The first qualifying stage of the international tournament “Battle of the Cities 2026” continued its movement across the country. From April 9 to 12, Stavropol became the epicenter of judo: teams of the Caucasian division met on the tatami of the YUG-Arena sports complex.
16 of the strongest teams took part in this qualifying round: “Lokomotiv” (Kabardino-Balkarian Republic), SSHOR “Champion” (Stavropol Territory), SSHOR M. Jafarova (Republic of Dagestan), “Berkut” (Karachay-Cherkess Republic), “Chingiz” (Republic of Ingushetia), “Elbrus” (Karachay-Cherkess Republic), SC "Vityaz" (Stavropol Territory), "Nart" (Republic of North Ossetia-Alania), SC SSHOR in judo (Stavropol Territory), "Akhmat" (Chechen Republic), "Elbrus" (Kabardino-Balkarian Republic), "Magas" (Republic of Ingushetia), “Sherstyanik Nevinnomyssk” (Stavropol Territory), “Alania” (Republic of North Ossetia-Alania), “Edelweiss” (Chechen Republic) and “Nalchik” (Kabardino-Balkarian Republic).
Four days in Stavropol kept participants and fans in suspense: the main intrigue was the question of which of the 16 candidates would make it into the coveted “eight” (the two best teams from each group) and take a ticket to the second qualifying stage of the “Battle of the Cities 2026” tournament.
The participants were divided into four groups, in each of which an uncompromising confrontation unfolded for the right to continue on the path to the title. The judokas demonstrated the highest level of technique and an unbending will to win, confirming their status as one of the strongest divisions of the tournament.
Based on the results of the four-day battles, the leaders were determined: from each group, the two strongest teams won coveted tickets to the next stage of the tournament.
In Group A, representatives of the Lokomotiv team (Kabardino-Balkarian Republic) won a landslide victory, scoring 34 points and leaving no chance for their opponents. The second ticket to the next stage was won by the team “SSHOR M. Jafarova” (Republic of Dagestan), which showed a result of 35 points. The teams “Champion” (Zheleznovodsk) and “Berkut” (KCR) also fought, but lost to the leaders.
In Group B, the leaders were representatives of the Elbrus team (Karachay-Cherkess Republic), who beat the young men from the Chingiz team (Republic of Ingushetia) by three points, who eventually received a second ticket to the next round.
In Group C, the first team on the tatami was the SK SSHOR Judo team (Stavropol Territory), they defeated the Akhmat team (Chechen Republic) with a score of 13:7 and Elbrus (KBR) - 13:4, and also beat the Magas team (Republic of Ingushetia) - 13:4. The second place in this group was won by the Akhmat team (Chechen Republic), also showing a decent result.
Group D gold went to the Chechen Republic: the Edelweiss team demonstrated superiority over the Nalchik team (KBR), Sherstyanik Nevinnomyssk (Stavropol Territory) and Alania (Republic of Ossetia). Second place was taken by representatives from the Alania team (Republic of Ossetia), who also advanced to the next stage of the tournament.
Ahead - the next first qualifying stage of the "Battle of the Cities 2026" continues; teams from Siberia will meet in Krasnoyarsk from April 16 to 19.
The winners of the first stage in their groups will remain for the second qualifying stage in their regions, and the teams that took second place will be randomly distributed to other federal districts and will go through the second qualifying stage there. The winners of the second stage will also take part in the grand final competition - the international tournament “Battle of the Cities”, which will be held in Moscow in December. It is in the Russian capital that 32 teams will gather - sixteen Russian and sixteen foreign, invited by the organizers, to compete for the title of the best of the best.
