The second stage of the "Battle of Cities"—an international project of the Russian Judo Federation and the "Cradle of the Fatherland" charitable program supported by general sponsor Fonbet—continued in Armavir (Krasnodar Krai). From September 11 to 13, the city hosted the "Dmitry Donskoy" Legion competitions featuring eight U18 judo teams.
As a reminder, the first stage of the "Battle of Cities" took place in the spring of this year. Based on the results of the qualifying tournaments across all federal districts, the 64 best teams were selected to form eight legions. Each legion included four home teams and four teams drawn from other federal districts.
A week ago in Krasnoyarsk, the first legion—"Pyotr Bagration"—wrapped up its competitions. As a result, the teams from Nazran and Krasnoyarsk earned the right to compete in the International Superfinal of the "Battle of Cities," which will feature the top two teams from each legion, eight invited foreign teams, and eight teams determined through play-off matches against international opponents. Judokas from the Republic of Ingushetia, as the winners of the Bagration Legion, secured a ticket to the All-Russian Grand Final. Meanwhile, the third and fourth-place teams from Chernogorsk and Barnaul will compete in play-off tournaments in Astana and Minsk, respectively.
Competing as the hosts of the Donskoy Legion in Armavir were four teams from the Southern Federal District representing Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don, Ust-Labinsk, and Maykop. Visiting teams drawn by lot included squads from Orsk, Kovrov, Magnitogorsk, and Achinsk.
In Group A, judokas from Ust-Labinsk emerged as the strongest. On the first day of the tournament, they defeated the Rostov team 13:4, and on the second day, they secured a dominant victory over the guests from Orsk (13:3). The Kovrov team also won its first two matches, both in tough battles—defeating the athletes from the Orenburg Region 13:11 and the Rostov team 13:9. The head-to-head matchup between Ust-Labinsk and Kovrov ended with a score of 13:10 in favor of the Krasnodar Krai team.
Group B was comfortably led by the Krasnodar team, which achieved consecutive victories over judokas from Maykop (13:2), Magnitogorsk (13:4), and Achinsk (8:0). The guests from the Krasnoyarsk Krai, despite losing to Krasnodar early, celebrated success in their other two matches and advanced to the semifinals from second place in the group. They defeated Magnitogorsk 13:3 and secured a win against Maykop only in a deciding tiebreaker bout (14:13).
In the semifinals, the hosts experienced little trouble on the tatami. The team from Ust-Labinsk defeated Achinsk 13:4, while Krasnodar gave up only two points to the Kovrov squad. The final matchup remained competitive for a long time, but with the score at 8:7, Krasnodar achieved five consecutive victories, bringing the final result to 13:7. Third place went to the judokas from Achinsk, who prevailed over Kovrov with a score of 13:10.
Following the results of the competition, the teams from Krasnodar and Ust-Labinsk earned tickets to the "Battle of Cities – Superfinal" International Tournament. The judokas from the regional capital will also compete in the All-Russian Grand Final. The Achinsk team will head to a play-off tournament in Minsk on September 30, while the Kovrov team will fight for a spot in the International Superfinal in Astana on September 23.
It is worth noting that a substantial prize pool is contested in each legion. Each team receives 300,000 rubles for a win in the group stage, while losing teams receive 150,000 rubles. Finalists earn an additional 600,000 rubles each, and those defeated in the semifinals receive 300,000 rubles. Finally, the legion's winning team receives an extra 1,200,000 rubles, while the silver medalists get 600,000 rubles. Bronze medalists add 600,000 rubles to their account, and the fourth-place team receives 300,000 rubles.
The next stop for the second stage of the "Battle of Cities" is Stavropol. From September 18 to 20, the four best teams of the North Caucasian Federal District from Nalchik, Grozny, Cherkessk, and Stavropol will face squads from Novosibirsk, Kaliningrad, Troitsk, and Simferopol in the "Alexander Suvorov" Legion.
