Mumbai: For the first time ever an Indian
women`s team has qualified for the World Rhythmic Gymnastic
Championships to be held at Mie in Japan from September 7-13.
Akshata Shete, Pooja Surve and Sadichchha Kulkarni, all
from Mumbai, and Mitali from Jammu and Kashmir form the
four-member team at the World Championship, a media release
from the Gymnastic Federation of India said today.
The 29th World Rhythmic Championship, organised by the
Federation Internationale de Gymmastique (FIG), serves as the
first qualifying event for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
The three Mumbai gymnasts are student of Varsha Upadhye,
a winner of the Maharashtra state`s Shiv Chhatrapati sports
award and also an international judge would accompany the
team.
"We now see a ray of hope for Indian gymnasts at the
international level. Rhythmic gymnastics is a safe sport. One
needs to be flexible but there`s not much tumbling," she said.
Rhythmic gymnastics is for women only and is a
combination of gymnastics and dance with the gymnasts
performing using a rope, hoop, ball, clubs or ribbon with
music in background.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, August 31, 2009, 22:19
