The ball discipline was one of the events held featured at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup in Athens ©Getty Images

Italy’s Sofia Raffaeli and Israel’s Daria Atamanov were the top two qualifying performers on the first day of the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup in Athens.

Raffaeli, 18, was the highest scorer in the ball discipline with a score of 33.150.

Behind the three-time Junior World Championships silver medallist was the 16-year-old Atamanov, who ended qualification on 31.100.

In third and fourth were German duo Margarita Kolosov and Panagiota Lytra with totals of 30.900 and 29.250 respectively.

Atamanov, the four-time Junior European Championships medallist, marginally got the better of Raffaeli in the hoop qualification.

The Israeli recorded 31.700 while Raffaeli scored 31.250.

Finishing below the pair were Michelle Segal of Israel and Helene Karbanov of France with scores of 30.250 and 29.950.

Countries competed in the five hoops qualification round ©Getty Images
Countries competed in the five hoops qualification round ©Getty Images

In the senior group five hoops qualification, France came out on top thanks to a score of 26.950.

Their closest competitor was Greece on 26.000 as well as Poland on 25.600.

Kazakhstan, who recorded 25.050, finished fourth while Israel was fifth on 23.500.

Estonia came last after scoring 13.800.

The top eight of each qualification event continue to the final of that discipline.

Due to this rule, all six teams in the senior group five hoops event qualified for the final.