Slovenian National Team heading into Koper with its sight set on finals

The 18th World Challenge Cup in Artisic Gymnastics is startin on Thursday. After a one-year break, the competition is returning to the traditional Koper Arena Bonifika, where top gymnasts of the world will gather. Among them will be holders of Olympic honors and medals from the world and European championships. Slovenia will have eight representatives at the competition, five of which will be presenting themselves for the first time at our biggest international gymnastics competition, which is being held in front of a home audience.

At a press conference held in BTC, d. d. general sponsor of the Slovenian Gymnastics Federation, the organizers presented this year’s World Challenge Cup and the Slovenian National team who will represent Slovenian at the competition in Koper. All gathered were addressed by the president of the Slovenian Gymnastics Federation Damjan Kralj.

The competition will start on Thursday, when the first qualifying day will take place, and will continue with qualifiers on Friday. On Saturday and Sunday, the finals for each apparatus are scheduled, where the eight best male and female competitors for each tool will qualify.

In the women’s competition, Slovenia will have two representatives, future Olympian Lucija Hribar and young Zala Trtnik. Both of them will perform on the balance beam and on the parallel bars. “This is my last international match before the Olympics. I am even more happy that it is in front of the home audience, which will provide a really pleasant atmosphere. Since this is the last World Cup, coach Nataša and I discussed that I would compete with two tools, that is, uneven bars and beam. Above all, I want to enjoy the competition, because it is our home field. The goal is to do both exercises without a fall. I’m really looking forward to the match, because it didn’t take place last year and I always like to take part in it. This is our match, our audience,” Lucija said. Her longtime coach, Nataša Retelj, is very careful when preparing her protégé: “We are going to this match mainly because it is a home match. It was also Lucia’s wish that she would like to compete in front of her home audience. We don’t expect gold medals, but we want him to do the parallel bars and beam as well as he can. In order to present herself well to the home audience and finish the match with one good feeling for the Olympic Games. Then we’ll see where it takes her.” The girls will compete on the uneven bars on Thursday, while they will compete on the ballance beam on Friday. “At the World Cup in Koper, I will compete in parallel bars and beam. I am confident that I can make it to the finals on both instruments if I do good exercises. However, I don’t want to predict that, because it is always necessary to perform the exercise without mistakes and then we can hope for a good result,” Zala was cautious when making predictions. Her coach Urban Sever wants Zala to perform exercises without mistakes in the match: “Zala and I are aiming for two successfully performed exercises in the qualifications on balance beam and uneven bars, which could, in principle, qualify her for the finals. But we will see at the competition itself what the competition will be like and what will happen.“

The head coach of the Slovenian national team, Andrej Mavrič, wants to qualify for the finals: “We are sending our two best players to the World Cup in Koper, namely Lucija Hribar and Zalo Trtnik, who are also currently in very good condition. We expect them to qualify for at least some final appearance. We are counting on uneven bars and balance beam. With a good performance, we can perhaps count on something more in the final. Unfortunately, Teja Belak and Tjaša Kysselef will not participate in the competition due to injury.”

At the competition, Slovenia will be represented by six representatives in men’s gymnastics. “It’s a home game. We want to perform well in front of the home crowd. The season was very long, we started at the beginning of February, so we are already looking forward to the holidays. There is always a nice competition in Koper, firstly because we are at home, secondly because we are at sea, when the good weather starts and because the Gymnastics Federation of Slovenia really tries to organize the competition perfectly. We are looking forward to being able to show what we have been training for all spring,” said Sebastijan Piletič, the coach of the Slovenian national men’s national team.

On Thursday, we will be able to watch as many as four Slovenians in the men’s competition. Gregor Turk and Anže Hribar, who made it to the top 14 athletes of the Old Continent on the floor at the last European Championship, will perform on the floor exercise. “At the competition, I will present myself on the ground floor. According to my training or the competitive process that I started doing two weeks ago, I could say that I am ready. My goal is to make it to the finals and do a match or workout for 14,000 or more. This is my first World Cup in front of my home crowd, which I am already looking forward to immensely. Above all, to see what it’s like to perform in front of a home audience,” said Anže. His coach, Franci Rojc, wants to reach the finals: “In Koper, Anžet and I, of course, want to reach the finals first. In the final, I haven’t looked at the start list yet, but I think that with a good execution of the exercise and the fact that we have a plan to make the exercise more difficult, I could compete for the podium in the end. However, the qualifications are the most difficult sieve that will have to be overcome. In the final, however, everything is possible.“

In addition to Gregor and Anže, we will also be able to follow Luka Bojanc on still rings on Thursday: “On Saturday, I competed at the Slovenian Cup. At the beginning of the week, we weren’t sure if I would even be able to compete because of the pain in my shoulder. At the competition I carried out an easier exercise, so that we could see if I could perform the whole exercise. We don’t know what the injury is. The score was 13.500, which I think is competitive even for the final in Koper, but we plan to make the exercise more difficult, so that I have room for some minor mistakes in the exercise.“

We will also have a representative on a horse with handles, Gregor Rakovič, who at the last European Championship took an excellent 15th place on this very tool. I wasn’t allowed to do anything last week because I strained my shoulder. The season was very long. We started the exercises in December, and until the European Championship, the shoulder held up so that I could make such a good result. I can be very satisfied with that. I am sorry that the shoulder did not last until the competition in Koper. At the moment, the shoulder is fine, I will be able to perform and I will do the exercise. There is nothing that would prevent me from showing what I know.” His coach Aljaž Vogrinec said: “Our highlight of the season was the European Championship. Now Gregor lowered his readiness a little. However, he still managed to do the exercises this week, which were very nice. If he performs an exercise like he did at the European Championship, which I think he can and gets a score of around 14,000 points, he can be very close to the finals or in the finals.”

On both days of the competition, it will be possible to follow another promising Slovenian gymnast, Kevin George Buckley, who won a silver medal in still rings at the World Cup in Osijek. “I am very much looking forward to the World Cup in Koper, as I will be competing for the first time on my home turf and, therefore, on a more serious terrain. I’m a little nervous because I want to show off my best exercises and get the best results I’m capable of. Apart from a little nervousness, I’m really looking forward to the match and I feel very well prepared for it,” said Kevin from Switzerland, where he lives and trains.

Gregor Turk and Beno Kunst will present themselves as newcomers to the biggest competitions in the senior category, for whom this will be the second World Cup among senior and the first one in front of a home audience. Beno wants good jumps: “My expectations for the competition are to make both jumps, to land both. I want a score of around 13.800 that I would be happy with because I think that would be plenty for the finals. In the final, I’m aiming for 14,000. This will be my second World Cup and the first in front of a home crowd, probably because of that there will be a little more trepidation, but sometimes trepidation is good.” Gregor Turk said during the last training sessions: “I’m already looking forward to this competition, because I think that I also prepared very well for the competition. I can’t wait to show results of my hard work in front of the home audience.”