Penza, 23 April 2014. PenzaNews. The opening ceremony of the Russian Championship in Rhythmic Gymnastics was held in “Burtasy” in Penza on Wednesday, April 23.

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Among its strongest member are the representatives of this kind of sport, among them are Margarita Mamun, Yana Kudryavtseva and Maria Titova, performing for the Penza region.

It is planned that during the first two days, qualifying competitions will be held. Gymnasts are to perform exercises with hoop and ball, and then with ribbon and clubs. Only individual programs will be shown.

On Friday, April 25, the final of round events will be held, and on April 26 — of individual events.

During the opening ceremony Margarita Mamun and Alexandra Merkurova were awarded orders of Masters of Sports of Russia, Maria Titova — Master of Sports of Russia of international class.

As the president of the Federation of Gymnastics of the Penza region Valery Starkin told news agency “PenzaNews,” these competitions are qualifying for the European Championship, which will be held in Baku in June.

“Of course, we hope for a successful performance of Maria Titova,” he said.

It is still unknown whether the championship will be visited by the head coach of the Russian national rhythmic gymnastics team Irina Viner-Usmanova.

She may prefer to visit the festival organized by Alina Kabaeva, which will be held in Moscow on Thursday, April 24.

If Irina Viner-Usmanova comes to Penza, she is likely to arive on Friday, April 25.