Sergei Stepashin: “Kazan and Tatarstan become leaders of badminton movement in Russia”

(KZN.RU, April 26, Mikhail Chentsov). The final stage of the annual badminton tournament for the Kazan Mayor’s Cup started in the capital of Tatarstan. Ilsur Metshin, the head of the city, gave a start to competitions in the Center for Badminton. Sergei Stepashin, the chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Foundation for the Promotion of Housing Reform, who together with Rustam Minnikhanov, the President of the RT, participated in the laying of the first stone in the construction of the Center for Badminton in Kazan in 2012, became the guest of honor at the opening ceremony.

This year, the final of the tournament is held among boys and girls in two age categories: 1-7 grades and 8-11 grades. Personal competitions with team performance are conducted according to the Olympic system with the drawing of all seats. National teams of educational institutions, who won prizes in regional competitions among teams of boys and girls, take part in games. Each district of the city put 12 teams (2 people per team) in the tournament. In total, 168 students will take part in the final stage.

Ilsur Metshin greeted the guests and young athletes, noting that the competitions, which are held for the third year in a row, have become a good tradition. This year, they again gathered 3.000 participants under their banners. “Badminton is walking around the republic and the capital of Tatarstan with leaps and bounds and today's finale is a confirmation. I am very glad that this sport is developing in our capital. We will do our best for badminton to be played in all yards, schools, and other educational institutions”, said the head of the city and thanked the coaching staff and the Badminton Federation of the RT for the preparation of future champions.

Sergei Stepashin noted that he was pleased to contribute to the creation of the Center for Badminton in the capital of Tatarstan. “Kazan is rightfully called the sports capital of the Russian Federation after the Universiade, the World Swimming Championship. Today, Kazan and the Republic of Tatarstan are becoming leaders of the badminton movement in Russia”, he said. S. Stepashin also noted that badminton is one of the most accessible kinds of sports, which develops a person comprehensively. “In Soviet times, badminton was an indispensable sport in the cosmonaut detachment. Yuri Gagarin was a brilliant badminton player and a master of sports in the Soviet Union”, he added and wished new sports victories to the participants of the competition. After this S. Stepashin handed certificates of masters of sports to a number of Kazan badminton players.

At the end of the ceremony, Ilsur Metshin and other guests gave the start to the final tournament and made the first symbolic serve.

Vasil’ Shaikhraziev, the deputy Prime Minister of the RT, Alexei Demidov, the chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Badminton Federation of the RT and the chairman of the Accounting Chamber of the RT, Yury Chaplygin, the President of the Badminton Federation of the RT, Svetlana Vostrikova, the chairman of the Committee for Physical Culture and Sports, Ilsur Hadiullin, the head of the Education Department, and heads of districts’ administrations also took part in the event.