Local/junior competitions in Russia

While the world focusses on international competitions such as this weekend's Grand Prix, Russian junior and local competition continues. Perhaps a name emerging from one of these competitions will in future make it onto the Russian national team at European, World or Olympic level. They perhaps help to guage the progress of development of the 'mass base' of Russian gymnastics which is so important to its future development.

The Russian Gymnastics Federation website provides information about these competitions.

First, a regional competition taking place in the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia (capital: Khabarovsk), the largest, but least populated of Russia's 8 Federal districts (the other seven are Central Federal District (capital: Moscow); Southern Federal District (Rostov-on-Don); Northwestern Federal District (St Petersburg); Siberian Federal District (Novosibirsk); Urals Federal District (Ekaterinburg); Volga Federal District (Nizhny Novgorod); and the North Caucasian Federal District (Pyatigorsk).

The Amur regional district championships (a junior competition) were held 12th-14th November in Belogorsk, in the newly renovated and equipped sports hall belonging to the sports school. 62 gymnasts took part and the competition was opened by Head of Sports of the Amur regional government, Oleg Gumeniuk. Girls winner was Candidate Master of Sport, Elena Logutova of Raichinchinska; Master of Sport Evgenyi Ischenko from Blagoveschenka won the boys' competition.

Beginning today in Cheboksary is the Junior Russian Sports Schools Championships. Team, all around and event finals will take place and I will update this site with results and relevant links as soon as they become available.

Edited 23/11 - the Cheboksary competition is for boys, while the girls' competition is taking place in Veliki Novgorod.  Details of the participating teams can be found on the Federation's website, here.  Alar at the All Around Forum has been kind enough to post some results of the girls' competition which I will copy here word for word:


'Most of the best juniors are missing. Anastasia Sidorova is looking very good, got 59.625 and 59.5 in AA (with bonus system). She won 3 EFs as well. We'll see her at Top Gym next week-end. She does BB from 6.5 and DTY for which she got 15.3. Tried 2.5 as well, but fell.

Katja Baturina did BB from 6.4, Maria Smirnova does 3,5 on FX. Evgeniya Shelgunova has DTY and does full-in and 3/1 on FX. Viktoria Kuzmina (1st ranker) has 5.7 UB.'

The competition is discussed in a little more detail at the Russian gymnastics board, for those of you fluent in Russian!

Edited 24/11 - results of the girls' competition are available here : http://sportgymrus.ru/contest/4953/4964/default.aspx

Boys' competition results are here :
http://sportgymrus.ru/contest/4953/4960/default.aspx

Will take a more detailed look at these later in the week.