Eight teams representing the regions of the Volga Federal District competed on Friday, November 21, in Saratov for spots in the December final of the international project “City Battle”, which this year was organized for youth teams by the Russian Judo Federation and the charitable program “DobroFON”.
The teams of Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Orenburg, Perm, Saratov, Ulyanovsk, Ufa, and Kazan contested the victory in Saratov. After the group stage, the strongest teams were those from Kazan and Perm, Nizhny Novgorod and Orenburg. In the playoffs, the athletes from Tatarstan defeated Orenburg in a tense semifinal with a score of 13:12, while the team from Perm prevailed over the judoka from Nizhny Novgorod – 13:7. In the final showdown, which was equally intense, the athletes from Perm managed to earn the thirteenth point first and won the decisive match of the tournament against their counterparts from Kazan, 13:12.
Thus, the team from Perm secured a place in Group B, where they will compete against Slovenia’s Ljubljana, the best team from the Far East – Ulan-Ude, and the winners in Novorossiya – Simferopol.
The team from Kazan joined Group E together with Havana (Cuba), the strongest team from Siberia, and the runners-up from the Northwestern Federal District – Kaliningrad.
The fate of the third ticket to “Sirius” from the Volga Federal District was determined in a play-off match between the boys from Orenburg and Nizhny Novgorod. In this principled rivalry, the winner was decided only in the 25th bout. With a minimal advantage – 13:12 – the team from Orenburg defeated their opponents from Nizhny. They secured a place in Group D, where they will compete alongside the Americans from Miami, the champions of the Central Federal District – the Moscow Region team, and the silver medalists of the Siberian qualifying stage.
Source: Russian Judo Federation
