Veterans Ksenia Afanasyeva and Tatiana Nabiyeva face a race against time to see who will be better prepared to compete in Nanning. As things stand at present, both will travel to China and the final team selection will be made right before the Championships. Pictures courtesy of the RGF.
Valentina Rodionenko today provided an update of Russia's team selection, highlighting that Viktoria Komova has been deemed unready to compete at the coming World Championships following a doctor's examination.
The team Valentina said will travel to Russia also differs slightly from the nominative registrations published on the FIG website, as Tatiana Nabiyeva has apparently replaced Maria Paseka. Paseka is assumed to be suffering a foot or ankle injury after pictures of treatment recently appeared on her personal Instagram account. Nabiyeva and Afanasyeva will compete for the final spot on the team that also includes Aliya Mustafina, Maria Kharenkova, Daria Spiridinova, Alla Sosnitskaya and Ekaterina Kramarenko. Afanasyeva is still recovering from ankle surgery but if ready will contribute on floor and vault. Rodionenko says she is currently pretty much on an even level with Nabiyeva.
The men's team will include Danish Ablyazin, David Belyavski, Nikita Ignatyev, Nikolai Kuksenkov, Ivan Stretovich, Daniil Kazachkov and Vladislav Polyashov. As with the women all seven men will travel to Nanning, with Kazachkov and Polyashov fighting for the last place on the team and the final selection decision not made till the very last moment possible. 'Everyone knows that in our sport injuries are frequent, and replacements may be necessary', said Valentina.
The team travels to China on the 27th September. Nominative registrations can be changed right up until 24 hours before the competition, with Russia's women competing in the very first subdivision, beginning on beam.
Rodionenko has further clarified that Viktoria is rather upset about the decision, but it is felt best to preserve her health. Her first international competition is now expected to be the 2015 Europeans.
Source : http://rsport.ru/artist_gym/20140919/773778741.html