Fast approaching us is the 2009 Rhythmic World Championships which are to be held in Mie, Japan from the 7th to 13th of September this year. The schedule will be as follows, with all times being in the Japan Standard Time:

• SEPTEMBER 7th: Individuals and Team Qualification (Rope and Hoop) -10am to 6pm
  
• SEPTEMBER 8th: Individuals and Team Qualification (Rope and Hoop); Opening Ceremony; Individual Apparatus Finals (Rope and Hoop) -10am to 8.30pm
• SEPTEMBER 9th: Individuals and Team Qualification (Ball and Ribbon) - 10am to 6pm
• SEPTEMBER 10th: Individuals and Team Qualification (Ball and Ribbon); Individual Apparatus Finals (Ball and Ribbon) - 10am to 8.50pm
  
• SEPTEMBER 11th: Individual All-Around Final - 2.30pm to 9.30pm
  
• SEPTEMBER 12th: Groups General Competition - 10am to 3.20pm
• SEPTEMBER 13th: Groups Final (Hoop and Ribbon/Rope); Closing Ceremony and Gala - 3pm to 6pm

I'll start off with the participants list and then get onto a look at the draw. Check back for the official one soon. Foong Seow Ting (MAS) was rostered to compete, but surprised everyone quitting the Malaysian National team a week shy of her 3rd World Championships.

PARTICIPANT LIST:

ARMENIA:

• 1
• 2
  

AUSTRALIA:

• Naazmi Johnston
  
• Chloe Hayes
• Danielle Prince
  
• Janine Murray

RESERVE: Jaelle Cohen

AUSTRIA:

• Caroline Weber
  
• Selina Postinger
  
• Nicol Ruprecht
• Barbara Sophie Lanzer
  

AZERBAIJAN:

• Aliya Garayeva
• Zeynab Javadli
  
• Anna Gurbanova
• Samira Mustafayeva
  

BELARUS:

• Melitina Staniouta
  
• Liubov Charkashyna
  
• Svetlana Rudalova
• Aliaksandra Osipava
  

BELGIUM:

• Lieselotte Diels
  

BRAZIL:

• Elaine Rosa Sampaio
• Ana Paula Scheffer
  
• Rafaela Pedral Costa
  

BULGARIA:

• Silviya Miteva
  
• Monika Mincheva
  
• Filipa (Siderova) Simeonova
  

CANADA:

• Alexandra Martincek
  
• Demetra Mantcheva
  
• Elena Gouzenkova
  

CHILE:

• Stephanie Belen Estrada
  

CHINA:

• LI Hongyang
  
• DENG Senyue
  
• HOU Yanan
• YIDAN Ding
  

CHINESE TAIPEI:

• 1
• 2
• 3
  

CROATIA:

• Anamarija Zhelimorski
  
• Nika Roberta Crevatini
  

CYPRUS:

• Loukia Trikomiti
  
• Chrystalleni Trikomiti
  
• Katerina Christodoulou
• Kyriaki Christou
  

CZECH REPUBLIC:

• Monika Mickova
  
• Nela Radimerska
  
• Iva Mendlikova
  

EGYPT:

• Yasmin Rostm
  
• Fared Shuoky Marez
  

ESTONIA:

• Julia Makushina
  
• Carina Kukk
• Tatjana Puchkina
  

FINLAND:

• Julia Romanjuk
  
• Johanna Vikkula
  
• Julia Huuhtanen
  

FRANCE:

• Delphine Ledoux

GREAT BRITAIN:

• Jade Faulkner
• Francesca Fox
• Francesca Jones
  

GEORGIA:

• Ketevan Khatiashvili
• Mzevinari Samukashvili
• Tsitsia Mkervali
• Irine Khoperia
  

GREECE:

• Michaela Metallidou
  
• Evangelia Gkountroumpi
  
• Ioanna Tacha
• Aikaterini Giakoumelou
  

HUNGARY:

• Dora Vass
  
• Fanni Dalma Forray
  

INDIA:

• Akshata Shete
  
• Pooja Surve
  
• Sadichchha Kulkarni
• Mitali Dogra
  

ISRAEL:

• Irina Risenson
  
• Neta Rivkin
  
• Coral Kremer
• Dana Adiv
  

ITALY:

• Chiara Ianni
  
• Julieta Cantaluppi
  
• Federica Febbo
• Andreea Stefanescu
  

JAPAN:

• Mimi Inoue
  
• Mai Hidaka
• Yuria Onuki
• Riko Anakubo
  

KAZAKHSTAN:

• Aliya Yussupova
  
• Marina Petrakova
• Anna Alyabyeva
  

KOREA:

• Sooji Shin
  
• Kyungghwa Lee
  

LATVIA:

• Yelena Meyerzone
  
• Yana Isakova
  
• Diana Kelehsashvili
  

LITHUANIA:

• Jurgita Lionginaviciute
  
• Egle Sileikyte
  

MALAYSIA:

• Elaine Koon
• Nur Hidayah Abdul Wahid
• Wan Siti Haniza Wan Izahar
  

MEXICO:

• Rut Castillo
  
• Veronica Alejandra Navarro
  
• Alejandra Vazquez
  
• Yeraldine Alarcon
  

NAMIBIA:

• Nicole Bierbach
  

NORWAY:

• Hanna-Kristine Bogetveit
  
• Frida Parnas
  
• Josefine Hustoft
• Thea Elise Holte
  

POLAND:

• Joanna Mitrosz
  
• Angelika Paradowska
  
• Joanna Narolska
  

PORTUGAL:

• Ines Gomes
  
• Sara Caetano
  
• Jessica Jardim
• Susana Abrantes
  

ROMANIA:

• Andrada Andriana Anton
• Stefania Chiriac
  

RUSSIA:

• Evgenia Kanaeva
  
• Olga Kapranova
• Daria Kondakova
• Alexandra Ermakova
  

SERBIA:

• Snezana Paunic
  
• Vojislava Cekerevac
  

SLOVAKIA:

• Jana Duchnovska
  

SLOVENIA:

• Mojca Rode
  
• Tjasa Seme
  
• Pia Arhar
• Grusa Kocica
  

SPAIN:

• Carolina Rodriguez
  
• Marina Fernandez
  

SOUTH AFRICA:

• Grace Legote
  
• Sibongile Mjekula
  
• Julene Van Rooyen
• Yvonne Garland
  

SWEDEN:

• Therese Larsson
  
• Jennifer Pettersson
  
• Mikaela Lindholm
  

THAILAND:

• Sridee Tharatip
  

TURKEY:

• Pinar Akilveren
  
• Burcin Neziroglu
  
• Gozde Ozkebapci
  

UKRAINE:

• Anna Bessonova
  
• Alina Maksimenko
  
• Ganna Rizatdinova

UNITED STATES:

• Julie Zetlin
  
• Ava Gehringer
  

UZBEKISTAN:

• Ulyana Trofimova
  
• Djamila Rahmatova
  
• Kamila Tukhtaeva
  

VENEZUELA:

• Andreina Acevedo
  
• Kathrin Arias
  

GROUP COMPETITION:

• BELARUS: Dzina Haitsiukevich, Maryna Hancharova, Alesia Babushkina, Kseniya Sankovich, Alina Tumilovich, Nastassia Ivankova
  
• UNITED STATES: Marlee Shape, Stephanie Flaksman, Sofya Roytburg, Kristin Kaye, Megan Frohlich
  
• JAPAN: Nachi Misawa, Honami Tsuboi, Chihana Hara, Saori Inagaki, Kotono Tanaka, Yuka Endo
  
• SPAIN: Ana Maria Pelaz, Loreto Achaerandio, Sandra Aguilar, Lidia Redondo, Alejandra Quereda, Sara Garvin
  
• BULGARIA: Kristina Rangelova-Yankova, Galina Tancheva, Vladislava Tancheva, Stela Sultanova, Eleonora Kezhova, Mihaela Maevska
  
• RUSSIA: Uliana Donskova, Ekaterina Malygina, Darya Scherbakova, Anastasia Maksimova, Natalia Pichuzhkina, Daria Koroleva
  
• FRANCE: Florine Dally, Cecilia Ferrier, Melanie Haag, Jeanne Isenmann, Ketty Martel, Priscillia Thomas
• GERMANY: Maike Deuschle, Johanna Gabor, Camilla Pfeffer, Sara Radman, Carolina Raskina, Marie Protschka
  
• ITALY: Elisa Blanchi, Giulia Galtaross, Romina Laurito, Daniela Masseroni, Elisa Santoni, Anzelika Savrayuk
  
• CZECH REPUBLIC: Dominika Cervinkova, Aneta Fujdiarova, Nataly Hamrikova, Olivia Caroline Mala, Vendula Zamorska, Ludmila Korytova
  
• GREECE: Vasiliki Maniou, Antonia Papaioannou, Afroditi Georgovasili, Maria Spanoudaki, Despoina Tzimpoula, Alexandra Georgovasili
  
• ISRAEL: Rahel Vigdorchick, Alena Dvornichenko, Veronika Vitenberg, Polina Zakaluzny, Maria Savenkov
• AUSTRIA: Angelina Dobrynina, Nina Elleberger, Stefanie Pikl, Natascha Strobel, Melissa Schmidt, Lena Vertacnik
  
• UKRAINE: Viera Perederiy, Vita Zubchenko, Olena Dmitrash, Oksana Petulko, Olga Tsogla, Valeria Shurkhal
  
• UZBEKISTAN: Kamila Tukhtaeva, Veronika Esipova, Inara Sattarova, Ekaterina Safronova, Anastasiya Atlasova, Lyubov Dropets
  
• SWITZERLAND: Lisa Tacchelli, Chantal Breitinger, Souheila Yacoub, Capucine Jelmi, Nadine Stucki, Carol Rohatsch
  
• AZERBAIJAN: Valeriya Yegay, Dina Gorina, Anastasiya Prasolova, Stefani Trayanova, Jeyla Guliyeva, Vafa Huseynova
  
• CANADA: Alexandra Lukashova, Kelsey Titmarsh, Rose Cossar, Rylee Haubrich, Stefanie Vinamae
  
• FINLAND: Riina Maatta, Carita Groenholm, Vanessa Martins Lopes, Sirja Kokkonen, Minna Puro
  
• POLAND: Aleksandra Wojcik, Aleksandra Szutenberg, Anna Gorna, Inga Buczynska, Agata Tworek, Anna Semmerling
  
• BRAZIL: Natalia Peixinho Sanchez, Ana Paula Ribeiro, Jessica Terezinha Oliveira, Lais Lopes Pascoalino, Nathane Cassia Garcia, Ana Paula Alencar
  
• HUNGARY: Judith Hauser, Daria Topic, Maria Dudinszky, Noemi Horcher, Fanni Kohlhoffer, Anna Tokes
  
• CHINA: SUN Dan, ZHANG Shuo, CHOU Tao, SUI Jian-Shuang, ZOU Li, WANG Xue
• GEORGIA: Elene Gavardashvili, Teona Khelaia, Ipek-Meriem Jantez, Romina Bozhilova, Martina Grozeva
• KAZAKHSTAN: Mizana Ismailova, Madina Iskanderova, Ravilya Rafikova, Dinara Serikbayeva, Darya Simonova, Darya Shevchenko
• KOREA: SIN Unjin, GIM Yunhee, LEE Kyungeun, KIM Hyejin, HA Hyejeang, BAEK Jiseon
  

Schedule/Start Lists to come.