Athletes show excellent results at the BRICS Games and thank the spectators.
The BRICS Games artistic gymnastics competition came to an end on Saturday. The athletes competed for five sets of awards, giving the spectators precise performance of complex technical elements in individual disciplines.
Olympic champion Nikita Nagornyi won in the men’s vault, beating his compatriot Daniel Marinov. However, this talented athlete from Tatarstan shone on parallel bars, winning another gold at the BRICS Games. Sergey Naydin (Russia) won on the horizontal bar.
Mariya Agafonova (Russia) was the best on the balance beam, while another Russian gymnast, Anna Kalmykova, was unrivalled on the floor exercises.
At the end of the competition, Nagornyi and Marinov held an autograph session for the spectators and thanked them for their support.
“Thank you for being with us. Having you means the world. I hope you’ll continue to follow artistic gymnastics; to follow such outstanding athletes like Daniel Marinov. Thank you!” Nikita Nagornyi addressed the audience.
The final day of the BRICS Games artistic swimming competition brought two more gold medals for the Russian national team. Olesia Platonova and Aleksandr Maltsev won in the mixed duets, beating athletes from Thailand and Uzbekistan. This is Maltsev’s fourth gold medal at the BRICS Games in Kazan.
The Russian junior team won the team free routine. Alena Bakai, Elizaveta Brener, Kseniia Efimova, Aleksandra Kuznetsova, Aleksandra Klenina, Alina Rumiantseva, Aleksandra Shmidt, and Olga Tiutiunik comprised the team, and the judges rated their performance at 396.0988 points. Second place went to athletes from the DPRK (293.6501), while Belarus (293.1792) was third.
“The group was really sophisticated, that’s why we got such scores. We gave our best at the BRICS Games. It was one of our runs. We absolutely love the atmosphere and setting of the Games, there are a lot of foreign athletes here. Sure, we were nervous, but we also know we’re capable”, said Alena Bakai, an athlete of the Russian national team.
One of the most spectacular and medal-rich events of the BRICS Games programme, athletics, began at the Central Stadium. Awards in 21 disciplines were awarded on the first day.
In the men’s event, gold medals were won by the Russians: Danila Ten (100 m run), Saveliy Savlukov (400 m run), Vladimir Nikitin (5,000 m run), Fedor Ivanov (400 m hurdling), Valeriy Pronkin (hammer throwing), Danil Lysenko (high jump), Artyom Chermoshanskiy (long jump), Viachaslau Skudny (1,500 m run), and the Belarusian athlete, Aleh Tamashevich (shot put). In addition, the Russian men’s team won the 4×100 m relay race.
“I had a big pause in competition, and the BRICS Games is an opportunity to remember the whole atmosphere. It reminded me of the Youth Olympics, when you walk through the Olympic village, and there’s music playing somewhere”, said high jumper Danil Lysenko.
The women’s winners were the Russians: Polina Knoroz (pole vault), Kristina Makarenko (100 m run), Emiliya Tangara (400 m hurdling), Reikhan Kagramanova (10,000 m sports walking), Polina Tkalich (400 m run), Violetta Ignateva (discus throwing), Maria Prokhorets (800 m run), and Ekaterina Ivonina (3,000 m steeplechase), as well as the Belarusians: Viyaleta Skvartsova (triple jump) and Tatsiana Khaladovich (javelin throwing). The women’s team of Belarus became the first in the 4×100 m relay race. At the same time, Kagramanova showed the best result of the season in the world: 41:57.800.
“I was determined to win. There’s very high competition, and I knew that the first place would be the best result of the season in the world. We did a great job. I don’t think anyone in the world trains like this”, Reikhan Kagramanova noted.
The finalists in all categories of the badminton competition have been determined. All five matches will take place at the Badminton Centre on Sunday, with only Russian athletes competing in all of them. Gleb Stepakov/Alina Davletova and Vladislav Dobychkin/Mariya Golubeva will take to the court at 12.00 noon in the mixed doubles, followed by Sergey Sirant and Artur Pechenkin in the men’s Finals, and Evgeniya Kosetskaya and Mariya Golubeva will compete in the women’s gold medal match. In doubles, Artur Pechenkin/Gleb Stepakov will face the Pavel Monich/Sergey Sirant duo, while Alina Davletova/Evgeniya Kosetskaya will compete with Daria Kharlampovich/Galina Lisochkina.
“Today was quite tense; I had a little bit of a bad streak in the first game, I think it was because of the responsibility I felt to my parents and a lot of fans who supported me here. Still, I managed to turn the tide and then win the match.
I also arrived earlier today to watch the men’s singles. A very strong Brazilian team came here, both men’s and women’s, and today I realised this for myself having played with one of them. I also want to note the team of the Syrian Arab Republic: an athlete from this country was really impressive and gave me a hard time”, Mariya Golubeva shared her feelings.
The BRICS Games karate competitions concluded at the Saint Petersburg Volleyball Centre on 15 June. Six sets of medals were awarded on the second and last days. And at least one representative of Russia competed in each final. Keep reading to find out more.
The Russian athletes took top two places in the 68 kg category: Aleksandra Meshkova beat Anna Kudryavtseva in the Finals. It’s interesting that this happened on Aleksandra’s birthday. “First and foremost, this is a present for myself, for my relatives, and for everyone who was cheering and supporting. The last thing I wanted to do on such a day, on my birthday, is to lose. This is a very significant victory for me”, the BRICS Games champion shared. “The competition here is tremendous. There are worthy athletes from all over the world who proved themselves to be highly skilled, but I’m very happy for our team, for our result; we did a great job, we overcame everything.”
Altana Basangova of Russia competed with Li Gong of China in the 61 kg category, but lost, winning the silver medal in the end.
In the over 68 kg category, Brenda Padilha Pereira of Brazil won the final against Sunita Khalimova of Russia.
Varishan Bakirov of Russia was one of the contenders for gold in the men’s Kata discipline, but lost to an athlete from China. “Thank you to my coaches. We went through five qualifying stages; I want to thank them for their patience, how much they invested in us. I also want to extend this gratitude to my parents. Without them, this success wouldn’t have happened”, Varishan told after the tournament.
In the 84 kg category bouts, the champion of the BRICS Games was Eduard Gasparian of Russia. He defeated Mikita Kiryievich of Belarus in the Finals. “The competition was quite serious. I went through four tough bouts, reached the Finals, and then snatched the win at the last seconds”, said Eduard. “I’d like to dedicate this victory to my father and coach, Artem Gasparian, and to my mother, Alena Gasparian. Thank you, my family.”
The Finals in the over 84 kg category were also between a Russian and a Belarusian; our compatriot Aleksandr Pshenitsyn won in the end.
Following the results of the BRICS Games, Russian karatekas won four gold, five silver and five bronze medals. China won three golds, two silvers, and four bronzes. Uzbekistan has 1-1-5. Brazil has two golds and one bronze.
The first day of the phygital basketball featured the first seven games of the group stage. In Group A, the Republic of Srpska first lost in a tight contest to Brazil, 18:21, and then beat the UAE team with 23:16.
“The game turned out to be tough. We lost the digital stage and it was hard to win back nine points on the court. In the end, we were literally two or three points short with ten seconds left in the game. I congratulate the Brazilian team on this victory”, said Aleksandar Ivetic, player of the Republic of Srpska. “I liked the organisation of the BRICS Games. I especially loved the basketball court because this is the home of BC UNICS Kazan, whose games I watched every Thursday night. It’s a pleasure to be here.”
The Uzbek team showed two successful results: 21:19 against UAE and 28:17 against Cuba, thanks to which it broke into the group leaders on the first day.
The most impressive result in Group B was demonstrated by the Russian national team, which defeated their opponents from Abkhazia with a 55:12 score. Armenia got a confident win in the opening match against Colombia, 36:18, but lost to Belarus in an extremely tight game that followed, 28:29. For now, no one has more than one victory in Group B yet.
The third day of the BRICS Games rowing competition was successful for Russia: its athletes won six gold medals. The first victory was achieved by Aleksandr Tufaniuk and Iurii Shchelokov in the lightweight double sculls: the men were two seconds faster than their opponents from Belarus. “As always, the organisation is top-notch, Kazan is No.1 in this respect. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Olympic Games were held here in the future, the conditions are just perfect”, said the champions. “It feels great to win at such competitions. We had silver and bronze the day before, and today we wanted to redeem ourselves and leave with gold. We’re glad we made that happen.”
The second victory of the Russian national team was in the coxless four discipline. It was won by Aleksey Vorobiov, Ilia Ivanov, Ivan Kladov, and Roman Lomachev. They were also two seconds faster than the athletes from Belarus. “Yesterday we stood on the podium in doubles, there were great heats, competition, everyone shows their best time for such weather conditions, the races are most excellent. Surely, this medal is important, just as any other victory for the country and the people who support us”, said the winners.
Next, Anastasiia Lyubich and Kira Yuvchenko beat the Kazakhstan’s team in the double sculls by six tenths of a second in the tightest competition. Nataliia Guzhinova and Anastasiia Lebedeva won the women’s lightweight double sculls with confidence. Anton Vasin and Maksim Zhevlachenko won another gold medal in the men’s lightweight double sculls. Finally, Valentina Plaksina, Marina Rubtsova, Ekaterina Glazkova, and Ekaterina Sevostianova swam faster than the others in the coxless four.
The men’s and women’s singles table tennis tournaments at the BRICS Games started the next day after the Finals in the team event. The 1/16 Finals were played today, resulting in 9 tennis players from Russia, as well as athletes from China, India, Belarus, Venezuela, and Iran making it to the next stage.
“The first match came quite easy for me. But the second one, against my Venezuelan opponent, was way tenser. She was hitting difficult balls when I kept missing, it was as if I hadn’t woken up yet. I got into it after the team event, where my team succeeded in winning gold, but I had only one individual match in two days. I was very worried and anxious yesterday; everyone did well.
I don’t expect any particular opponent in the play-offs, the preparation process is the same anyway”, said Vlada Voronina of the Russian national team.
Russian athletes won three gold medals on the final day of the weightlifting competitions. Georgiy Kuptsov won in the 102 kg category, Daniil Vagaytsev was the best in the 102+ kg category, and Viktoriya Orlova took first place in the women’s 81+ kg category.
“I fought for this medal long and hard. It was a long-term goal. But as they say, to infinity and beyond. Thank you for supporting us. We value you very much. The organisation is at a high level. Kazan has very kind people. Thanks to all the volunteers for making the BRICS Games possible”, said Daniil Vagaytsev.
Russian and Chinese athletes continue to clash at the BRICS Games wushu competitions. In the previous two days, the hosts of the tournament and China won three golds each. This time the Russians were stronger.
In the Taijiquan discipline, the two first places went to the hosts of the tournament: Anastasiya Deeva beat Anastasiya Kadenova by ten hundredths of a point. Third was Sara Salah Hussein from Egypt. “Today was better; the first performance seemed to me a bit “flawed”, so to speak. Now, I feel I improved. That said, it was a bit scary”, Anastasiya Deeva remarked. “It’s my first time in Kazan, I like everything. The organisation deserves commendation: the food is delicious, the transport is timely, and the people are kind and approachable.”
The second gold medal of the day was won by Sandra Konstantinova in the Changquan discipline. Silver went to Aksiniya Schukina of Russia as well, while bronze went to Zahra Jalili Parni of Iran. In the Qianshu discipline, the winner was Yanlin Liu of China with Zahra Kiani of Iran in the second place and Aksiniya Schukina in the third.
Junke Pan of China came out victorious in Jianshu. His main opponent was Pavel Muratov of Russia, while Abolfazl Gharehbaghi of Iran took the bronze. But in Daoshu, the gold went to the Russian team, with Kirill Zui Bondarenko shining bright once again. “Honestly, there are a lot of emotions. I achieved the main goal, but there were some mistakes that I will work on”, the BRICS Games champion stated. “In terms of organisation, everything is incredible. This is the first time I’ve been to such a large-scale event. I went to the World Championships: it wasn’t nearly as cool or vibrant!”
The silver in the Daoshu discipline went to Hossein Gheblenamay Moghadam of Iran and the bronze went to Ilyas Khusnutdinov of Russia.
Finally, the winner of the sixth gold medal in Nangun was Shahin Banitalebi of Iran. Artyom Zagibalov and Kamil Khalilyulin took the second and third places, respectively.
The BRICS Games will continue in Kazan on Sunday.