Maria Sharafetdinova Wins Round One Of Miss Cheerleader League Of Beauty

The first qualifying round for the Miss Cheerleader League Of Beauty Contest finished today at 3:00 PM Moscow TIme with Maria Sharafetdinova of the CSKA Dance Team the first to advance to the 2016 finals!

The CSKA cheerleader led all contestants in round one with 1756 votes. 2nd and 3rd place went to UNICS cheerleader Lilia Salakhova (1645 votes) and Kalev cheerleader Maria Reinoja (388 votes).

The Miss Cheerleader League of Beauty Contest (30 girls, two each from 15 dance teams) consists of five preliminary rounds with six cheerleaders advancing to the competition finals. The fans determine who advances from each round with the help of online voting.

The first four rounds last 10 days and will be held in March, April and May. Either seven or eight girls will compete in each round. The four preliminary round winners--the cheerleaders that collect the most online votes in each round--will advance directly to the finals.

The fifth finalist will be selected in May with the help of a fifth preliminary round. 10 girls will participate, drawn from the eight 2nd and 3rd-place finishers, as well as the top two 4th-place contestants (Natalia Shuvalova of Nizhny Novgorod finished 4th in round one).

But that’s not all! One lucky cheerleader will receive a wild card entry to the finals from a special committee headed up by league deputy general director Ilona Korstin, current VTB United League deputy general director and one of the most beautiful players in women’s basketball history.

The final round will be held during the 2015-16 VTB United League playoff finals. The six finalists will receive an invitation to one of the final games during which the 4th-ever Miss Cheerleader will be crowned!

Round one results: