"Gymnastics actively developed in Azerbaijan"

The development of gymnastics gives positive results in Azerbaijan, which are also visible at the Artistic Gymnastics Azerbaijan and Baku Championships, which are being held at the National Arena of Gymnastics today, the senior coaches of the national Azerbaijani women's and men's teams, Nina Pravdina and Rza Aliyev, said, speaking with the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza.

Nina Pravdina stressed that the current Azerbaijan championship is seriously different from the previous one in a positive way. "The kids learned to do more things than they could do before, the programs became more difficult. And they became physically stronger," she noted.

According to the coach, 18 gymnasts will take part inthe first day of the tournament - juniors, seniors and pre-juniors. Tomorrow, little kids will compete on the second day, there will be 12 of them.

She also talked about the plans of the national team for the period after the Azerbaijan championship. Nina Pravdina said that Samira Gahramanova is preparing for the European Youth Championship. "We plan to work out the all-around without falling, to get our rating up so that people started to notice us. We want to reach the finals, of course," the senior coach of the women's team said.

Thus, she noted, gymnastics in Azerbaijan is being actively developed. "There have not been active sports gymnastics for more than 20 years. Although it is still too soon to see serious gymnasts. But look, Samira Gahramanova is very good at apparatus gymnastics. Of course, while she has difficulties with the bars, but it needs time. And we have been working less than four years," Nina Pravdina pointed out.

She also wished the athletes luck, diligence and courage.

Head coach of the Azerbaijani national men's gymnastics team Rza Aliyev stressed that the current tournament is the first one that took place on the main arena, which seriously affected the results. "In general, the championship is held on the eve of the European Championship. And the goals set for the children who will go there are practically fulfilled," he said.

Rza Aliyev also noted that there is a serious competition in the national team, which serves as an additional incentive for gymnasts in workouts.

In addition, the head coach of the Azerbaijani team told about the team's plans. "Our nearest plans are the European Championship, which will be held in August in Glasgow (the UK). We are going as a big team, both seniors and juniors, and, of course, we plan to attend the Youth Olympic Games (October 6-18), for which Samed Mamedli get a license," Rza Aliyev concluded.

The Artistic Gymnastics Azerbaijan and Baku Championships among age categories opened at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku today. More than 100 gymnasts representing Baku Gymnastics School, “Ojag” Sport Club, “Neftchi” Sport Club, Zira Culture Center, Republican Olympic Sport Lyceum and Sumgait city will take part in two-day competition. Women will compete in the age categories of seniors, juniors, pre-juniors, children and youngsters, while men will perform in the age groups of seniors, juniors, pre-juniors, children, youngsters, minors and babies.