December 11, 2018Tver Region

Tver rope pullers win medals at the Russian Youth Championship and Russian Cup

Juniors on the podium, photo: Alexander Suvorov

The newcomers to the competition collected a full set of national-level medals: gold, silver and bronze.

Last weekend, Penza hosted the national tug of war championship for juniors aged 18–23 and the Russian Cup for men and women. The national competition at the local Burtasy Sports Palace brought together teams from 13 regions, including newcomers from Tver Region. The Tver team was made up of former wrestlers, arm wrestlers and CrossFit athletes from the Valdai Martial Arts Academy.

Financial support for sending the delegation to Penza was provided by the Tver Region Committee for Physical Culture and Sport.

"Of course, when I submitted the application, I fully understood that our sport is not yet even represented in the regional rating, so I didn't really count on a positive decision," said Alexander Suvorov, president of the Tver Region rope sport federation. "But the regional sports committee found a way to pay the travel costs not only for our junior team but also for the adult athletes. According to one of the agency's officials, tug of war is one of the people's favorite folk sports and has enormous potential for development. So supporting it now will have an effect for many years to come, both in the number of participants and in forming competitive teams at the national level."

Well, the Tver rope pullers justified the sports committee's trust and the fans' hopes. On Saturday, December 8, the arena of the Burtasy Sports Palace hosted the medal events of the Russian Youth Championship for juniors aged 18–23.

The juniors were the first to compete for the title. Our fellow countrymen faced experienced athletes from Sverdlovsk Region and the Republic of Dagestan, who were considered the main favorites. However, the Tver team pulled off a sensation. In the first bout, after an extremely hard-fought struggle, they defeated their opponents from the Urals. The bout against the Dagestan team was even tougher. The students from Tver were losing at first, but gradually managed not only to restore the status quo but also to turn the bout around, and won a gritty victory.

Thus, for the first time in history, Tver rope pullers stood on the top step of the podium at the Russian Youth Championship: Igor Kervalidze, Maxim Fedotov, Vladislav Dipkov, Vladislav Nesterov, Timur Nigmatulin, Pavel Bezzubchak, Artyom Golovlev and Shadid Baysayev (pictured).

Then the mixed teams entered the fray. The Tver Region team had to face, in a round robin, opponents from Sverdlovsk and Oryol Regions, Moscow and the Republic of Dagestan. The result was a respectable fourth place out of five.

"This result was apparently affected by the fact that our guys had not yet had time to recover after the junior team competition. Nevertheless, the guys gained new and very useful competitive experience," Suvorov commented.

The next day, the Russian Cup competitions took place. Medals were awarded in four disciplines: women's teams with a total weight of up to 560 kg, mixed teams (4 men + 4 women) up to 600 kg, and men's teams up to 720 kg and up to 1,000 kg. Tver Region athletes competed in three disciplines.

The women decided the strongest in a round robin. Following their bouts against opponents from Penza, Dagestan, Sverdlovsk and Penza Regions, the Tver women won bronze medals at the 2018 Russian Cup.

One of the most crucial matches was against the Dagestan athletes. A win would have brought Tver silver. But, unfortunately, the rivals from the Caucasus prevailed in a dramatic struggle.

The third step of the national podium was taken by Yekaterina Andreyeva, Veriko Simonia, Vera Zhdanko, Kristina Shevtsova, Anna Palamarenko, Kristina Chikurova, Kristina Lyashenko, Marina Kadach, Yelena Frolova and Yulia Zakharova.

The strongest competition at the Russian Cup was among men's teams with a total weight of up to 720 kg. Here, 15 teams from different regions vied for the lead. First, bouts were held in four subgroups. Then the medals were decided in a knockout format. The Tver team, having won two bouts and lost to the tournament hosts, finished second in its group, without a place in the final.

The highlight of the tournament was the mixed team competition. First, 10 teams determined the strongest in two subgroups in a round robin. Two teams from each group advanced to the final stage.

Following the round robin, the Tver team made it to the semifinals. In the match for a place in the final, the athletes from the capital of the Upper Volga region defeated their opponents from the capital of Russia, Moscow.

In the final for first place, the Tver team met the hosts, who, as is well known, are helped by home support. And this time it really did help. The Tver Region team finished second.

The national silver medalists were Artyom Petrov, Igor Kervalidze, Roman Ospelnikov, Maxim Fedotov, Marina Kadach, Kristina Chikurova, Kristina Lyashenko and Alla Palamarenko.

"For a debut, the result is simply magnificent," said Alexander Suvorov.

Author: Andrei Krylov