Athletes competed for another 40 sets of medals at the BRICS Games in Kazan.
Six sets of medals were up for grabs on the second day of the BRICS Games rowing competitions. As a result, five gold medals went to the Russian team. Natalia Guzhinova won the lightweight single sculls, Kira Yuvchenko won the single sculls, and Valentina Plaksina and Marina Rubtsova were the best coxless pair. Among men, Alexandr Yakovlev won the single sculls, while Ilia Ivanov and Ivan Kladov won gold in the coxless pair. The lightweight single sculls were dominated by Mikita Karneyeu, an athlete from Belarus.
“It’s always nice to win, obviously, I’m very happy about the gold. But I rarely wish for a certain result. I went to the start today with a single intention: “to give my best performance”. It worked out, and I’m glad.
I’m very happy that competitions of this scale have been organised. I’m proud to be a part of them. I have a lot of respect for everyone around me during these hours and days, including my competitors. For me, this medal is important because, first of all, it’s a gold medal of the first Games of this kind. This is especially valuable. Each medal is the result of a whole team working together with the athlete”, said Kira Yuvchenko.
The first medals were awarded at the BRICS Games karate competitions. Dozens of serious bouts took place at the Saint Petersburg Volleyball Centre, some of which were decided literally at the last seconds. The fight was so tense and equal that all gold medals went to athletes from different countries: no one could get even the two main awards for the game day.
In the Kata discipline, Nicole Helena Yonamine Mota from Brazil won the gold medal. Yilin Liao of China took the silver, and the bronze medal was shared by Viktoryia Rudzenchanka of Belarus and Yiwei Tao of China.
Yu Xie, an athlete from China, won gold in the 50 kg category bouts. In the Finals, she defeated Gulshan Alimardanova from Uzbekistan. And bronze medals went to Russian karatekas Aygul Sadykova and Anastasia Razumnykh. Madina Sadigova from Azerbaijan became the champion of the BRICS Games in the 55 kg weight category. In the final bout, she was stronger than Zuying Hou (China). Madina Alimanova of Kazakhstan and Ozoda Nuridinova of Russia shared the bronze medal.
Mekhriddin Turakhonov of Uzbekistan won gold in the men’s 60 kg category. He defeated Zholaman Bigabyl of Kazakhstan in a tense and almost evenly matched bout. Third place went to Yurik Ogannisian of Russia and Pavle Dujakovic of the Republic of Srpska.
“This is my first medal won at the complex competitions. It’s very significant for me”, Mekhriddin Turakhonov remarked. “I trained very hard, counting only on victory. We compete with Kazakhstan, our neighbours, quite often. This time we won. First of all, it’s a gold medal for my homeland, Uzbekistan. Also, for my parents and my close friend, who is injured currently and couldn’t participate in the competition. In general, I’m impressed with the organisation of the Games, with the number of participating countries; the overall preparation is really spectacular. You can see how much effort went into everything. Thank you very much!”
In the 67 kg weight category, the gold medal went to Suren Harutyunyan from Armenia, who in the final bout was stronger than the Russian athlete, Sergei Spitsin. Kalys Nurlanbek Uulu (Kyrgyzstan) and Mukhammadabdulaziz Khodjakulov (Uzbekistan) shared the third place.
Finally, Ernest Sharafutdinov of Russia became the BRICS Games champion in the 75 kg weight category. He defeated Devid Nhuyen of Belarus in the Finals. The bronze went to Nazim Nurlanov of Kazakhstan and Dastonbek Otabolaev of Uzbekistan.
“This medal is very important to me because I performed poorly in the past competitions, while this gold made these failures fade away, so to speak”, Ernest Sharafutdinov said after the winning bout. “The competition is very high. We came from different continents. Once again, the scale of these competitions is just incredible. I dedicate this win to all the Russian fans who rooted and cheered for me. To my mum, to my city, to Kazan.”
Six sets of medals were awarded in the BRICS wushu competitions. Once again, three gold medals went to Russia and China each: so far these countries have six first places in this sport after two tournament days. Two more tense days are ahead.
Only quarter-final matches have been held at this point, while the final performances were held in three disciplines for men and women. In Jianshu, the strongest was Aksiniya Schukina of Russia, who was five thousand points ahead of the Iranian athlete, Zahra Kiani. The bronze medal went to Brazil represented by Michele Silva Dos Santos.
Nandao was the only discipline in which Russia did not finish in the top three. Jiexia Yang of China took gold, followed by Darya Latisheva of Uzbekistan with silver and Nazanin Bazdar of Iran with bronze.
Sandra Konstantinova of Russia earned her second gold medal of the BRICS Games in Gunshu (she won the Daoshu competition the day before). Silver went to another Russian athlete, Anna Leonova, while the bronze went to Qiu Xinyue of China.
Lei Li of China was the strongest in the men’s Taijijian competition. His main opponent was Ivan Krasnobaev of Russia, who got the silver medal, while the bronze went to Dachang Li, another Chinese athlete.
Meanwhile in Changquan, the Russians took the top two places with Kirill-Zui Bondarenko, who was 10 thousand points ahead of Pavel Muratov. It stands to mention that a day earlier Kirill took silver, and Pavel took gold. Hossein Gheblenamay Moghadam of Iran rounded off the prized three after the Russians today.
Lastly, in the Nanquan style, the victory went to Chinese athlete, Zhang Chengkai. Silver went to Shahin Banitalebi of Iran and bronze went to Kamil Khaliliulin of Russia.
Ak Bars Wrestling Palace hosted the final sambo bouts of the BRICS Games. Seven sets of medals were awarded on the final day. Aslan Abazov of Russia won the gold medal in the men’s 88 kg category. In the Finals, he was stronger than Zhamalbek Asylbek Uulu, 2023 World Champion from Kyrgyzstan. Another Russian sambo wrestler, Kirill Knyazkov, was the best in the 98 kg weight category.
“The BRICS Games is the huge international event, the competition was very high. There were no generic bouts, every victory was won with a fight. So, I’m very happy with my performance”, Kirill Knyazkov noted.
Stepan Soldatenkov brought another gold for Russia in the weight category over 98 kg, defeating Nurbek Turaev of Uzbekistan.
Daniela Zhdan, a sambo wrestler from the Republic of Belarus, won in the women’s 65 kg category.
“I always envision the first place only. For me, every victory is important. It’s not our first time in Kazan, such a hospitable city with friendly people. Everything is arranged as comfortably as possible for the athletes”, Daniela mentioned.
Evgeniya Chiresh defeated Anzhela Zhylinskaya (Republic of Belarus) in the weight category up to 72 kg and brought the Russian national team another gold medal in sambo.
Evgeniya Chiresh, who defeated Anzhela Zhylinskaya from Belarus in the 72 kg category Finals, added one more gold medal to the Russian national team’s collection. Olga Mikheeva (Russia) took gold in the up to 80 kg category, while Karyna Shut from the Republic of Belarus was the best in the 80 kg category.
Five sets of medals in artistic swimming were awarded at the Aquatics Palace on Friday. Aleksandr Maltsev won two gold medals at once. The Russian won in the solo free routine and in the technical routine in the mixed duet with Mayya Gurbanberdieva. In the mixed duet competition, the titled artistic swimmers scored 261.7983 points, ahead of Anna Vashchenko and Vyacheslav Rudnev (188.5133) of Uzbekistan and Yasmina Islamova and Aldiyar Ramazanov (183.5267) of Kazakhstan.
“We are speechless because we’ve only recently been paired up”, admitted silver medallist Anna Vashchenko. “There were some difficult working moments, but it’s great that we were able to overcome them and win medals!”
Svetlana Kolesnichenko and Mayya Doroshko were unbeatable in the women’s duets in the free routine, just like the day before in the technical routine. The leaders of the Russian national team scored 310.9737 points for their performance. Valeryia Valasach and Marharyta Kiryliuk of Belarus took silver (215.4473), while Supitchaya Songpan and Pongpimporn Pongsuwan of Thailand took bronze (168.6500).
Vasilina Khandoshka of Belarus took the first place in the women’s solo free routine with 288.8397 points. In the battle for gold, the participant of the Tokyo Olympics and the World Championship bronze medallist was ahead of Aleksandra Kuznetsova from Russia (274.4105), competing as a junior, and Polina Merzlyakova from Kazakhstan (204.0460).
“I just admire Vasilina. She is far more experienced in this sport”, Aleksandra Kuznetsova summarised. “But everything is fair, all is just. I will work harder!”
“This is a great result! We reaped what we sowed!” said Vasilina Khandoshka. “Kuznetsova’s words? I am insanely pleased. But I wouldn’t say that. We’re all equal before the start, nobody knows how it’ll pan out. And today it happened this way. Alexandra is a strong soloist and a worthy opponent.”
The competition day ended with the victory of the Russian team in the technical routine. The team was represented by Anna Andrianova, Anastasiia Bakhtyreva, Ekaterina Kossova, Varvara Kreopalova, Elizaveta Minaeva, Evelina Simonova, Elizaveta Smirnova, and Agniya Tulupova. The winners scored 341.7363 points. The silver medal was won by the DPRK athletes with a score of 273.2816 points, the third place went to Belarusian artistic swimmers (260.5641).
On Friday, the winners of five sets of awards in individual disciplines were determined at the BRICS Games artistic gymnastics competitions.
Yahor Sharamkou of Belarus won the gold medal in men’s floor exercises. He scored 14.933 points, ahead of Nikita Nagornyi (14.133), Russian Olympic champion, and Yaraslau Krutau (13.966), the former’s compatriot.
“Post-performance mood is amazing. I’m happy with the result so far”, Yahor Sharamkou said. “I’ve already been to Kazan for the Russian Championships; everything here is organised just fine. I loved it.”
Russian gymnast Vladislav Polyashov won the pommel horse competition with a score of 14.566 points. Diyas Toishybek of Kazakhstan won silver (14.366), whereas bronze went to Enkhtuvshin Damdindorj of Mongolia (13.866). Olympic champion David Belyavskiy settled for the fourth place (13.033).
Another Olympic champion from Russia, Artur Dalaloyan, was second in the rings competition with 13.733 points. He was beaten by Yunus Emre Gundogdu of Turkey (13.766). Daniel Marinov of Russia, who won the individual all-around the day before, rounded out the top three (13.066).
Olympic champion Angelina Melnikova won two medals in the women’s event. The Russian athlete won on uneven bars with a score of 14.766 points, leaving her compatriot Leyla Vasilyeva (14.666) and Belarusian athlete Alena Tsitavets (14.233) on the bottom steps of the podium. Anna Kalmykova won the vault competition with a score of 13.500 points. Melnikova (13.466) was second with Jasmina Makhmudova of Uzbekistan (12.616) rounding off the top three.
Deciding matches in the team table tennis competitions were held at the Boxing and Table Tennis Centre.
In the men’s semi-finals, the Russian team defeated Belarus with a total score of 3:0, while tennis players from China beat the Iranian team 3:1. In the BRICS Games Finals, Russia defeated the Chinese team 3:2, in a dramatic match that lasted over four hours in total, winning the gold medals.
“The spectators helped, thank you to everyone who rooted for us. As a rule, the spectators get tired in such tough matches, but today they supported us all the way. It gives us strength to fight until the very end”, shared Vladimir Sidorenko, one of the heroes of the final match between Russia and China, who won the deciding fifth match of the Finals.
In the women’s category, the Russian team fought hard in individual matches, but beat Iran 3:0. Whereas China was stronger than India – 3:1.
In the Finals, the Russian team achieved a confident win. China failed to take a single individual match and was left with the silver medals of the BRICS Games in favour of the Russian girls, 3:0.
“We were one team, we prepped up, we really wanted to win in our native Russia. I’m very happy, we’re all very happy. Our fans, you are incredible, thank you all!” Elizabet Abraamian, a player of the Russian women’s table tennis team, shared her post-match emotions.
The BRICS Games weightlifting competitions continued at the Tulpar Sports Complex on Friday. The participants competed for medals in three weight categories.
Zarina Gusalova of Russia won the gold medal with a score of 230 kg (on the sum of two exercises) in the women’s 71 kg category. Belarusian athletes Dziyana Maiseyevich (217 kg) and Palina Pahuliayeva (216 kg) won silver and bronze, respectively.
“The winning experience is magnificent. The competitions are held at the highest level. Everything is glorious, everything is new. We’ve been preparing for this performance for a very long time, this is a very important medal for me. One of the main starts this year. I dedicate all the victories to my coach. He is always with me, always supporting. It’s his victory as much as it’s mine. I dedicate this win to him and my parents.
We have the Russian Championship in a month; I’ll get ready for it and try to show even better results. And tomorrow, I will go to walk around Kazan. It’s a very beautiful city that I like”, said Zarina Gusalova, champion in the women’s 71 kg category.
Darya Naumava of Belarus celebrated success in the women’s 81 kg category with a total of 249 kg. Mariya Gruzdova of Russia took the second place (245 kg) with Darya Akhmerova, another Russian athlete, took the third (241 kg).
In the men’s part of the competition, medals were awarded in the weight category up to 89 kg. Artyom Okulov of Russia scored the best by the sum of the exercises (362 kg total of two exercises). Yulian Kurlovich of Belarus came second (360 kg) and Mikhail Podkorytov rounded off the top three (320 kg).
Matches in team tennis competitions continue at the Kazan Tennis Academy. There are two more game days ahead, within which the national teams will play each other in the group stage.
“The impression from the Games is very good; the event is organised at the top level. This is my first time in Kazan and it’s very beautiful here. Nice, hospitable people, I like everything. As for my last game, it was played very well, I’m happy with myself. The goals and objectives of our national team for the next games are, of course, to win, to get out of the group into the play-offs, and then, maybe, to take a higher place; there is a lot of competition here after all. The strongest teams have gathered”, said Kosimi Akhmaddzhon, a player of the Tajikistan national tennis team, after the match.
The Badminton Centre hosted the ⅛ and ¼ Finals of the singles badminton tournament.
Three Russians, namely Sergey Sirant, Vladislav Dobychkin, and Artur Pechenkin, reached the semi-final stage of the BRICS Games among men, defeating opponents from Afghanistan, Belarus, and the Syrian Arab Republic. The fourth semi-finalist was Welton Juvenal Menezes of Brazil.
Badminton players from Russia were also expected to win in the group stage matches in doubles and mixed doubles; they beat badminton players from Brazil, Burkina Faso, the Syrian Arab Republic, and Belarus with a 2:0 score.