Baizat Hamidova prepares for second stage of World Rugby-7Series

Makhachkala, January 15, 2015. Dagestani Baizat Hamidova as a part of Russia women's national rugby-7 team will take part in the second stage of the World Series scheduled to run February 7-8 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

"Now the team is at the training camp in Novogorsk, - the athlete said in an interview with RIA Dagestan. - This camp is about the second stage of the World Series of the 2014/2015 season to be held in Brazil. The current World Series season is extremely critical for the Russian team, as a successful performance guarantees us participation in the Olympic Games. The team’s goal is to qualify for the top four after all six stages. The four best teams will qualify for the Olympics. "

In the first stage held in Dubai on December 4-5, the Russian team finished eighth.

"I believe that in Dubai, we just had bad luck. Our team is able to beat absolutely any team. But we were extremely unlucky there.  I think that in Brazil, we’ll all succeed. We set out on January 21, so we have a few days in store to prepare for the event,"- B. Hamidova said.

The third stage of the World Series will be held in Atlanta, USA, on March 14-15. The fourth round is to take place in Langford, Canada, on April 18-19. The fifth round is scheduled to run in London, Great Britain, on May 15-16, and the final sixth stage is planned to be held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on May 22-23.
Each stage will feature 12 teams – the best seven of the last season’s World Series. Another four national teams were determined after qualifying in Hong Kong in September, 2014. One more team will be invited to each stage individually.

Last season, the Russian national rugby-7 team ranked fifth, so this season they’ll take part in all stages of the tournament.