By Daniel Etchells at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku

The latest Baku 2015 gymnastics test event came to a close today ©Baku 2015Russian gymnasts were regular visitors to the podium once more on the third and final day of the Open Joint Azerbaijan Championship, as the latest Baku 2015 test event came to a close here.

Yana Kudryavtseva won four medals, three of which were gold, in the individual rhythmic competitions, while the Russian rhythmic team took the top prize in both the group ribbon and group hoop and ball events.

Kudryavtseva opened her apparatus finals with the hoop, taking the gold medal with a score of 18.866 points to finish 1.150 ahead of nearest rival Salome Pazhava of Georgia and a further 0.266 clear of home favourite Marina Durunda in the bronze medal position.

Despite dropping the ball momentarily in the balls and clubs, Kudryavtseva won with an execution score of 9.166, with Durunda and Azerbaijan's Gulsum Shafizada claiming the silver and bronze medals respectively.

Kudryavtseva completed a hat-trick of successes in the clubs, with Durunda almost a full point behind in second and Pazhava in third, and although she had to settle for second place in the ribbon, sandwiched between the gold medallist Durunda and third-placed Austrian Nicol Ruprecht, it was still an extremely impressive day's work.

"The Championship was well organised and the home crowd was very hospitable to international athletes," said Kudryavtseva.

"I would like to thank everyone involved in the organisation of this event."

Azerbaijan's Oleg Stepko took his gold medals tally to five on the final day of competition ©Baku 2015Azerbaijan's Oleg Stepko took his gold medals tally to five on the final day of competition ©Baku 2015



Russia's versatile display saw them claim the gold medal in the rhythmic group ribbon with a final score of 17.350, followed by hosts Azerbaijan in second and France in third, while 18.233 proved enough in the group hoop and ball to stave off second-placed Azerbaijan and third-placed Latvia.

Also shining on the final day of action was home gymnast Oleg Stepko, winner of gold medals in the horizontal bar, parallel bars, rings and pommel horse to take his overall tally for the Championship to five.

Marina Smirnova delivered gold in the vault and cheer floor competitions, while fellow Azerbaijani Kristina Pravdina took her second gold of the Championship in the uneven bars.

There was also success on home soil for Uliana Diakova and Anatoly Leonov in the mixed pairs dynamic exercises.

Overall, medals were awarded in 26 events on the final day of competition, including two in aerobics, four in acrobatics and four in trampolining, as well as six in rhythmic gymnastics, as Baku 2015 ticked off another milestone ahead of the inaugural European Games, due to take place from June 12 to 28.

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