A successful week for the athletes supported by the Sport in Bulgaria Foundation
Last week was an extremely successful week for the athletes supported by the Sport in Bulgaria Foundation, who won numerous awards at competitions in Iceland and Greece.
Bulgarian chess player Nurgyul Salimova finished second in the women’s division and 19th overall at the Reykjavík Open with 6.5 points out of a possible nine, achieving five wins, three draws and only one loss, which was to Lithuanian Grandmaster Paulius Pultynevicius. In the last nine round, she drew the white pieces with Turkish Grandmaster Emre Can, who has 125 points higher ELO odds than her.
“My goal was to warm up for the Candidates Tournament. I think it was beneficial for me to participate in this tournament. I was able to raise my rating and had a lot of interesting games. The only inconvenience was the extremely cold weather, but I’m glad it didn’t affect my game and my attitude,” Nurgül told the Sport in Bulgaria Foundation.
For Salimova, the tournament in Reykjavik was a dress rehearsal for her participation in the Candidates Tournament in Toronto, which starts on April 4.
“There is no change in how confident I feel for the upcoming tournament. I’ve been preparing all these months and I’m still preparing very seriously. The final result depends on many factors, but it is important for me to do what is up to me,” Salimova added.
Our National Rhythmic Gymnastics Team had an impressive performance this weekend, winning seven medals at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup in Greece. In Paleo Faliro, Bulgaria was represented by the individual athletes Eva Brezalieva and Elvira Krasnobaeva and the women’s ensemble consisting of Magdalena Minevska, Sofia Ivanova, Kamelia Petrova, Rachel Stoyanov and Margarita Vassileva.
Elvira Krasnobayeva triumphed as women’s all-around champion on her World Cup debut. She won three more honours – a gold medal on the hoop and two silvers on the clubs and ribbon.
“I came away from this World Cup with very good impressions. It was something new for me to compete with the best gymnasts in the world. The biggest challenge for me was to concentrate on executing all my routines flawlessly in the all-around. Of course, there is still a lot to work on and improve,” said Elvira Krasnobaeva after her return to Bulgaria.”
Eva Brezalieva’s performance was also brilliant. Our grace won a silver medal in the all-around and bronze in the shot put and clubs. Brezalieva also recorded two fourth places in the hoop and ribbon finals.
“I was left with very positive impressions of the World Cup. I am happy with myself, although there is still a lot to work on to perform in our full glory. I am glad that I managed to control my emotions and stay fully focused throughout the competition,” Eva Brezalieva told the Foundation team.
The women’s ensemble, who will represent Bulgaria at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer, also performed at the level of the Cup in Greece. The next important competition for our national rhythmic gymnastics team is the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup, which will be held in Sofia, Arena Sofia, on 12-14 April. Here, Bulgaria will be represented by the women’s ensemble, Boryana Kaleyn and Styliana Nikolova.