Silver Egyptian Cup

And so, on the eve of the spring holiday and the renewal of Navruz, Cairo hosted the third of a series of rating stages of the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup, which brought a real gift to Uzbekistan - 2 silver medals. Recall that this start brought together a record number of participating countries - 33 states. In Egypt, our delegation presented the following composition: among women - Oksana Chusovitina, Ominakhon Khalilova, Dildora Aripova. Among the men - Rasuljon Abdurahimov, Abdulla Azimov, Khabibullo Ergashev, Utkirbek Juraev. Coaching staff: Elvira Rakova and Ravshan Mirzaev. Judges: Stella Koshechkina and Otabek Masharipov.

On the first day of the competition, Oksana successfully qualified in the vault, Dildora on the uneven bars and Abdullah on the mahi horse apparatus. In the second - in floor exercises Dildora Aripova and Ominakhon Khalilova, as well as Rasuljon Abdurahimov in exercises on parallel bars.

With great impatience, the fans were waiting for the final performance of Oksana Chusovitina, who at the previous stage of the World Cup in Doha won gold in her crowning form of the program - the vault. And if Oksana reached the final with the first result, then in the struggle for the highest place on the podium, she lost a little behind to the gymnast from Slovenia, Tjasa Kisselef. 12.950 versus 13.183 respectively. As a result, Oksana was awarded a medal with a silver tint. The bronze was taken to Canada by Laurie Denommi. Elvira Rakova's student Dildora Aripova received another silver award. In floor exercises, the young and talented gymnast was able to bypass many of the strongest athletes, gaining 12,600 points. By the way, last year, participating in the World Cup from the Challenge series in Varna, Dildora became the winner. But in the rating stage it is much more difficult to get to the podium. The leader in this type of program was the Hungarian Darina Boyzhoye (12.733 points), and the third place was taken by Lori Denommi from Canada (12.566 points). Ominakhon Khalilova finished fifth in floor exercises with a score of 11.933 points. Dildora Aripova finished her performance on uneven bars with the 8th result. Abdulla Azimov took the 7th place on the horse-mahi apparatus.

Rasuljon Abdurahimov, who is successfully undergoing rehabilitation after his injury, is gradually getting into shape. And if in Doha he failed to reach the final, now the exercise on parallel bars was more effective. As a result, 5th place. The world champion Ilya Kovtun from Ukraine becomes the undisputed leader for the third stage in a row in this type of program.

We congratulate our team on a successful performance at this start and once again note the results of Oksana Chusovitina and Dildora Aripova, who added silver medals to the national team's treasury.

And ahead of the fourth, completing a series of rating stages of the World Cup. It will be held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, from 31 mats to 4 April. We look forward to participating in this important tournament and our team.