From May 13 to 19, the Orenburg Table Tennis Centre “Fakel-Gazprom” hosted the Russian Deaf Sports Championship of the same name. The participants in this qualifying sporting event were 58 of the best small racket masters from 13 regions of the country - Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Chuvash Republic, Novosibirsk, Moscow, Leningrad, Kemerovo, Yaroslavl, Smolensk, Kaluga, Orenburg, Chelyabinsk, and Nizhny Novgorod regions.
The first day saw the start of the team competitions, in which 18 men's and 16 women's teams competed in a round-robin format that lasted until late in the evening. With each passing day, the competition gained momentum, with the strongest athletes battling it out for supremacy.
On the second day, 58 ping-pong masters began competing in individual categories, first in the long qualifying stages, followed by elimination rounds, and then the opening ceremony took place during the break. All participants in this event were warmly welcomed with words of encouragement from Vladimir Antmanis, First Deputy Minister of Sport of the Orenburg Region; Dmitry Kulagin, Vice Governor and Deputy Chairman of the Government; Viktoria Neklyudova, Head of the Department for the Organization and Conduct of Competitions of the All-Russian Sports Federation for the Deaf, Damir Fakhrutdinov, Chairman of the Orenburg Region Sports Federation for the Deaf, and Ilfat Kudakaev, Chairman of the Orenburg Regional Branch of the All-Russian Sports Federation for the Deaf. The event was graced by performances from artists from the regional branch of the All-Russian Deaf Sports Federation and the local boarding school, after which 32 men and 26 women continued to compete for the right to be among the coveted top three prize winners, with the competition ending only in the evening of the following day.
After the individual competitions, the battles between the masters of small rackets smoothly transitioned into doubles competitions among men, women, and mixed pairs, which concluded on the final fifth day of competition. The athletes, paired up in men's, women's, and mixed doubles, competed against each other in skilful play for the right to stand on the podium among the best.
Vitaly Chulkov, senior coach of the Russian national table tennis team:
“I sincerely congratulate the athletes on their victory in the competition and want to say that your performances were worthy, that you managed to show everyone your potential, abilities, talents, and skills. I wish you to always remain winners in life, never doubt yourselves, and constantly strive for victories and high awards. Athletes, your skill, endurance, and winning spirit are the result of serious work in training and the skill and willpower you demonstrated in competition. No victory is possible without this foundation. I would like to express my deep gratitude to the organizers of the sporting event for the opportunity to participate in such an important and useful sporting event!”
Text: Nurlan Tazhigulov
Photo: Valentina Eliseeva
Translation: Daria Kudelina
В Чебоксарах завершилось первенство России по настольному теннису (спорт глухих) среди юношей и девушек в двух возрастных категориях: до 16 и до 19 лет.
