The pair were awarded a score of 18.433 by the judges in the Turkish city of Izmir, and with the same difficulty score of 9.200 and execution of 9.233, there was nothing to split them.

Mamun and Kudryavtseva were the respective gold and silver medallists in the ball final at last year's Championships in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

The pair have shared gold before, getting the same score in the clubs final in Kyiv.

Bronze in Izmir went to Belarusian Melitina Staniouta, who scored 18.000

There was more gold medal glory for Kudryavtseva, who went one better than she did in the hoop final last year to seal an emphatic win.

With the highest difficulty of any of the eight gymnasts in the final, the 16-year-old scored 18.816.

Mamum, who won gold in the ball final in Kyiv, had to settle for silver this time around as the Russian pair dominated day two in Izmir.

Margarita Mamun was second best in the hoop event, finishing runner-up to compatriot Yana Kudryavtseva, who she shared gold with in the ball final ©AFP/Getty Images



She scored 18.450, while bronze went to South Korean Son Yeon Jae, who was awarded 17.966, narrowly ahead of Ukrainian Ganna Rizatdinova with 17.933.

Inevitably, Kudryavtseva leads qualification for the individual all-around competition, with 37.183 after two of the four apparatus.

Mamum lies second with 36.716, while fellow Russian Aleksandra Soldatova is third with 35.725.

Equally Inevitably, Russia lead the team final at the halfway stage, with a score of 109.624, versus second-placed Azerbaijan's 98.623.

Israel is in third with 96.731.

Action will continue tomorrow with individual qualification in the clubs and ribbon competition.

Kudryavtseva is the defending champion in both events.