From October 19 to 31, the Russian national deaf sports team in the discipline of draughts participated in the 5^th World Championship and Youth Championship in Russian Draughts (64 squares) among persons with disabilities.

This traditional tournament, held annually in Turkey, featured 53 athletes from seven countries: Poland, Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan.

The participation of the Russian athletes was made possible by an invitation from Leszek Petlicki, President of The International Draughts Committee of the Disabled (L.D.C.D.).

Fifteen top draughts players (six men, three women, and three junior men and three junior women each), under the leadership of senior national team coach Semyon Ozerov and his two fellow coaches, managed to perform with dignity throughout the 10-day draughts marathon, winning a total of 19 medals (4 gold, 7 silver, and 8 bronze).

Participants competed using the Swiss system in both rapid games (with a time control of 7 minutes + 5 seconds per move until the end of the game) and classical games (7 rounds with a time control of 45 minutes + 15 seconds per move until the end of the game).

FINAL RESULTS

Semyon Ozerov, Senior Coach of the Russian National Draughts Team:

"The World and Youth Championships in Draughts-64 were held at a high standard. Fifty-three athletes from seven countries participated. Russian deaf athletes took home 19 medals in total. Our junior team, both male and female, particularly shone, winning 12 medals. I am very pleased with my students' performance."

Text: Nurlan Tazhigulov

Photos: Semyon Ozerov, Stanislav Kostikov, Kirill Radynov

Translation: Daria Kudelina