12 year old Maria Bondareva wins International Gymnix Junior

Maria Bondareva at last December's Voronin Cup

Junior national team member Maria Bondareva confirmed her class yesterday with a convincing win all around at Canada's Gymnix Junior Cup. Bondareva, 12 years old, won bars and beam in the junior competition at last December's Voronin Cup, and took the all around junior title at Hungary's Eva Kanyo Cup. With 14 year old Evgeniya Shelgunova, Bondareva is leading the current charge of Russian juniors. She has been selected for the Jesolo Cup later this month, and (assuming she is age eligible) looks likely to be on the roster for the upcoming Junior Europeans in Brussels.

Bondareva competed alongside Russian junior national team mates Anastasia Dmitrieva, Evgenia Korolkova and Daria Mikhailova.   Full results are available here.  Event finals take place today

Maria Anatolyevna Bondareva, born 28th November 1999 (12 years old). Trains under U V Pursheva and Y N Bachurin at Fryazino (Moscow Oblast).

 

Evgenia Viacheslavovna Korolkova, born 5^th June 1998.  Trains under O E Sikorro and S A Grishmanovskaya in Moscow

Anastasia Sergeivna Dmitrieva, born 21^st January 1999.  Trains under O E Laryoshkina and E V Kamenskaya in Tolliati, Samarskaya Oblast.

  

Daria Anatolyevna Mihaylova, born 29^th December 1999.  Trains under O E Sikorro and S A Grishmanovskaya in Moscow

Maria fell from bars yesterday - but she had plenty of encouragement to continue and finish the routine well!

Here is her beam routine from the 2011 Voronin Cup event final - she won gold.

Maria (centre) celebrates her beam gold medal at the Voronin Cup last December with fellow Russian junior Ekaterina Baturina (left) and Sweden's Yulia Rumbutis (right)