32nd WCh: Russia won 6x Gold, Ukraine, Belarus and Spain each one!

* G r o u p s Competition
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* Saturday, Aug 31:
Rhythmic Groups took over the stage of the 32nd Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships at Kiev’s Sports Palace on Saturday. Twenty-nine groups representing all continents participated in the event that includes a General Competition as well as Apparatus Finals. Saturday’s event qualified the top eight groups for the Apparatus Finals on Sunday and determined the winners of the General Competition summing up the results of the routines on 2x5 Clubs and 3 Balls / 2 Ribbons.

The Rhythmic Group of Belarus took the 2013 World title in the General Competition with a total score of 35.708.
Italy won Silver with 34.733 points prevailing over the Russian Group, who earned a 34.225 total to claim the Bronze.

With eighteen participating federations, Europe is the continent with the largest participation, followed by America and Asia with five nations each. Angola participated for the first time at a Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships and was the sole representative from Africa in Groups.

In Rhythmic Groups, five gymnasts perform two different exercises of a duration from 2.15 to 2.30 minutes. One exercise is performed with five identical apparatus, the second with two different apparatus with the combination of apparatus changing every two years, namely at the beginning of an Olympic cycle and at mid-term.
The London 2012 Olympic Champions Russia and Spain which was placed fourth in London, who both competed in the first group, set the bar for this competition. The ambitious groups impressed the public with their difficult and well synchronised routines and took the lead. However, the Russian gymnasts knew that the Gold was gone when they dropped a club in their second exercise. In the end, it was Bronze for them and Spain saw history repeating itself, when they ranked again fourth.
In the second group, Belarus and Italy took the command. Both groups showed fluid routines and demonstrated skilful execution, precision and creative elements that thrilled the crowd. While Italy posted the highest difficulty score on Clubs (9.000), Belarus earned the highest total for both of their routines with 17.783 points for their exercise with Clubs and a massive 17.925 on 3 Balls and 2 Ribbons.
The 2012 Olympic Silver and 2011 World Bronze medallists finally took the Gold relegating the Italian title holders to second place.

As the 2011 Bronze medallist, Bulgaria was certainly also eyeing a spot on the podium in Kiev, but their hopes vanished early, when they made fatal mistakes in their first routine. However, the group recovered quickly and posted the third best score with Balls and Ribbons (17.150) to take an overall fifth place. As the highest ranked Asian country, China qualified for both Apparatus Finals in sixth and seventh rank respectively.
The newly formed group of Azerbaijan was delighted with an overall seventh place and their qualification for the 3 Balls and 2 Ribbons final in sixth place.
Germany also reached their goal of placing in the top ten (9th) and qualifying for one final (Clubs). Even though they had to accept a .3 penalty for their exercise with Balls and Ribbons, Japan performed solidly and qualified for both finals in eighth place. After a good start on Clubs, where they reached the final in fifth rank, the group of the host nation was unfortunate in their second exercise. A ball was dropped and went far out of bounds. The mistake had a .6 penalty and consequently further deductions for missing difficulty elements and Ukraine dropped down to fifteenth place. A disappointing result for the group that includes the same gymnasts who took fifth place at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Brazil is on the road to Rio as the highest scoring American country in overall twelfth place. The group came close to qualifying for the final with 3 Balls and 2 Ribbons placing tenth.
At their World Championships debut, Angola finished last behind Cuba and Chile, but they gained precious experience in Kiev and will take home the memory of the supportive Ukrainian public.

* Results:
  >> Groups, all-around final

* GROUPS FINALS  (Sunday, Sep 1)
        > Groups Final: Start list

While Belarus, Italy, Russia, Spain, China and Japan took part in both finals, the groups of Bulgaria and Azerbaijan had qualified for the 3 Balls / 2 Ribbons final and Germany and the host country Ukraine advanced to the 2x5 Clubs final.
The Rhythmic Group of Spain won the Gold in the Apparatus Final with 5x2 Clubs, prevailing over Italy and Ukraine, while Russia outscored Belarus and Spain to take the World title for their routine with 3 Balls and 2 Ribbons.

* 5x2 C l u b s
Qualified in third rank, the ambitious group of Spain thrilled their fans with a brilliant performance on 5x2 Clubs to take their fifth World title in the Rhythmic Group category after their glorious period in the 1990's. With breathtaking throws and catches and impressive synchronicity the Spanish topped their qualifying score to outscore the runners-up of Italy by .05 points with a 17.350 total.
Italy added a Silver on clubs to their medal tally after their successful All-around competition on Saturday. They failed to repeat their 17.600 of qualifications that would have given them the Gold, but their performance won them the hearts of many fans in Kiev.
The Ukrainian fans, however, were especially thrilled with their own group, who improved from the previous day to take the much longed for medal at their home championships on Clubs.
The top qualifiers of Belarus as well as the group of Russia made mistakes and ranked fifth and sixth respectively, while Germany and Japan confirmed their qualifying seventh and eighth ranks.
China impressed with consistent performances at these championships, placing fourth on clubs. The group improved gradually and has arrived at the top level.
        >> Results: 10 Clubs   

* 3 B a l l s  &  2 R i b b o n s
The newly crowned All-around World Champions of Belarus redeemed themselves from their mistakes in the first final with a fluid routine with Balls and Ribbons that scored 17.550. Even though they fell behind their top qualifying score, the group secured the second place impressing with the incredible difficulties and clean execution of their routine. Belarus was only beaten by Russia, who quickly got over their disappointment of missing out on a medal on Cubs. Dressed in colourful and glittering leotards the Russian gymnasts put on a flawless performance that boasted the highest difficult score of all group performances at these championships (9.250) and was awarded with a winning 18.183.
Spain outscored the group of Italy, who received a .3 penalty, to add a Bronze for their routine on Balls and Clubs that scored 17.166 points. Bulgaria had qualified in third rank, but they made mistakes and also received a .3 penalty in the final. They finished fifth ahead of China, Japan and Azerbaijan.
*Source: f i g
  >> Results: 3Ball / 2 Ribbon

Prize of Elegance: Ganna Rizatdinova (UKR) >>
The Jury of the 2013 Longines Prize for Elegance in Rhythmic Gymnastics has awarded its trophy to the Ukrainian gymnast Ganna Rizatdinova (20 years), Gold medallist on Hoop and Silver medallist in the All-around and on Ribbon.
The Longines Prize for Elegance honours the gymnast judged the most elegant among the 24 competitors participating at the Individual All-around final. The basis for evaluating, judging and awarding the prize includes emotional appeal extending beyond technical considerations to beauty charm and charisma as well as grace and harmony of the movements. The winner of the Longines Prize for Elegance will receive a statue by Swiss artist Jean-Pierre Gerber, a Longines watch, as well as a check worth US$ 5,000. This ceremony took place in the Kiev Sports Palace directly at the end of the All-around final on Friday.

* FINAL - C L U B S (Thursday, Aug 29)
- Qualifications: > C l u b s

Son, Yeon Jae from Korea, followed by Deng, Senuye (CHN), started off the final on Clubs and while both performed clean and entertaining routines, the difference compared to the leading gymnasts was still visible. They finished on fifth and sixth ranks respectively.
SilviyaMiteva (BUL) and Melitina Staniouta (BLR) made unusual mistakes in this final that resulted in deductions and even a .3 penalty for the Belarusian ranking them at the bottom of the table.
It was then up to the Russians and Ukrainians to take the medals and Margarita Mamun and Yana Kudryavtseva did so marking exactly the same difficulty and execution score. Their fluent routines spiced with highly difficult elements were awarded with a 18.366 total and they shared the Gold medal rank.
Alina Maksymenko (UKR) then performed her popular move balancing the clubs on her head and continued to give the crowd “fever” during her excellent routine. Scoring 18.216, she finally won the Bronze, her first medal at these championships.
Ganna Rizatdinova concluded this final with an expressive performance that made her fans’ hearts beat faster. However, she was left out of the medal ranks and had to settle for fourth place with 17.883 points.
* Source: f i g
>> Final results C l u b s

* FINAL - R I B B O N
 - Qualifications: > R i b b o n
Yana Kudravtseva (RUS) was second in qualification (* video)  behind Margerita Mamun, but than she rose in the final (without mistake) and won her second gold medal:

Youtube

Yana Kudryavtseva (RUS) kicked off the Ribbon final and set the bar high for this competition. Her flawless routine was awarded with the highest score of the championships so far, 18.516.
Marina Durunda (AZE) was delighted with her first World Championship final appearance, as she upped her qualifying score by more than .6 points. She finally tied with Margarita Mamun (RUS), who made a few mistakes, in fifth place with a total of 17.500.
It was not the best day for Bulgaria's Silviya Miteva today, who did not seem to have recovered from her disappointment of not having won a medal on Ball on Wednesday. She failed to catch her ribbon when it flew off far from her and it also had a knot later in her routine. Miteva finished again in last place.
Ganna Rizatdinova (UKR) shone with her powerful and expressive style and got through her routine without mistakes, which earned her 18.233 points and the Silver medal.

Spain's Carolina Rodriguez - was the best Westeuropean gymnast in all-around qualification (11th place) - performed solidly entertaining the public with skilful tricks to Spanish guitar music. She finished seventh with a 17.183 total.
For a moment, delighted Varvara Filiou (GRE) saw herself in a medal position, when her 17.600 came up on the scoreboard, but it was Melitina Staniouta (BLR), who won another Bronze (- after ball) in the end, outscoring the young Greek by 0.466 points.
* source: f i g
   >> Final results R i b b o n