Sovetsky Sport. August 30, 1974. Vilnius (our special correspondents). The first team of the RSFSR won the main prize in the men's team competition for the USSR Cup in gymnastics. In its composition: N. Andrianov, V. Boiko, V. Fogel, V. Marchenko, B. Kinev, and A. Trifonov. The team from Belarus finished second, and the team from Moscow finished in third. After two days, the leaders in the individual competition are N. Andrianov (113.6), V. Klimenko (112.6), and V. Marchenko (112.05).
Before entering the platform, the gymnasts spent an hour warming up in the training room. We looked there and saw that the guys from different teams were playing football (futsal) heatedly. Andrianov and Klimenko were on the same team and played quite well in attack: their passes to each other were accurate and, so to speak, mutually polite. Carried away by the game, maybe for a few minutes they forgot about the upcoming fight in the optional program. Klimenko wasn't thinking about what he probably thought about last night and in the morning: could he win back as many at six tenths of a point?
However, after the first two rotations Andrianov increased the gap by another 0.25. On pommel horse, Nikolai worked freely and easily, like Yugoslav Miroslav Cerar, once invincible on this apparatus, and the circles with both legs were measuredly accurate, like a metronome. On the rings, Andrianov outdid himself. We've never seen him perform strength elements so naturally. "He feels his power - it means that he is on the rise," noted Merited Master of Sports L. Leontiev.
N. G. Tolkachev, Andrianov's coach, confessed during a break between rotations: "It seemed to me in a conversation with Kolya that he had no doubts about his victory. Of course, anything can happen, but the fact is that he is psychologically ready for a duel with Klimenko makes me happy..."
Klimenko has repeatedly shown fighting qualities - he does not like, or rather, simply does not know how to give up without a fight. But among his main advantages is a sober calculation of his capabilities and the capabilities of his opponent at this particular moment, an unmistakable assessment of the situation. He realized that the performance of a competitor is driven by inspiration. He tried to strike a blow on the floor exercise, where he has very difficult acrobatics. But in his most difficult minutes, he somewhat loses the purity of movement, and this time the judges could not give him more than 9.35. And then Klimenko decided to slightly simplify his routines on some events and save his strength for the final. In the final, as you know, the sum of the compulsory and optional rounds is divided in half, which means that Klimenko loses half a point so far. Too many, although he can fight.
As can be seen from the technical results, there are no new names in the top six. Only Marchenko moved up from fifth place to third. Consequently, it is these six gymnasts who claim to become our team at the world championships. Marchenko deserves special praise - he now looks more stable and collected. His coach K. Vasserman told us that Vladimir is now taking himself and his training more seriously.
Olympian E. Mikaelyan, who had not trained for almost a year due to a serious injury, is completely restored to his former form. Although he failed at the vault, he showed a modern style on the rest of the apparatus, and his high bar routine is close to the best world standards.
However, we will find out who is worth what on the individual events on Saturday, when the gold medals for the country''s champions will be awarded.
TECHNICAL RESULTS
USSR Cup in gymnastics. Vilnius, 28 August. Men. Sum of the compulsory and optional programs (scores for the optional program in brackets). 1. Andrianov (RSFSR) - 113.6 (9.5, 9.55, 9.5, 9.5, 9.4, 9.5); 2. Klimenko (MOS) - 112.6 (9.35, 9.35, 9.4, 9.4, 9.6, 9.45); 3. Marchenko (RSFSR) - 112.05 (9.5, 9.3, 9.3, 9.5, 9.6, 9.45); 4. E. Mikaelyan (ARM) - 111.55; 5. Maleev (BLR) and Shamugiya (GEO) - 111.25. Team results.1. RSFSR 1 - 555.7; 2. Belorussia - 551.3; 3. Moscow - 548.55.
V. GOLUBEV and S. TOKAREV