The Asian championships and the “Happy Caravan” international tournament in artistic gymnastics have started in Tashkent.

The official opening ceremony of Asian championships and the “Happy Caravan” international tournament in artistic gymnastics took place at the Republican Children and Juniors Calisthenics Specialized Sports School of Olympic Reserves.

The festively decorated magnificent Sports Palace is full of guests, athletes and sports amateurs. State flags of participant nations in the competitions wave nearby.

Following the call signs, the arena welcomed the participants of Asian championships and the “Happy Caravan” international tournament – the teams of Uzbekistan, South Korea, Japan, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Israel and Russia . Lola Karimova-Tillaeva, President of Gymnastics Federation of Uzbekistan and Honorary President of the Asian Gymnastics Union, declared the competitions open.

The President of the Asian Gymnastics Union Rahman Al-Shatri noted that the constant attention paid in Uzbekistan to the development of sports, the children’s and women’s in particular, – along with all spheres – has been yielding its high results.

Under the leadership of President Islam Karimov, all the conditions are being created in our country for the regular involvement in physical culture and sports by children, teenagers and youths. A particular emphasis in the meanwhile is placed on the issues related to expanding the popularity of women’s sports, especially artistic gymnastics, to training coaches and providing a comprehensive support for them.

Thanks to the establishment of local federations and centers for artistic gymnastics across the country, and as a result of the appreciation of the significance of sports for the people, the girls going regularly in for this elegant type of sports have been growing in number. According to data of the Children’s Sports Development Foundation of Uzbekistan, it is currently more than 35 thousand girls aged 6-15 who are involved in calisthenics in comparison to 1,646 girls registered in this sport back in 2003.

The growth in these indicators is suggestive of the cardinal transformation in the attitude of our compatriots to sports, of the fixation of healthy lifestyle principles, that the children’s sports has turned into a nationwide movement, that parents have realized that attachment to sports is the foundation for their children to achieve high objectives.

The wide popularization of artistic gymnastics in our country has been helping foster girls as physically and spirituality sound personalities and been instrumental in training athlete women capable to admirably defend the honor of our Motherland in the international arena.

The artistic gymnasts of Uzbekistan won their first medal in 2004. Back then, at a tournament in China, our compatriot Olesya Ashaeva earned a bronze medal. At the world championships in 2009, Ulyana Trofimova was awarded two bronze medals in exercises with hoop and jump rope, while the national team came third in team competitions.

Aziza Mamadjanova, who became the absolute winner of the 2010 Asian champs in Tashkent among girls of up to the age of 14, has performed for our continent at the 1st Junior Olympics in Singapore. Even more medals were earned at the Asian championships in 2011.

Silver medals went to Ulyana Trofimova (all-round events and exercises with ribbon) and Jamila Rahmatova (exercises with Indian club). Members of our national team won another three bronze medals in team and group competitions.

Tashkent has hosted artistic gymnastics World Cup stages in 2004, 2005, 2011 and 2012, and hosted Asian championships among juniors in 2010. The Asian Gymnastics Union held its General Assembly in our capital city in 2012 – a bright confirmation of the acknowledgement of remarkable achievements made in Uzbekistan in promoting this type of sports.

The strongest gymnasts of our continent are to contend at the current Asian championships that started in Tashkent, and the juniors will race at the “Happy Caravan” international tournament in single and group competitions in exercises with skip rope, hoop, ball, Indian club, ribbon and in all-round events. The international team of referees will assess the works of gymnasts in three dimensions: performance skill, artistic skill, and the complexity of exercises.

At the Asian championships to last for four days, the honor of our nation will be upheld by such gymnasts as Jamila Rahmatova, Mayya Filippova, Maftuna Shamsieva, Valeria Davydova, Luiza Ganieva, Zarina Kurbanova, and Darya Svechnikova.

“We have prepared for the competitions very thoroughly,” shares Mayya Filippova, winner of the “Umid Nihollari” Games 2012. “What we set out is to perform with dignity at the Asian championship and earn prize awards.”

The official opening ceremony included also a grand concert show. The Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan U.Rozukulov took part in the occasion.

(Source: Uzbekistan National Agency “UzA”)