From November 20th to 30th, Samara hosted the Russian Deaf Sports Championship in hockey. Seven teams participated in this season-ending tournament: Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Samara Oblast, Novosibirsk Oblast, Tver Oblast, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, and Sverdlovsk Oblast.

The base for all hockey games, played in a round-robin format, was the MTL-Arena 2 training ice complex with underground parking.

The official opening ceremony featured welcoming addresses from: Dmitry Yakovlev, Deputy Governor of Samara Oblast; Alexey Chernyaev, First Deputy Minister of Sports of Samara Oblast; Yuri Izmaylov, senior coach of the Russian national hockey team and Honored Coach of Russia; as well as Sergey Darkichev, chairman of the regional organization of the All-Russian Sports Federation of Sports of the Deaf (OSFSG), and Tatyana Antsyborova, chairperson of the regional branch of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf (VOG).

The championship was held under the auspices of the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation, the All-Russian Sports Federation of Sports of the Deaf, the Ministry of Sports of Samara Oblast, the Center for Adaptive Physical Culture and Adaptive Sports, the Samara Regional Public Organization of Persons with Disabilities "Sports Federation of the Deaf," and the Samara Regional Branch of the All-Russian Society of Sports of the Deaf.

The undisputed favorite of the tournament once again was the hockey team from Novosibirsk Oblast, which crushed all its opponents with a staggering goal difference of 80:2. The renewed team from Sverdlovsk Oblast unexpectedly took second place, pushing the capital's hockey players to third, thanks to a head-to-head victory over the latter with a score of 4:3.

RESULTS OF ALL MATCHES OF THE RUSSIAN HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP - (click)

Yuri Izmaylov, senior coach of the Russian national hockey team:

"It was an interesting battle for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th places because until the very end, it wasn't clear who would take which spot. Otherwise, the championship was held at a good level, thanks to the organizers."

Text: Nurlan Tazhigulov

Photos: Polina Vysotskaya, Sergey Darkichev

Translation: Daria Kudelina