The Phygital Games 7 has started in Kazan, within the framework of which an international phygital hockey tournament with the participation of 8 teams is taking place.
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 meeting according to the rules of 3*3 hockey. All abandoned pucks are summed up. The Games are held at the Zilant Ice Palace.
Group stage, Day 1
Liga Pro Team – HUMO — 10:3 (4:2 after the digital stage)
In the opening match of the phygital hockey tournament, Liga Pro team confidently defeated HUMO, despite the fact that the opponent had a number of professional hockey players. In the digital part, Nikita Hoba from Liga Pro Team scored a hat-trick, and Dmitry Drozhzhin (2 goals) became the hero of the stage on the ice, who effectively played the HUMO players and realised a few chances.
“It turned out to be harder than I thought, but it was very interesting. In the digital stage, you are charged with emotions, it was incredible. We slightly underestimated our opponents. The goalkeeper helped them out today. We thought they were weaker. It was easier in the console than on the ice 3 by 3. Three of you run, and in 21 minutes you can easily get tired. We came to Kazan for the sake of interest, but, of course, we want to win. We will rest today, practice in the console and tomorrow we will go out to win,” Daniel Kogan from HUMO said.
“An unusual format — first on the console, then on the ice. Emotions are only positive. It’s something new. We have a balanced team that was able to prove itself both in the digital part and on the ice. I was nervous in the digital part. After all, I have not participated in this format yet. It was more familiar on the ice. Phygital Games interested me precisely because it is something new. And there is only one task — to rank first,” said Andrei Katyukhin, hockey player of the Liga Pro Team.
Stars of Israel – Underdogs — 13:18 (6:3 after the digital stage)
Igor Ugolnikov’s hat-trick helped Stars of Israel win against Underdogs in hockey on the console — 6:3, but in the physical stage his team had a hard time. The faster opponent easily created chances and realised them better. The three-goal gap was played back in the first period of the 3*3 hockey match, and then Underdogs continued to develop the advantage. Otar Sakhokia and Alisher Mubarakshin scored 5 goals each. Ivan Manin scored 4 goals.
“Good emotions, we will work on defence. It’s good that we scored a lot of goals, but we will need to work on the mistakes. When the score was 3:6, we didn’t get upset. We talked to each other and went out on the ice. It was interesting against the experienced guys from Stars of Israel. After all, there were those who played in the KHL. The organisation shocked me in a good way. Thanks to the organisers!” said one of the heroes of the match Ivan Manin from the Underdogs team.
“We expected a little bit of a different start. We wanted to catch up with our opponents, but they turned out to be one step ahead. The rules are a little unusual. We got used to them slightly. I think we will reach the finish line. In terms of the tournament, everything is great. There are zero complaints. It’s very nice to be in Kazan. I think we’re ready to win, but it remains to show the result. All our guys are very phygital,” Stars of Israel captain Alexander Stolyar commented on the meeting results.
3Frenzy – Belgrade Eagles — 14:4 (4:0 after the digital stage)
The guys from 3Frenzy are famous for their crazy draws and challenges, but they came to the game with Belgrade Eagles with a serious attitude. They dominated the digital stage — 4:0, and then showed skill on the ice, scoring 10 more goals. It turned out to be a very beautiful free throw, which was performed by Aleksandr Ovanov, but the whole 3Frenzy game made a vivid impression.
“The first match at the Phygital Games was very interesting. This is an unusual experience, and we are very happy to be here. We knew that a difficult opponent was waiting for us, but we still hoped to play better. We need to improve the defence, so we will work on it,” Slavko Vidović from Belgrade Eagles said.
“Everything is so great! It was a novelty. I got awesome emotions from the first match. I’m ready to rant and rave further. This was the mood we had for victory. We talked amicably and decided that we would show our best hockey. We were confident of victory. Here you can make all sorts of tricks, go 1 to 0, throw. A cool arena, 3 on 3 is interesting to play. The prize will be ours! Our task is only the first place!” Valeriy Popovich from 3Frenzy said.
Hockey Brothers – Ak Bars — 5:6 after the penalty shootout (1:4 after the digital stage)
In the final match of the day, the audience saw 10 abandoned goals, an incredible ending and even a series of the penalty shootout! Ak Bars won the digital stage of the match with a good margin, but Hockey Brothers did not lose their heads on the ice and showed very high-quality hockey. Even after Bulat Baikeev’s goal, which made the score 5:3 in favour of Kazan, their opponents continued to bend their line, and if not for the magnificent game of the goalkeeper Evgeny Yaroslavlev from Ak Bars, Hockey Brothers recouped at the end of the third period and could have scored more, and yet in this match there was a series of the penalty shootout. In it, Yaroslavlev beat off all three throws, and Ak Bars was “dragged” by Igor Bardin. 6:5 was a difficult victory for the Kazan team.
“Emotions are only positive. It’s even good to some extent that we lost in a hard fight. We’ll draw conclusions. We had enough today, we made a good comeback, and the penalty shootout is just a lottery. Now we will recover and go into battle! 3*3 hockey is hard. There’s more dynamics, you spend more energy than when playing 5*5,” Denis Kachin from the Hockey Brothers team said.
“I’ve always wanted to play in a 3*3 format, and then I managed to play on the console! There were some jitters before the game, but we trained for a long time both on the ice and in interactive hockey. Today we dominated the arena, and we will prepare for tomorrow’s match. I really like the idea of phygital. I hope it will develop,” Igor Bardin from Ak Bars summed up the meeting.
On Wednesday, 7 June, the second day of the group stage will be held, according to the results of which the participants of the playoffs will be determined. Liga Pro Team will meet with Underdogs, HUMO will play against Stars of Israel, 3Frenzy will measure strength with Ak Bars, and Hockey Brothers will play a ticket to the quarterfinals in a match with Belgrade Eagles.
