In the opening event of the competition at the László Papp Sportaréna, Soldatova performed an excellent hoop routine to take the lead with a score of 18.600 points.

The rest of the field failed to get close to the Russian's score until Israel's Linoy Ashram, who competed in the final group, managed to post a 18.150, which saw her move into second.

Belarus' Katsiaryna Halkina rounded out the top three with her total of 17.800.

Soldatova, the 2015 European team champion, continued to impress in the second discipline of the day.

Arina Averina, also of Russia, topped the ball rankings with a score of 18.950.

She scored three tenths more than her teammate Soldatova, who agonisingly took second on 18.650.

Alina Harnasko of Belarus, who is making her debut at the senior competition, produced a delightful display with the ball as she placed third on 18.400.

Russian dominance filtered through to the first round of the Junior Championships earlier in the day.

The teams performed for the first time with Russia delivering the best execution and finishing on top of the rankings with 17.000.

Israel took second on 16.350 while Belarus occupied third on 16.200.

The juniors are scheduled to perform once more tomorrow with both of their routine scores combined to determine the eight finalists.

Senior action is also due to continue tomorrow with further qualification rounds in the ribbon and club disciplines.

All apparatus finals will then be held on Sunday (May 21).