Ak Bars and Liga Pro Team hockey players became finalists of the Phygital Games 7. The decisive match of the tournament will be held on June 9 at the Zilant Ice Palace. Participants will compete for the main prize of the competition — the Phygital Flame Cup and 1.25 million rubles.
The tournament matches consist of two stages. First, the teams play a hockey simulator against each other on the console, and then they go out on the ice and continue the match according to the 3×3 hockey rules. At the same time, all the scored pucks are summed up. The Games are held at the Zilant Ice Palace.
Quarterfinals
Underdogs – Hockey Brothers – 10:9 (5:1 after the digital stage)
A quick brace scored by Nikita Zantmans and goals scored by Andrey Galushkin, Ivan Manin and Artur Brovkin in the digital stage put Hockey Brothers in an extremely difficult position. They had to win back the gap of 4 goals on the ice! 2.5 minutes before the end of the first period of the physical stage, the score was already 8:2 in favor of the Underdogs, but then the “brothers” turned up the pace so much that they almost performed a miracle!
The advantage of the leading team was melting away before our eyes — 8:5, 9:7, and if not for their goalkeeper Maxim Arefyev, who repeatedly saved the “dogs,” a series of shootouts would not have been avoided. At the end of the game, Hockey Brothers made the score 10:9, and they had about 30 seconds left to score another goal. They even took off the goalkeeper and attacked 4 on 3, but the Underdogs still survived and reached the semifinals.
“In the digital part, we ourselves made 4 blunders and missed a lot. We will spend more time playing on the console. It still takes two or three months to prepare. In Kazan, we won the whole physical part and even against Ak Bars, but you can’t be ready for just one thing. If you lose weight on the console, you will get the result, as with us. We played great and tested ourselves. Maybe we will hold a similar tournament in Moscow ourselves. It was a great idea, it was very interesting,” said Konstantin Pimenov from Hockey Brothers.
“We focused on ice hockey, but it worked as far as it went. I scored everything I could, so I’m happy with myself. There are no special expectations from the semifinals. Ak Bars is stronger in digital, and we are stronger on ice. We will try our best,” Ilya Altybarmakyan said.
3Frenzy – HUMO – 5:2 (1:0 after the digital stage)
Despite the huge number of moments, in the digital part of the meeting, the audience saw only one goal being scored. Its author was Mikhail Zholobov from 3Frenzy. But on the ice, the teams showed an excellent game and gave out one of the most intense matches of the tournament. HUMO won back in the first period — Rustam Azimov scored. And just a few seconds later, Zhavokhir Rasulov gracefully executed a free throw and put his team in front — 2:1.
3Frenzy players seized the initiative and laid siege to the HUMO gate. Daniil Shabarov equalized the score — 2:2, and a little over a minute before the end of regular time, Valery Popovich once again beat HUMO goalkeeper Damir Shaimardanov and became the author of the winning goal. 3Frenzy scored twice more into an empty net.
“Valery broke through the flank to the gate and threw the puck. The winning goal! We are weak in the cyber part — we have been training for only a couple of days already in Kazan. Now we will devote more time to this part of the phygital. We need to add our efforts to the implementation of the moments — and the goals will come,” Dmitry Myachev from 3Frenzy emphasized.
“We play from the defense, we try to miss less and punish the opponent. Alas, it didn’t work out today. In principle, we are always ready for digital matches. If they call us again, we’ll come at least tomorrow. It was a great experience, I have great emotions. There is such a thing in Russia and only nowhere else. Well done: the digital direction is developing,” said Gadel Gumerov from HUMO.
Semifinals
Ak Bars – Underdogs — 11:1 (7:0 after the digital stage)
The Kazan team has no equal at the Phygital Games yet. In the digital part of the match with the Underdogs, it scored 7 unanswered goals, and Evgeny Gavrilov scored six goals at once. Ak Bars also won a landslide victory on the ice — 4:1. Alexander Lyubchich scored a brace, and the Underdogs sweetened the defeat with a consolation goal from Ivan Manin. They will have to play only for the third place.
“Only positive emotions. After all, we reached the final. We are playing according to the task, and it was fruitful for us. Every day we are gaining momentum, and today we played perfectly. The final will be even better! I would like to play with the Liga Pro Team. It will be very interesting,” Alexander Lyubchich from Ak Bars said.
Liga Pro Team – 3Frenzy — 7:6 (5:1 after the digital stage)
After the digital part of the second semi-final, it might have seemed that Ak Bars’ competitor was already known. Nikita Hoba scored 4 goals, and the Liga Pro Team led 5-1. But the guys from 3Frenzy did everything to get back into the game and were close to another comeback.
Even in the first period of the physical stage, Mikhail Zholobov and Alexander Ovanov reduced the gap to two goals — 5:3. Yuri Muravyov from the Liga Pro Team responded with his goal, but 3Frenzy did not give up. They made the score 6:4, took off the goalkeeper and continued to storm the opponent’s gates. After Sergey Ivanov’s brace, the numbers 7:6 were on the scoreboard, and 3Frenzy still had time to save the game. In the end, several spectacular saves were made by the goalkeeper of the Liga Pro Team Andrey Katyukhin, and his team has already managed to win.
“Awesome emotions, full of positivity. This format of the Games, in general, is just cool. It’s great that such a thing was invented in Russia. I met a lot of my friends in Kazan. I’m slowly getting involved and I hope I’ll be in great shape for the final. We play well both in the digital part and on the ice. Andriukha Katyukhin is just a freaky goalkeeper. It really drags us. The opponent offered us tough, aggressive and intense hockey today, but we were ready for it. Therefore, the victory is ours. The final match will be interesting. Ak Bars has a very balanced team, there are strong esports players who make results. And there will be an interesting game on the ice,” Anton Pervov from the Liga Pro Team said.
“We lacked the ability to play the console… It was the same with Kazan when we lost a lot. Still, with the score 1:5, it was hard to get ready, but the boys did well, showed their character. We will fight for the third place. I think we deserve it,” Mikhail Zholobov from 3Frenzy shared his emotions.
The third place match starts at 12:00, and the final match starts at 15:00. The matches will be held at the Zilant Ice Palace.
Broadcasting is available on streaming platforms in LIVE mode:
VK Play Live – https://vkplay.live/gof
VK Video – https://vk.cc/coqKpW
YouTube – https://vk.cc/corKJM
Twitch – https://vk.cc/cjxN60