Doha: Ferhat Arican, who became the first Turkish male gymnast after 108 years to compete at the 2016 Rio Olympics, won a bronze in men’s parallel bar in FIG Artistic World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, last Sunday, to warm for the Doha leg which starts on Wednesday.
“It’s a great feeling to win a medal in the first international competition of the year. I’ll be going to Doha with a lot of confidence after winning a bronze in Baku,” Ferhat said in an interview.
Ferhat’s team-mate Ibrahim Colak also had an impressive outing in Baku, where he won silver medal in rings.
Colak, who won a bronze in rings at the 2015 European Games, will lead his country’s challenge at the Doha event, with the qualifiers starting on March 21 followed by the finals on Friday and Saturday.
“I had a mild discomfort on the knee and a neck injury almost ruled me out, but in the end I could finish second. We have bigger goals as a team this year. We will try our best to win medals,” said Ibrahim, who had also competed at 2014 FIG World Championships in Nanning, China.