Junior Russian Championships - Bondareva golden again

Maria Bondareva, Maria Nazarova, Kristina Levshina

12 year old Maria Bondareva proved herself once again in competition on Friday, taking the All Around gold in the Candidate Master of Sport category with a score of 56.867 including a 15.2 on beam.  Bondareva's nearest rivals were (second placed) Polina Spirina  (52.933), who turns 13 in April and comes from Novosibirsk; and bronze medallist Kristina Levshina (52.9), 13 years old, who trains alongside Ksenia Afanasyeva with coach Maria Nazarova in the town of Tula.  Full results are available here.

National team member Polina Spirina, who first shone in the 2010 Olympic Hopefuls competition

The Master of Sport category competition was won by Polina Fyodorova but with a score almost four points short of Bondareva's total (53.133).  Following on her heels were Yuna Nefedova (52.4) and Irina Yashina (51.533)

The junior competitions this year are marked by the absence of key team members who have until very recently been abroad competing at the Pacific Rim Championships (Maria Kharenkova's name should be noted in particular).  Current leader of the junior ranks, Evgeniya Shelgunova, is in transition between the junior and senior teams (eligible for senior competition in 2013) and has not been seen here.

The All Around has an excellent report on this competition, from which the main results are transliterated below.

With thanks to the All Around