A new page in the history of squash: Moscow will host the Russian Championship

From February 22nd to 24th, Moscow will host the Russian Squash Championship, which, it is safe to say, will go down in the history of the sport. For the first time more than a hundred applications have been received for participation in the tournament, which already exceeds the number allowed by the regulations: the players of the men’s net of the tournament still have to pass the selection process to get to the 64 strongest. Athletes from St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Vologda, Perm, Novosibirsk and Krasnoyarsk will gather in Moscow.

Scheme of the competitions

The competitions will be held according to the Olympic system with the drawing of all places. The Russian Championship will be a key stage in the formation of the national team for participation in the European Team Championships, which will be hosted by Portugal in April. Russia is still in the third division, but, according to the head coach of the team, Arnis Tikhvinsky, our national team is able to climb a step higher.

Arnis Tikhvinsky, head coach of the team: “The European Championship consists of three divisions. In the first division the strongest European teams play, such as England, France, Germany, Scotland, Wales and other squash leaders. This is a kind of top, where everyone else is trying to get to. According to the results of the European Championships, the first and second place teams move up a division, and the teams that finished in the last two positions in their divisions move down a step. Last year the championship was held in my hometown Riga, where we took 4th place out of 18 possible. We were left with a wooden medal, so to speak. The year before in Malta we were last. So we’re making progress. This year we have good chances to get into the prize-winners”.

The Russian Championship has been held on a regular basis relatively recently, with the emergence of a new squash federation. A few years ago the tournament was attended by a maximum of 15-20 athletes and competitions were held irregularly.

On the courts of Club Moscow the audience will see the current Russian champions Roman Fetisov (St. Petersburg) and Ekaterina Marusan (Moscow). Exciting meetings with the participation of Vlad Titov, the favorite of the female audience, participant of professional international tournaments, Alexey Severinov, multiple national champion, Konstantin Kostrykin, champion of Moscow, talented Alexander Rozhansky, who at 18 already gives battle to experienced players, are waiting for the guests. Fans of squash will be interested to look at young Alesya Aleshina, who this year at the rating tournaments beat more experienced athletes.

What awaits the winner?

The winner and silver medalist of the Russian Championship will be awarded the title of Master of Sports and a place in the national team. But still the last word is for the head coach. Athletes who took the 3rd to 8th place will be awarded the title of CMC.

Where to watch the matches?

Moscow Squash Club invites everyone to watch the battles, get acquainted with the athletes and try their hand at squash and badminton. On February 22 the games will start at 19:00. On Saturday and Sunday – at 11:00.