Silver medal winner of world gymnastics championships: We showed what Azerbaijani team is capable of

Aliya Garayeva won silver medal in exercise with a ball and Azerbaijani national team consisting of Aliya Garayeva Anna Gurbanova, Zeynab Javadli and Samir Mustafayeva won bronze in a team competition. Thus, Azerbaijani gymnasts have already surpassed the results of last World Cup which took place in the Patras, Greece in 2007. At that time the team won only a bronze medal in a team competition.

“We are very happy that it was possible to improve results we showed 2 year ago,” Aliya Qarayeva said in an interview with Day.Az. “We retained our positions in the team competition, plus won one more medal in individual finals.”

Day.Az: Are you satisfied with your performance for the first four days of the championship?

Aliya Garayeva: Yes. I am especially satisfied with today’s performance. I did my best and did what my coaches planned. In previous days, I made mistakes while performing with a rope and hoop. But final exercise with a ball was much better. So, I won 2nd place.

Q: Is a ball your favorite subject?

A: I like it very much. But I enjoy performing also with the remaining subjects.

Q: Russian Yevgeniya Kanayeva has no equals at this world championships. In the finals with a ball you were second to her. Can one call you a mini-world champion given the fact that Kanayeva is beyond competition and performs indeed “beyond  competition”?

A: Well, in this case there will be too many mini-champions. The world champion has to be one without any prefixes. I am silver medalist of the world!

Q: How do you evaluate performance of your team mates with whom you have re-entered the top three strongest in the team competition?

A: Their merit that we were third in a team competition is great. Both Anna and Zeynab did their best so that the team won the highest place possible. You have seen how persistent was the struggle for 3rd place between us and the Ukrainian team. At one point we even took 4thplace, but still managed to win the bronze.

Q: On September 11, you and Anna will perform in the all-round finals. How do you assess your chances?

A: We have already shown what the Azerbaijani team is capable of. Let's just say - we have already performed the program at least, bu we are not going to be satisfied with this. We will try to continue to act with dignity, to please audience, judges, and our coaches, as well as enjoy this ourselves.

I congratulate my country, all sports fans and my federation on this success.

/Day.Az/