LAUSANNE (SUI), FIG Office, August 7, 2009: World class Acro performances are guaranteed at the upcoming FIG World Cup on August 21 – 22, with the 2008 World Champions, 2009 World Games Champions and winners of the recent Freedom Cup lining up in Veliky Novgorod (RUS)!

In Women’s Pairs spectators get to see 2008 World Championship runners-up and 2009 World Games Gold medallists Florence Henrist and Tatjana de Vos from Belgium as well as the current World Champions Alina Yushko and Katsiaryna Murashko (BLR). Strong competition hails from Russia with Raushaniya Khakimova and Alena Ploskova, Glasgow Bronze medallists, and from Azerbaijan with Kaohsiung runners-up Ayla Ahmadova and Dilara Sultanova. Furthermore, Russia’s second entry, and the Pairs from China and Germany are not to be undervalued!

The Men’s Pair competition features Glasgow and Kaohsiung Silver medallists Konstantin Pilipchuk and Alexey Dudchenko from Russia and their compatriots Viacheslav Spirin and Stanislav Kotelnikov, 4th at the 2008 World Championships. The Portuguese Pair Joao Maia and Tiago Fegueiredo recently won the Freedom Cup in St. Paul. Fans can look forward to performances from the two registered Chinese Pairs, the Pairs from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tadzhikistan and Moldavia.

In the absence of the World Champions and of the winners of the World Games in Kaohsiung, the Belgian Pair made of Julie Van Gelder and Menno Vandergrothe, second in Kaohsiung, and Glasgow runners-up Anastasia Gobartuk and Alexander Barlben from Russia, certainly count among the favourites in Veliky Novgorod. China and Kazakhstan will also compete in this category while Russia will be represented by two additional Mixed Pairs.

World Games winners and Glasgow runners-up Shaykhutdinova, Stroynova and Loginova (RUS 1) stand out of the field of Women’s Groups, followed by Kaohsiung runners-up from Belgium Vanstaen, Croket and Van Hombeeck. Also competing are Groups from Belarus, China, France, Kazakhstan and Russia’s second entry.

China’s Men’s Group will be matching against three Russian Groups, one of which (RUS 3) placed 4th at the 2008 World Championships in Glasgow.