In Khabarovsk, the Oshchepkov International Judo Tournament brought together first-class world-class wrestlers

The Russian Judo Tour series was organized for domestic wrestlers in the face of ongoing international pressure in order to give athletes, who are among the strongest in the world today, competitive practice. Tours of the series are held in different cities of Russia, one of which was Khabarovsk.

– Holding the Russian Judo Tour is an honor and has a special character, since these competitions are a kind of import substitution in sports. Indeed, today our athletes are not welcomed at the international level, which is completely in vain, since competitions are no longer competitive, which is the most important thing for sports. Therefore, the Russian Judo Federation has organized such a series of internal competitions, to which not only athletes from Russia are invited, but also representatives of judo from our friendly countries. I would like to thank the governor of the Khabarovsk Territory for holding the tournament at such a high level and for organizing it, who pays special attention to the development of judo in the region. The Cup of the Governor of Khabarovsk Territory has been established, which will be awarded to the best judokas. I hope that these competitions will be a good contribution to shaping the future of judo in the Far East. Athletes who became world-famous stars were brought up here, so I would like all this to work out, – shared Alexander Nikitin, First Vice-Governor of the Territory, Head of the Judo Federation of the Far Eastern Federal District.

The Far East for the RJT was not chosen by chance, it was from here, with the help of Vasily Oshchepkov, judo began its triumphant march through Russian cities and villages, and that is why the Khabarovsk tournament was named after the master who brought Japanese wrestling to Russia, which, by the way, became the basis for the creation of another well-known type of martial arts – sambo.

In addition to Russian wrestlers, athletes from six other countries took part in the competition, so it is quite correct to call the stage of the Russian Judo Tour in Khabarovsk international. Foreign judoists liked both the city and the way the competitions were organized.

– To be honest, I expected less from the city, but I saw such beauty here. I really liked the embankment and the fact that on a weekday there are enough people, children and everything is very neat and beautiful. As for the competition, everything was also held at a high level. Rivals are all worthy – you can’t find fault at all. Everything is at a high level. In past competitions, I won the current champion, in these, for reaching the final, I lost the score to her, we have two – one. A bit lacking in functionality. There is something to strive for – Yana Makretskaya is an athlete from Belarus, winner of the RJT bronze medal.

According to experts, such major competitions will be an impetus for the development of this sport in the region. This has happened more than once – first the championship, then the influx of kids in the section. And given that the government of the region has set a course for the development of judo, young athletes will have where to come and who to train with.

– The most important legacy that tournaments of this level leave is happy children who go to sports clubs. This is the best promotion of sports and a healthy lifestyle in our region, – noted Dmitry Chekunov, Minister of Sports of the Khabarovsk Territory.

The Russian Judo Federation was also satisfied with the organization of the tournament, especially since the Khabarovsk Territory fielded the largest team in the Far Eastern Federal District on the Russian Judo Tour – 19 athletes and athletes.

– I’m very impressed. You can see a lot of involvement of the administration here. In addition to volunteers, more than two hundred people take part in organizing these competitions, and this is the most serious approach to conducting our competitions. At the level of such large cities as, for example, Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk. These are large federal competitions in which our international colleagues also take part. Therefore, I am very grateful to the governor. I’ll tell you a secret that today we discussed with Alexander Nikitin an agreement that we will conclude in the near future between the Russian Judo Federation, the regional federation and the regional administration on the development of judo. The basis will be based on two indicators – this is a multiple increase in the number of athletes and, of course, we should see athletes of the highest level here. To do this, we need to work hard, but all agreements are already in place, and I think that these competitions will become regular, and we will meet with you, hold them, and more athletes from foreign countries will come here and, of course, you will rejoice at the success of Khabarovsk and athletes from the Far Eastern Federal District. This is our task and of course we are moving towards it, and we will do it. Unfortunately, we are not very happy with how judo is developing in the region, because the region deserves and has a much greater potential than now. We want to fix this and fill these gaps with a joint program together with the administration, – noted Sergei Soloveichik, head of the Russian Judo Federation.

The federation has very serious plans for Khabarovsk.

– As soon as the gates abroad are open, we will make Khabarovsk the center of the Asian part of Russia, attract more Asian specialists and athletes here, and this is very important for us, because Russia is a huge country, we have always focused on the European part, we have held many events together with the Europeans, but our Asian part lagged behind and suffered a little. And these are the problems we need to address. Unfortunately, today it is impossible to do this – you see, we are trying, including the administration, has made great efforts to ensure that representatives of six countries come here, and we will continue to work and place more emphasis on our Asian colleagues, who today are among the leaders in judo. of the leaders along with Russia, – stressed head of the federation.

As for this tournament, the athletes competed for 14 sets of awards and a prize fund of 7.3 million rubles. A separate bonus was a special prize – the Cup of the Governor of the Khabarovsk Territory. The winners of this award were Irina Zueva from the Chelyabinsk region and Karim Abdulaev from Irkutsk.

Read also: “Platinum Arena” in Khabarovsk hastily talking to the Russian Judo Tour. The competitions should start already on the first of April, the workers were given only three days to re-equip the arena.

The first gathering of volunteers for the Russian Judo Tour took place in Khabarovsk. Children and adults will work at the stage of the international series of the professional tour of the most prestigious tournament.