(KZN.RU,
April 26, Mikhail Chentsov). The final stage of the annual badminton tournament
for the Kazan Mayor’s Cup started in the capital of Tatarstan. Ilsur Metshin,
the head of the city, gave a start to competitions in the Center for Badminton.
Sergei Stepashin, the chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Foundation for
the Promotion of Housing Reform, who together with Rustam Minnikhanov, the
President of the RT, participated in the laying of the first stone in the
construction of the Center for Badminton in Kazan in 2012, became the guest of
honor at the opening ceremony.
This year,
the final of the tournament is held among boys and girls in two age categories:
1-7 grades and 8-11 grades. Personal competitions with team performance are
conducted according to the Olympic system with the drawing of all seats.
National teams of educational institutions, who won prizes in regional
competitions among teams of boys and girls, take part in games. Each district
of the city put 12 teams (2 people per team) in the tournament. In total, 168
students will take part in the final stage.
Ilsur
Metshin greeted the guests and young athletes, noting that the competitions,
which are held for the third year in a row, have become a good tradition. This
year, they again gathered 3.000 participants under their banners. “Badminton is
walking around the republic and the capital of Tatarstan with leaps and bounds
and today's finale is a confirmation. I am very glad that this sport is
developing in our capital. We will do our best for badminton to be played in
all yards, schools, and other educational institutions”, said the head of the
city and thanked the coaching staff and the Badminton Federation of the RT for
the preparation of future champions.
Sergei
Stepashin noted that he was pleased to contribute to the creation of the Center
for Badminton in the capital of Tatarstan. “Kazan is rightfully called the
sports capital of the Russian Federation after the Universiade, the World
Swimming Championship. Today, Kazan and the Republic of Tatarstan are becoming
leaders of the badminton movement in Russia”, he said. S. Stepashin also noted
that badminton is one of the most accessible kinds of sports, which develops a
person comprehensively. “In Soviet times, badminton was an indispensable sport
in the cosmonaut detachment. Yuri Gagarin was a brilliant badminton player and
a master of sports in the Soviet Union”, he added and wished new sports
victories to the participants of the competition. After this S. Stepashin
handed certificates of masters of sports to a number of Kazan badminton
players.
At the end
of the ceremony, Ilsur Metshin and other guests gave the start to the final
tournament and made the first symbolic serve.
Vasil’
Shaikhraziev, the deputy Prime Minister of the RT, Alexei Demidov, the chairman
of the Supervisory Board of the Badminton Federation of the RT and the chairman
of the Accounting Chamber of the RT, Yury Chaplygin, the President of the
Badminton Federation of the RT, Svetlana Vostrikova, the chairman of the
Committee for Physical Culture and Sports, Ilsur Hadiullin, the head of the
Education Department, and heads of districts’ administrations also took part in
the event.