Sport is the best gift: a tennis tournament among journalists was held in Moscow

Leonid Yakubovich and Petr Spektor lit up at the tennis tournament.

On a warm and summer day in Moscow, the famous sports sharks of the pen and the microphone decided to celebrate their professional holiday, the International Sports Journalist Day, by taking part in a tennis tournament.

For the first time, such a competition among representatives of the domestic media, organized by the Union of Sports Journalists and the Russian Tennis Federation, took place on the courts of the cozy and hospitable National Center named after Juan Antonio Samaranch, located next to the Northern River Station of Moscow.

Fifteen journalist-athletes applied for participation in the competition, but since the tournament was a pair tournament, one journalist, unfortunately, turned out to be superfluous. The well-known hockey observer could not find a partner for himself Pavel Lysenkov from the online edition of “Match TV”. He watched with interest and at the same time with sadness how his television colleagues ran around the court and waved rackets. In general, the representation of the federal sports channel was the most impressive – they announced three couples at once.

Moskovsky Komsomolets was represented at this tournament by the first deputy editor-in-chief, a well-known sports journalist Petr Spector. He entered the court in a pair with a popular domestic presenter and showman of Channel One Leonid Yakubovich. “What are so sad?” – asked one of the spectators at the very beginning of their first joint game against colleagues from St. Petersburg. “And I’m still sleeping,” the long-term host of the Field of Miracles program answered with irony Yakubovich.

In the opening match, our honored journalists, whether it’s a joke Leonid Arkadievich will turn 78 at the end of July, did not wake up. They failed to impose serious resistance on younger rivals. However, this in no way affected their upbeat and sporty-cheerful mood. On such and such a festive day, it could not have been different.

“Feels great! I play tennis all the time – this sport helps to keep fit. But I have never played on clay courts. There is a completely different rebound of the ball than in the hall. It’s very unusual, ”Leonid Arkadievich complained after the first game. “I also train on hard, and I played on clay only a couple of times on vacation,” Petr Markovich supported his pair partner. “But, nothing, now we’ll warm up and give a fight in the next match,” he added.

And the veterans kept their promise! In the second game, they put up decent resistance to the mixed duet “Match TV” Dmitry Lukashov And Ekaterina Soldatenkova. The latter, by the way, is a master of sports in tennis. Fans have repeatedly admired masterful strikes Spector and virtuoso possession of a racket Yakubovich. “It is felt that Leonid Arkadevich owns a racket no worse than a microphone,” the spectators and experts present at the game noted.

And, if, at the tournament, the winner in the nomination “People’s Choice Award” was determined – a couple Spector – Yakubovich I would definitely own it. Only at the very end, representatives of the sports channel were able to tip the scales in their favor. This couple, as well as a duet of journalists, Sergei Podushkin (“Sport Express”) and Kirill Storchak (Internet edition of Sport. Ru) from St. Petersburg, who specially came to this tournament from the Northern capital, reached the semi-finals from this group.

In another, a noticeable superiority over all other participants had a pair Alexander Anoshin (Telegram channel “More”) and Evgeny Fedyakov from Kommersant. They confidently won against all rivals in their quartet, and, looking ahead, it was they who eventually became the winners of the competition. For the second ticket to the semi-final, a stubborn fight broke out between colleagues in the television workshop: Kirill Zemskov – Alexander Loginov And Alexander Burdin – Dmitry Dyatlov. The first to emerge victorious from this duel.

In the semi-finals, there was no special struggle: Anoshin – Fedyakov And Podushkin – Storchak easily outplayed their rivals from the Match TV channel. In the game for bronze men’s pair logins – Zemskov turned out to be stronger than the mixed Lukashov – Soldatenkova. “There was not enough physics and teamwork,” said the host of the “All for the Match” program after the match. Dmitry Lukashov. “Next time we will try to prepare better for the tournament and perform better,” he added.

In the final, we were in for a fascinating confrontation between the two capitals – Moscow and St. Petersburg. The decisive duel kept everyone in suspense until the very last draws. In each of the two sets played, it came to extra-times, in which both times tennis players-journalists from the Mother See were stronger – 7:5, 7:5.

Alexander Anoshin And Evgeny Fedyakov commemorative prizes were awarded for winning the tournament, which, as the organizers hope, will continue and become an annual event.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 29061 dated July 3, 2023

Newspaper headline:
Several sets in honor of the holiday