Maria Petrova Still Has the Upper Hand

I found a funny video from an internal competition in Bulgaria which shows Maria Petrova catching a wondering ribbon from her desk as a judge. Next to her, the other Bulgarian three time-world champion, Maria Gigova (in the middle), is trying to not to get hit with the falling ribbon. Silvia Miteva is laughing next to her.

The video is available here: https://www.sportal.bg/my_video.php?video=109538.

Flying Hoops and Hopes: First Day of the European Championship

I watched the European Championship live from Vienna last night and loved the performances of all gymnast, both new stars and some well-established veterans.

A great hope for Greek gymnastics, Varvara Filou may be warming up her shoulders here, but her lines looked clean and strong in her performance at the EC so far.

Meanwhile, Margarita Mamun from Russia showed no nerves and got stellar scores with ball and hoop.


Alexandra Piscupescu, on the other hand, is not just a hopeful but the best Romanian rhythmic gymnast to date. She deserves to make finals and should be proud of herself.



Judges, please, give Alexandra good marks! ;-) And while we are at it, give them to Silvia Miteva, too. She made minor errors in her pivots and missed a risk with ball, but she showed strong routines and choreography as usual. This may be her last European championship!



Halkina from Belarus, a new hope for this gymnastics powerhouse, looks sad after dropping the hoop and with a reason! This error may put Belarus out of the medals, which would be very sad. Meanwhile, Lala Yusifova from Azerbaijan is just short of the 17.00 mark but her hoop and her spirit flew very high. I hope to see her win medals next year!







And, finally, the question remains: who will win more gold, Mamun or Kudryavtseva. I favor Mamun's style but prefer Yana's apparatus technique. Let's see if Yana's nerves will not betray her. This championship may become her first big victory.

New Bulgarian Beauty: Kristina Tasheva

Finally, I found some time to share with you how thrilled I am that Kristina Tasheva from "Akademik" (the same club as Simona Peycheva) became part of the national team. Kristina placed 2nd after Silvia Miteva at the first test competition in Sofia:



Kristina strikes me as a very gifted athlete, but also as someone who looks ready and happy to work very, very hard. She just puts a lot of attention and effort in every movement, so I do believe that she can "polish" her routines to perfection. This is a strong, yet, flowing and expressive, routine, although I'd like to see more originality with the hoop (the hoop used to be, dear fans, the most "Bulgarian" apparatus).

The big question is: will the Bulgarian Federation allow another girl from "Akademik" to compete at international events, especially if Simona Peycheva does return, as she says she will? How will Silvia Miteva and Maria Mateva respond to actual competition within the national team? Time will tell.

Bulgaria's National Team in 2013

Hello RG fans! The Bulgarian national team now includes the following members:

1. Katrin Taseva (Levski) 
2. Simona Ivanova (Gratsia)
3. Anastasia Kisse (Levski Iliana)
4. Biliana Prodanova (CSKA)
5. Simona Nedialkova (Levski Iliana)
6. Zhenina Trashlieva (Chernomoretz)
7. Silvia Miteva (Levski Iliana)
8. Simona Diankova (Char)
9. Neviana Vladinova (Levski)
10. Sara Staykova (Levski Triaditsa)
11. Maria Mateva (Olimpia 74)
12. Rumiana Georgieva (Slavia)
13. Kristina Tasheva (Akademik) 
14. Radina Filipova (Char)

This is the order in which the gymnasts will appear in the first test competition this week. 

For me, the gymnasts to watch closely are Staykova, Prodanova, Vladinova and the new addition that I just LOVE, Kristina Tasheva. Kisse and Trashlieva have a lot of potential though I felt disappointed by Kisse's performances last year. I like the two Simona's: Ivanova and Diankova, but I think they need to work a LOT to reach the level that Staykova or Kisse are demonstrating.

I like Radina Filpova, too, but I think she may thrive better as part of the group. Rumiana Georgieva, who already received multiple chances to compete internationally as an individual, should move into the group as well. I hear Rumiana has the option to the decide whether to join the group and I hope she thinks about it wisely.

Maria Mateva is currently the real candidate for number 2 on the team after Silvia, but I think other girls have more potential.  

I have not watched a lot of routines from Simona Nedialkova and Katrin Taseva. I look forward to learning more about them.