Elvira Krasnobaeva was the most decorated athlete of the FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup series’ first leg which came to an end with thrilling finals unfolding on Sunday, March 24 in the full-capacity Faliro Olympic Indoor Hall.

After her Individual All-Around final, the Bulgarian gymnast won gold in her performance with Hoop and added two silver medals to her tally; in the Clubs, and Ribbon finals.

Spoils were shared in the Group competition with Italy prevailing in the 5 Hoops routine and Poland in the 3 Ribbons + 2 Balls final.

There were four different winners in the Apparatus finals: Krasnobaeva, Israel’s Daniela Munits in the Ball, China’s Wang Zilu in the Clubs and Alina Harnasko in the Ribbon competition.

Sunday’s finals as they happened:

Hoop Final

The Apparatus finals first session started with a Bulgarian victory courtesy of Elvira Krasnobaeva, Saturday’s winner in the All-Around competition. A master-class performance with Hoop brought 16-year-old Krasnobaeva ahead of the World silver medallist and crowd’s favourite Sofia Raffaeli of Italy.

“I am very, very happy. It’s was my maiden appearance in a World Cup event and it was sealed with a gold medal. Now, my big dream is to compete in the Paris Olympic Games”, said Grasnobaeva who collected two gold and two silver medals in Palaio Faliro.

Poland’s European junior silver medallist Liliana Lewinska confirmed her excellent form with another fantastic performance to capture bronze, her maiden World Cup medal.

A missed catch moments before completing her routine denied Bulgaria’s Eva Brezalieva a place on the podium, while Greek champion Panagiota Lytra ranked seventh to the crowd’s delight.

Results:

1. KRASNOBAEVA Elvira BUL 34.300
2. RAFFAELI Sofia ITA 33.850
3. LEWINSKA Liliana POL 33.700
4. BREZALIEVA Eva BUL 32.800
5. PIGNICZKI Fanni HUN 32.400
6. BEREZINA Polina ESP 32.100
7. LYTRA Panagiota GRE 31.800
8. ATAMANOV Daria ISR 26.950

Ball Final

An eleventh-hour performance by Israel’s Daniela Munits decided the victor in the Ball competition.

The European Ribbon junior champion of 2022, who achieved the best score in qualifying on Friday, was the last to appear in the Faliro Indoor Hall mat and she managed to beat Raffaeli’s score by a mere 0.100. The Italians questioned in vain the 32.850 points awarded to the reigning European Ball champion by the judges, therefore Raffaeli had to settle with her second silver medal of the day.

Bulgaria’s Eva Brezalieva was third with 32.150, leaving World Cup debutant Rin Keys of the US in fourth place.

Results:

1. MUNITS Daniela ISR 32.950
2. RAFFAELI Sofia ITA 32.850
3. BREZALIEVA Eva BUL 32.150
4. KEYS Rin USA 32.000
5. ALEXANDRE Maria Eduarda BRA 31.700
6. PIGNICZKI Fanni HUN 31.550
7. KARBANOV Helene FRA 30.100
8. ATAMANOV Daria ISR 28.100

5 Hoops Final

Israel’s Group golden start in Palaio Faliro, in the All-Around competition, was not a fluke as a marvelous performance by the Israeli quintet in their performance with 5 Hoops awarded them 35.800 points, a better score than their qualifying mark.

Nevertheless, 35.800 was not enough for them to clinch a second gold in Palaio Faliro as the Italian Group who came out last to compete, mesmerized the capacity crowd with their flawless routine which awarded them 36.700 and the gold medal.

Minutes before the Italians’ showdown, reigning world champions China got 35.000 points a score that couldn’t beat either Israel’s 3.5800 or Italy’s 36.700 points which followed a few minutes later.

Hosts Greece ranked seventh and with the home-crowd warm support, they boost their confidence ahead of the upcoming European Championships, where the final continental Olympic ticket will be awarded.

Speaking on behalf of the Italian team, Alessia Maurelli commented: “We are very happy with this gold medal today. It was the first time we competed with this new exercise.

“It’s true that we competed last in the rotation, but we are OK with that because for us it doesn’t a make a difference if we compete first or last. We are very focused on our exercise.

“Step by step we will take confidence ahead of the Olympics. It’s still very early but it’s a good beginning”.

The Italian team was represented by Martina Centofanti, Agnese Duranti, Daniela Mogurean, Laura Paris, and Alessia Maurelli, the Israeli Group by Shani Bakanov, Adar Friedmann, Romi Paritzki, Ofir Shaham, and Diana Svertsov and the Chinese team by Xinyi Ding, Qiqi Guo, Ting Hao, Zhangjiayang Huang, and Lanjing Wang.

Results:

1. Italy 36.700
2. Israel 35.800
3. China 35.000
4. Ukraine 33.700
5. Germany 32.450
6. Mexico 32.350
7. Greece 29.500
8. Spain 27.800

Clubs Final

In the most balanced Apparatus final, China’s Wang Zilu upset a strong field to win her first-ever FIG World Cup gold medal. The 21-year-old, who was fourth in the same event in Sofia last year, got 32.700 points to narrowly surpass Krasnobaeva’s 32.600 and Brezalieva’s 32.500 points in a dramatic final.

The Bulgarian duo fell far from their qualifying marks (33.300 and 33.350 respectively) but still their scores were enough for their second medals of the day.

“I am so happy to win my first gold medal at a World Cup. I am going to work hard to improve and win more medals in the future” said Wang.

Results:

1. WANG Zilu CHN 32.700
2. KRASNOBAEVA Elvira BUL 32.600
3. BREZALIEVA Eva BUL 32.500
4. VEDENEEVA Ekaterina SLO 31.950
5. HORODNYCHA Polina UKR 30.750
6. KEYS Rin USA 30.600
7. ALEXANDRE Maria Eduarda BRA 29.550
8. BALDASSARRI Milena ITA 29.200

Ribbon Final

Olympic bronze medallist Alina Harnasko won the nail-biting Ribbon final against Bulgaria’s Elvira Krasnobaeva. The victory was decided by a mere 0.050 points to Harnasko’s favour who had to wait and check the Individual All-Around and Hoop gold medallist’s score. To her relief, Krasnobaeva’s score fell short.

“I am so happy to be here and win the gold medal in the Clubs final and bronze in the Individual All-Around. I hope it will be better for me in my next competition”

In her first senior year Vera Tugolukova offered Cyprus the country’s maiden World Cup medal. She improved her qualifying mark by 0.800 points to leave Brezalieva out of the podium.

Tugolukova now poses a major threat to her rivals in the fight for the last continental individual Olympic ticket which is still up for grabs.

Results:

1. HARNASKO Alina AIN 31.550
2. KRASNOBAEVA Elvira BUL 31.500
3. TUGOLUKOVA Vera CYP 30.900
4. BREZALIEVA Eva BUL 30.800
5. WIESNER Hanna Panna HUN 30.350
6. KARBANOV Helene FRA 29.550
7. TANIYEVA Elzhana KAZ 29.200
8. KOLOSOV Margarita GER 29.200

3 Ribbons + 2 Balls Final

Poland’s Group who have yet to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, was the surprise package of the last final of the World Cup in the Faliro Olympic Indoor Hall. The Poles’ team consisting of Mariia Balakina, Milena Gorska, Madoka Przybylska, Malgorzata Roszatycka, and Julia Wojiechovska excelled with their routine with 3 Ribbons and 2 Balls beating six nations that have already qualified for Paris to earn a well-deserved gold medal.

“We are very happy. It was our second World Cup and we performed very well. The organization was excellent and I hope to come back again in Athens. Our dream is to qualify for the Paris Olympics, said Malgorzata Roszatycka, while her partner in the Polish team Madoka Przybylska added: “This was the 2nd World Cup for us, and we are very happy because we did it again. Now we must pursuit our main goal, the qualification in the Olympic Games of Paris».

Second-placed Italy completed the full set of medals in Palaio Faliro following gold in the 5 Hoops and bronze in the All-Around competition.

Bronze went to the Chinese team, which also won three medals in Palaio Faliro (a silver and two bronzes).

Results:

1. Poland 30.950
2. Italy 30.400
3. China 30.150
4. Brazil 29.800
5. Japan 29.700
6. Bulgaria 29.150
7. Spain 28.700
8. Israel 25.800