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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 March 1999 Issue No. 420 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 March 1999 Issue No. 420
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Special Features Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Honing and polishing
By Eman Abdel-MoetiIn their first friendly competition of the year, Egypt's gymnasts met their Belarus counterparts and although the Europeans, ranked second in the world, came out on top, Egypt won a few medals of its own and, perhaps more important, gained some invaluable experience.
With talented gymnasts like Raouf Abdel-Karim, the surprise winner of a gold medal in the Mediterranean Games in Bari, Italy, in 1997, the country's gymnastics federation is keen on preserving its asset of talented men and women by organising several competitions with world class teams. Friendly tournaments in Turkey and Syria this year are on the agenda.
Although Belarus still showed who is boss when it met Egypt's national team at Cairo Sporting Club last week, Abdel-Karim won the gold medal on the vault, which he is particularly adept at, and the bronze on the bars. In the overall event, he took second place with 50.90 points.
The best Egyptian achievement, however, belonged to Walid Saed who won the gold medal on the rings and a silver on the parallel bars. But in the overall event, he managed only fourth place with 50.60 points. Teammate Murad Fathi Zaki won the bronze on the horse. In the overall event, Belarus won first and third places. Alexander Krogikov took first with 52.40 points while Alexander Gostav notched third with 50.70 points.
The head of the gymnastics federation, Wagdi Abul-Maati, was satisfied with his team's performance. "We fared well in the overall event and this was a good means of truly assessing where our team stands compared to the top countries." Federation manager Samir El-Dibawi said competing against a team like Belarus was "very beneficial for our gymnasts even if it was only a friendly."
Following the event, the Belarus team visited Alexandria and Port Said for more friendlies on the club level.
Meanwhile, Egypt's rhythmic gymnasts flew to Portugal to participate in a European Grand Prix tournament. The championship, slated from 25 February to 2 March, will include nearly 100 girls from 20 countries, including top contenders Russia and the Ukraine. Egypt is sending Yasmin Youssef and Sherin Karam, who won the trials a week before. Youssef has won 11 gold medals in three African tournaments dating back to 1995. Karam is a promising young talent who outdid her counterparts in the trials.
The Portuguese tournament is in preparation for the Five Continent World Cup slated for June, the European Championship in July and the World Championships in China in October. The girls are also expected to enter the Arab Championship in Jordan and the African Championship in South Africa. .
