On October 12, the Russian Cup for the Deaf in the sport of badminton concluded at the "Vostochny" sports complex in Moscow.
The event gathered 48 athletes from eight regions: Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Republics of Bashkortostan and Tatarstan, and the Kostroma, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, and Yaroslavl regions.
Over the course of two intense competition days, the Russian Cup featured matches in men's singles, men's doubles, women's singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles.
If anyone thinks badminton is just a great form of fitness that burns a lot of calories, they are deeply mistaken. In fact, badminton is among the top four most energy-intensive sports, alongside rowing, boxing, and cycling. Furthermore, badminton develops good coordination.
But even more important is the psychological aspect, the concentration. One must keep up with the highest speeds. After all, a shuttlecock, when hit by a racket, flies with the highest initial speed among all racket sports — over 400 km per hour.
The battles of the shuttlecock masters continued from early morning until late evening throughout the two competition days. As anticipated, we witnessed an interesting and exciting struggle until the last game, especially in the final matches, which concluded on the last day. Overall, the leaders of the Russian national team once again confirmed their high reputation, but there were also pleasant surprises from the increasingly strong youth.
Team Standings:
1. Republic of Bashkortostan
2. Nizhny Novgorod Region
3. Republic of Tatarstan
Artemiy Karpov, Senior Coach of the Russian National Badminton Team:
"The guys were charged up. Some performed at their usual level, while others were slightly below par. This gives us a reason to analyze our games and then get back to work with redoubled energy. The young players started competing more aggressively against experienced athletes. This is very encouraging. I would like to highlight young athletes: Maxim Lutsenko from Bashkiria reached the semifinals in singles. And Anastasia Karetnikova from the Yaroslavl region became champion in both singles and mixed doubles at just 15 years old! In women's doubles, Olesya Gulyaeva and Natalia Pshichkina looked the best.
I would like to separately thank our All-Russian Sports Federation of Sports of the Deaf for organizing and holding the Russian Cup, Alexey Kopeykin, as well as the referees and coaches for preparing their athletes."
Text: Nurlan Tazhigulov, Sofya Rumyantseva
Photo: Sofya Rumyantseva, Artemiy Karpov
Translation: Daria Kudelina
