs and 23.100 for their respective effort with 5 Hoops. Armonia’s five-hoop performance earned them 23.800 points, 0.700 better than Kazakhstan but not enough to bring them atop on the final classification.

Junior Group All-Around

Nation                                                 5 Clubs            5 Hoops           Total

  1. Kazakhstan 950             23.100             48.050
  2. GOPF Armonia (Greece) 050             23.800             46.850
  3. Silhouettes of York (Canada) 150             21.550             43.700
  4. Georgia 000             18.150             41.150
  5. AO Palmos Argyroupolis (Greece) 550             16.300             36.850
  6. Gezyra Sporting Club (Egypt) 100             17.700             36.800
  7. Elaia Gymnastics Club (Greece) 200             15.700             30.900
  8. York Stars RGC (Canada) 950             DNS                 19.950

Olivia Maslov from Poland emerged victorious in the Juniors’ Individual All-Around with a total of 117.200 and qualified in all Apparatus finals which will take place on Sunday (17 March). A close fight for silver which ended with a tie, was decided on the highest E-score in all four Apparatus. The tie-breaker saw Kazakhstan’s Akmaral Yerekeshe Va winning the silver medal ahead of Bulgaria’s Magdalena Valkova.

The only other gymnast to qualify in all four Apparatus Finals apart from Maslov was Akmaral Yerekeshe Va.

Paraskevi Bilia was the sole Greek to secure a place in the Junior’s Apparatus Finals thanks to her Hoop routine where she got the fifth-best score with 29.850 points.

Results

Junior Individual All-Around

Athlete (Nation)                                 Hoop   Ball      Clubs   Ribbon Total

  1. Olivia Maslov (Poland) 400 28.400 29.900 27.500 117.200
  2. Akmaral Yerekeshe Va (Kazakhstan) 050 30.000 28.850 25.600 115.500
  3. Magdalena Valkova (Bulgaria) 700 29.250 28.200 28.350 115.500
  4. Amalia Lica (Romania) 300 25.650 29.400 28.350 114.700
  5. Dara Malinova (Bulgaria) 450 25.700 29.650 28.550 113.350
  6. Zlata Usanova (Poland) 250 27.850 27.800 26.750 111.650
  7. Oleksandra Shalueva (Bulgaria) 200 28.200 28.800 25.350 111.550
  8. Isabella Chong (USA) 450 27.750 28.750 25.450 111.400

Apparatus Finals Qualifiers

Clubs

Athlete (Nation)                                             Score

  1. Alona Tal Franco (Israel) 31.250
  2. Olivia Maslov (Poland) 29.900
  3. Dara Marinova (Bulgaria) 29.650
  4. Alja Povinkar (Slovenia) 29.650
  5. Amalia Lica (Romania) 29.400
  6. Akmaral Yerekeshe Va (Kazakhstan) 28.850
  7. Isabella Chong (USA) 28.750
  8. Alice Lebedeva (Latvia) 28.500

Ribbon

Athlete (Nation)                                             Score

  1. Maayan Sumkin (Israel) 29.250
  2. Dara Marinova (Bulgaria) 28.550
  3. Amalia Lica (Romania) 28.350
  4. Olivia Maslov (Poland)             27.500
  5. Sofia Jakovleva (Estonia)             27.100
  6. Natalie De La Rosa (USA) 26.550
  7. Ursa Kracman (Slovenia) 25.950
  8. Akmaral Yerekeshe Va (Kazakhstan) 25.900

Hoop

Athlete (Nation)                                             Score

  1. Alona Tal Franco (Israel) 32.650
  2. Olivia Maslov (Poland) 31.400
  3. Amalia Lica (Romania) 31.300
  4. Akmaral Yerekeshe Va (Kazakhstan) 31.050
  5. Paraskevi Bilia (Greece) 29.850
  6. Magdalena Valkova (Bulgaria) 29.700
  7. Isabella Chong (USA)             29.450
  8. Ekaterina Sharova (Cyprus) 28.700

Ball

Athlete (Nation)                                             Score

  1. Natalie De La Rosa (USA)             30.150
  2. Akmaral Yerekeshe Va (Kazakhstan) 30.000
  3. Meital Maayan Sumkin (Israel) 30.000
  4. Magdalena Valkova (Bulgaria) 29.250
  5. Elena Vukmir (Hungary) 28.800
  6. Alja Povinkar (Slovenia)             28.700
  7. Olivia Maslov (Poland) 28.400
  8. Elys Kretelle Kukk (Estonia) 28.250