- Сould you please tell us about the general ideology of the project and what other new projects this year will bring?

L.S.: The Student Spring Festival that takes place in Kazan is really popular among students. We started changing the festival’s concept last year, when we added a couple of new sub-projects. This year (a year prior to the Universiade) the festival remains in its original form but has several new sub-projects. We can say that the Student Spring Festival started on April 1st when the Ikariada All-Russian Contest called Funny Spring took place in Kazan. On April 2, the Rock Energy All-Russian Festival was held in Kazan which was Music Spring. Today Smart Spring is going to open in Kazan; guests from 27 Russian universities have arrived to the Tatarstan capital to take part in the Polyglot contest. Beautiful Winter – Faces of the Universiade – will take place in Kazan.
As for today, 350 applications have been accepted to the final stage from which 179 people are students of Kazan. The most active are students of the technical university – they have presented 47 applications. Apart from Kazan, Tatarstan will be presented by Naberezhnye Chelny, Zelenodolsk, Nizhnekamsk, Elabuga, Almetyevsk. 136 other applications have come from such Russian cities as Moscow, Yaroslavl, Samara, Ulyanovsk, Yoshkar-Ola, Orenburg, Saransk, Tumen, Cheboksari, Nizhniy Novgorod, Izhevsk, Ufa, Saint-St Petersburg, Perm and Penza. Let us remind that the main goal of this event is to select members of the vict0ry ceremony escort team for Kazan 2013. It is one of the most prestigious aspects and only most good-looking boys and girls should be involved. After Faces of the Universiade ends, on April 28-29 we will have the Student Cheerleading Festival. As for toda, we have received 23 team applications: 11 of them are from Kazan and 12 from Moscow, Omsk, Yoshkar-Ola, Ylyanovsk, Saransk, Tolyatti, Rostov-on-Don and St Petersburg.

T.S.: All of the above-mentioned events are a kick-off of mass volunteer preparation for the 2013 Summer Universiade. This is a broad understanding of the Student Spring Festival. But we also have Student Spring that is famous for its traditions and ability to reveal new talents. This part of Student Spring preserves all the best and interesting, the things republican students have always loved and still love, and take it to a new level. The Student Spring Festival that is held in the cities of Tatarstan will be united under the republican wing. Each city will keep its festival but a judging panel will be formed to travel to the cities and watch students’ performances. The panel is leaving to Naberezhnye Chelny on Friday to watch the Student Spring Festival in the Kama river region. This is the first traditional part.

Starting last year we are implementing the national Student Spring format on the republican level. According to that, from May 2-5 student art groups and individual performers will take part in the competition held in the following categories: dancing, music, drama, original genre and journalism. Each category will have its own panel of judges.

- Who will become members of the panel?

M.M.: Mikhail Volkonadsky will be the chair of the jury this year. He has vast experience in organising this event and also has been a participant of the Student Spring Festival himself. Pop band members like singer Lyaisan Zakirova as wel as other laureates of Russian and republican competitions will evaluate participants in the field of music.

T.S.: We are definitely trying to keep traditions that have once been created. One of the features of this year’s festival that will be out of general competition is Intellectual Spring. It is a great fest of mother wit and intellect. Ak Bars Bank will host a big What? Where? When? and brain-ring festival on May 2nd. More than 500 participants – students of Tatarstan universities – will be there. I hope that next year Intellectual Spring will become a regular part of the Student Spring.

- Who will decide the university that takes Grand Prix?

T.S.: As Larisa mentioned at the very beginning, this year’s Student Spring is beautiful, athletic and creative. Creative part is compelled from 2 components: universities from different cities presenting their art projects that kick off on April 6 in Naberezhnye Chelny and those aspects that we have already discussed. So the main cast will include the above-mentioned parts. Cheerleading and Faces of the Universiade. The university that will get a maximum number of points will become the winner. Winners in special categories will also be defined.

L.S.: We will use the system introduced last year. It is very probable that a non-Kazan university will take the lead. The competition will be hard. As organisers, we hope that this winter we will choose the special team of volunteers. Our aim for today is to select 200 volunteers who will escort the teams of the participating countries during the opening ceremony parade of nations. They must be fit and athletic boys and girls. Because it is not a beauty contest. The Universiade will take place in summer, it will be hot and plenty rehearsals are needed. We are glad to have candidate masters of sports among applicants.

We plan to use the cheerleading festival to choose volunteer cheerleaders that will be responsible for creating a festive atmosphere during the Universiade competitions. Kazan is getting ready to offer comfortable conditions not only to athletes but also to its visitors. And in this regard a special entertaining programme will be organised on each venue with the help of student cheerleading teams from all over Russia.

All members of student clubs from Tatarstan and other regions are very much welcome to join our cultural programme. Because a lot of sound directors, stage directors, actors and administrators will be working hard to make the Cultural Universiade tick. And we would like those people to be students because the Universiade is a student event. All the students taking part in this year’s Student Spring will be involved in the 2013 Summer Universiade and will contribute to the image of Kazan as the Russian capital of students and youth.

Source: Tatar-inform Information Agency

— Did you have any examples set by Asian athletes when you were children?
— Asian tennis players started to make their way into world tennis only in the middle of the 90’s. At the beginning the whole Asia was following the result of Michael Chang (I got a feeling that the brothers have expected this question. Because a short (175cm) for this type of sport American athlete of Chinese ancestry was the idol of Asian tennis players for quite long. And for the world community as well, winning Roland Garros at the age of 17 in 1989. — Author’s note).

When we took up professional tennis, we got an example to follow — Paradorn Srichaphan. She is three years older than us and he started showing good results at the age of 17. We were 14 then. We were looking up to him. (All-knowing web has told us, that Paradorn had close tights with Russia. With a Rusian. With a Russian girl. In November 2007 he got married to a Canadian-Russian model Natalia Glebova, “Miss Universe 2004. Unfortunately the divorced a year ago. — Author’s note)

— You two are the strongest pair in Thailand. Moreover, you are concentrated on pair play. At Have you ever taken part in the Olympics or Universiades?
— We participated in Universiades up until 2007. Considering the fact that only sportsmen under 27 are allowed to compete on Universiades, that year was the last one for us. Fortunately, it was the year of the Universiade in Bangkok. We really like to take part in these competitions. We were not lucky enough to get to the Olympics, but the Universiades made up for that. Plenty of sports and sportsmen, all living in the same village, all this creates a feeling like you’re inside of the real Olympics. Feels great!
In 2008 we were really close to the Olympics, but our dream did not come true. If the rules for tennis were like to the other sports with quotes for athletes from different continents we would have definitely been in. But in tennis rating is all that matters. You are allowed to play only when you are ahead of all the others, not only players from your part of the world. That is why it would be really difficult for us to get to London. We must obtain a sufficient rating to jump into the last train of the tennis players going to the Olympic London”.

— Going back to the Kazan Tournament let us point out that in the pair competition even half of the seeded pairs couldn’t make it to the semifinals. Spanish players Munoz-De La Nava and Menendez Maseiras, Russian Kravchuk and Kudryavtsev. How could you explain the misfortunes of the leaders?
— Let us be honest. Is that good or bad for us? It is good that we have less challengers now. Bad that we would not have a chance to take revenge on Konstantin Kravchuk and Alexandr Kydryavtsev we lost to on the last tournament.

— How did Kazan get on your list?
— Accidentally. We were going to take part in an Italian tournament, but it didn’t work out and we decided to follow Plan #2 and went to Kazan. We had to choose between Kazan and Australia. But considering the fact that we had a tournament in Germany before that, we decided to come here. Do we regret that? Just a little, it is way too cold here. We cannot explore the city because of that. We can only play and go to the restaurants or to the bus stop, running.

— What has made you come here again? Bigger prize fund or warm weather?
— Can we choose both? (Laugh). When we were initially looking up the conditions, it showed minus 24 degrees. We were terrified. But when we got here, it was not that terrible. Your Tennis Academy is fabulous, living conditions are great and the prize fund is worth that. What else do we tennis players need?

— Participants of the Kazan tournament had a chance to visit a basketball game of the Euro League. Why haven’t you taken this chance?
— To tell you the truth, we are not interested in basketball at all. Even NBA games are not attractive for us. Football is another story, or ice hockey we would love to see. We want to see new unusual for Thailand sports. For example, we went to baseball last summer when we were in the USA.

— Unfortunately “AkBars’ is out of the town on sport matters. We can offer you another hockey but played with a ball outside.
— Does anybody play outside with this weather? Are you kidding? No, that is too exotic for us, we cannot afford this. (Laugh.)

— Thai people have got to know the Russians lately. They come massively on vacation. Have you seen the difference between our people on vacation in another country and at home?
— Russian tourists come to resorts mostly. Pattaya is called a Russian city in Thailand. What can we say? They are far more happy on vacation.

— What are your plans after the tournament in Kazan?
— First, we will take a three-week rest from the tournaments we had in January. Then we will have a Davis-Cup game against Sri-Lanka. We need to be well-prepared disregarding the fact that our team is the favorite with our captain Paradorn Srichaphan.

— You are twins. But it’s quite easy to tell one of you from another looking at you hairstyles. Have you done it on purpose?
— More like accidentally. One of us got a haircut and the other was just too lazy for that. That is where the difference is from.

— Can you tell if your names have an interpretation?
— You’ve guessed it. Our last name has a beautiful meaning. Ratiwatana means “eternal love” in Thai.

Dzhaudat Abdullin

— Which university are you studying at?
— I am a student on a Psychology Faculty at the University of Fenix. And I am on a distant learning there. I am also studying at Russian State University of Physical Education in Moscow on extramural basis. I will be presenting my Russian University during the Universiade but my main goal is to graduate in the USA.

— Teymuraz in the Soviet times it was really prestigious for tennis players to take part in the Universiade. The reason for that was that our athletes had very few international competitions because they were considered amateurs and couldn’t play on ATP tournaments. After this barrier had been removed, tennis part of the Universiade became less desirable. How would you evaluate prestige of the competition in Shenzhen?
— I would answer so. As good was USSR education, as much it has changed since then. There were times when a MSU graduate of the 90’s was not hired while the 70s graduate didn’t have such problems.

Photo of Rashit Shiriyazdanov

— Let’s talk about Russian team that became closer to us after last year’s Davis Cup in Kazan. You have once been its member. Is there a chance you would join it again?
— Improving one’s abilities is the means to get an invitation to the national team.

— And as for now you hope for ‘help from abroad”? I mean the invitation Alex Bogomolov got to join the American team. He lives in the US but has Russian roots.
— As an alternative — yes. But in Bogomolov’s particular case pay attention to the fact that he is 29. A critical age for a newcomer in our tennis team. How long will he play on that level? A year, or two, or even 4 years. And what next? We need young players that is trained systematically. Let’s take my example. I became number 260 when I was 18 and was not considered very promising at that point. I was just a good player, nothing more. Right now there are no players like me then. At this age young players are much lower. Thanks God, President of the Russian Tennis Federation of Tennis Shamil Tarpishchev has decided to work on preparing the reserve. Much work is being done in preparing our national team’s reserve and there are money for that. They are looking for gifted players across the country to help in grow. Our program of tennis development looks a little bit like the French one that gave great results. But that would be more difficult for us because French Federation of Tennis has Grand Slam tournament. Roland Garros bring a lot of money. Our financial opportunities are smaller. But we will involve less people into the program where they will organize the teams with their own coaches and competition involvement. Now we need to wait for 4-5-6 years when the program will start to work.
Our current team should keep us in the Davis Cup’s World group. We cannot even dream about the victories, finals and all that sparkle of the recent past.

Photo of Rashit Shiriyazdanov

— It is known that Russian tennis players start their careers at home but then continue all around the world. Safin family and Svetlana Kuznetzova are in Spain, Maria Sharapova in the USA, Nikolay Davidenko in Germany. And where was Teymuraz Gabashvili’s alma matter? And where is he heading to?
— My alma mater is in Moscow, where I started to practice with Andrey Kesarev at the age of 8. And my route was to Spain where I went to at 16. I was trained by Andrey Olegovich until I was 18 and then I worked with several other coaches. I stayed in Spain for 7 years. But when I came there I was around 200 in ATP list and people around could see that I had potential.

— Spain is big. Do the Russians go to the places where there are already their fellows?
— Of course. Parents would want their children to go somewhere and be surrounded by strangers. It is always easier to follow an already existing path that discover something new. That is why Russians are heading to the academies that have already been tested. For example Sanches – Casal Academy (opened by the most famous Spanish tennis players Emilio Sanches and Sergio Casal. — Author’s note) where Svetlana Kuznetzova is. Or the one in Valencia where there are a lot of our players thanks to Marat Safin and Dinara Safina.

Photo of Egor Aleev

— What are you goals for the championship in Kazan?
— I came there after two months of training in Maiami. I fill great. I came to win this tournament but that would be a challenging task. I should say that when I cam there for the first time I found a great tennis center there and that is very important for our athletes.

— How would you as a newcomer evaluate the level of KAZAN KREMLIN CUP?
— Speaking about tournaments of such level, I would put this one somewhere in the middle. There are plenty of tournaments of ATP Challenger level. There are championships people love to watch like Grand Slam’s start. People relax their time there because they can get other services apart from the game. And 7 days of the tournament become a holiday week for the audience and the fans. But there are also tournaments where there is no one except for the players and the staff. Your tournament is a good one but there is still space for improvements if you want to reach a higher level.

— The Olympics will start in 6 months. What must be done to get to London?
— My main goal is to get into Olympics singles but I need to be rated 65-70 for that. There is a rule in tennis that no more than 4 players can represent one country, but only if more than 4 players from this country are among the top 50. There are very few such countries. Spain, France, Argentina, USA probably. I was once among the top 60 and now I’m going to get back. And for that I need to gain points right now and here, starting from the Kazan tournament. If I manage that, I would be glad to receive an invitation to the national team in doubles or mixed.

— Teymuraz, you have made the right choice at the start of the season. Tobias Kamke from Germany was a finalist there in 2010 and when finished was crowned to be “world’s best young player”. Yulia Putintseva won Tatatrstan Open last year and last week was in Australian Open juniors final.
— But wait, Michael Pzhisezhni has won there and right now is somewhere in 400 of the world list (Teymuraz Gabashvili is talking about Michal Przysiezny but pronounce his name in English.— Author’s note).

— One more example of a good game in winter Kazan. After his victory in 2010 Przysiezny moved from 172 into the first hundred. And last year he didn’t come here. Result — misfortunes and number 307 of the world rating.
— So that’s the case. I will hope for my luck here and a good season.

Dzhaudat Abdullin

Special to kazan2013.com

— You were not listed among 8 top world players who decided the fate of the world championship title at the end of 2011?
— Yeah, something like that. (Laughs) I had several unpleasant declines in my performance. For example, I couldn’t show a good play in Japan. But then I got back to Kazan and won a local tournament but that was not what I considered a good result. Together with Rustem we decided that something should be changed. He said: «Apparently I’ve given you all I could.» That doesn’t mean we had an argument, and although we are going our separate ways now, we are still friends. And we write each other emails sometimes. It is quite probable that Urmeev will come back to Kazan soon. As for me, I didn’t have a coach for some time, and then sparred with Vladislav Gorshenin. Later that year Marat Safin came to Kazan, observed my training sessions and suggested going to Valencia. He knew a good academy there where a number of strong players were practicing. For example, Evgeny Donskoy, Alexander Lobkov, sometimes Denis Matsukevitch and Andrey Kuznetzov. I started to practice there last September.

— As far as I remember, during our first interview two years ago, we were talking about imperfections in your physical condition. Now it’s quite obvious to me that you’ve been working hard on that.
— Yes, I have taken all recommendations regarding my physical shape into consideration and in the end of last year I had a great pre-season session: I had an intensive six-week training and paid particular attention to my physical fitness. Well, and for the last two years I have matured, which, in fact, is not a surprise. I just need to take advantage of what I am right now.

— A lot of famous tennis players had games in Kazan for the past two years. What is their opinion about our city (off the record, so to speak)?

— The first impression is usually the astonishment from our academy. Athletes came not only to compete, but also to practice before a season started and they shared their thoughts afterwards. They found it unbelievable that it was built in Russia. They also mention a good level of tournament management. A word-of-mouth principle works for tennis players, because we always share our opinion about tournaments and their quality of organisation. And during one of the tournaments other players were asking me and those who had played there about the way things work in Kazan. And all the impressions of the Kazan Kremlin Cup were positive; we managed to persuade them that it is organised on a high level. So here they are now. There is only one disadvantage that constant participants of the tournament mention; it is really cold here during the tournament.

— And this tendency can be seen during all 3 years.
— True. I came to Kazan for New Year’s Eve and the weather was quite comfortable. Shall we move the tournament to the New Year season? By the way, we discussed this with Romanian player Marius Copil I will be playing doubles with and he asked jokingly: «All this cold weather, is it because I’ve arrived in your city?»

— It would be especially hard for African Malek Jaziri. By the way, what can you tell us about the tournament’s highest-ranked player? As for me, tennis and Tunisia have nothing in common, except a little bit of pronunciation.
— I agree. We haven’t heard much about good tennis players from this country. I have played in Tunisia but I don’t know anything about Jaziri. But Denis Matsukevitch knows him quite well and will be playing doubles with him at the tournament in Kazan.

— Have you ever wondered what happened to previous participants of the Kazan Kremlin Cup?
— I do not purposely keep track of their careers, but I keep an aye on Evgeny Donskoy’s performance. We are in good terms and practice together in Spain. He finished last year successfully and it’s quite probable that he will be among top 100 players at the end of 2012. I think he is the most gifted one among young Russian tennis players.

— The univesiade will take place in Kazan in 18 months. What should be done to take part in it?
— To have good results in tennis and be a student. As for me, I am currently a second-year Economics major at Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University. I am having an extramural education of course, I pass all my tests and exams during short periods when I am in Kazan. Speaking about the Universiade… Allah birsa (‘If God allows’ in Tatar. – The Editor’s Note), I will win a chance to be on Team Russia’s roster because I really want to play at home, in front of my dear audience.

Dzhaudat Abdullin

Special to kazan2013.com

—If we speak about our team, the initial roster of the East team that I met with had no players of KNITU-KAI. There were a few players from Kazan, but they were from Kazan Power Engineering University and Academy of Physical Culture. Then I asked a logical question to SBA representatives, «We, KNITU-KAI, top the Kazan Division, I’m a coach of the East team, the match was initially expected to be staged on our venue, the KAI-Olimp Sports Complex, but none of KNITU-KAI players are called up to the team. How so? And the reply was that the candidates to the dream team are those players that demonstrate good results at the current championship. But, wait a minute, you cannot build the team that consists of top-scoreres only. Or of defenders only. Besides, our team, KNITU-KAI, lost none of its seven matches played in the Kazan Division, as it’s tailored for a team game where everyone is equal, rather than for a game, where one shoots and the rest just pass him the ball. As a result, two representatives of KNITU-KAI, Rivaz Bikbov and Sergey Pomanov, joined the roster of the East team.

— Even a shooting guard needs people that will be providing him with handoffs. Usually, a team is made up mostly of those who, so to speak, «carry the piano» and only few of those who actually «play it». I think that it’s obvious.

— Let’s say, it’s true, but not for all the teams. And I think that you, journalists, bear partial responsibility for this myth. I remember that when I was coaching UNICS, 20 years ago, I often came across such words of admiration as «Smolenkov scored 25 points!». But I say, OK, let’s look at the statistics. He scored 25, but he shot the ball 40 times, and he missed the rest of the shots. And another player, let’s say, Legonkov, shot ten times, but he scored nine times. His degree of efficiency is higher. And this factor must be a priority. And I’m glad that with my help KNITU-KAI is focused on a team game now. Although, no player of KNITU-KAI is named among best shooters or best passers, but our team always tops the podium and has never lost so far. Does it mean that it is made up of good players? I think so. They are players that can play a team game, that cooperate, and our rival never knows which basketball player is going to score.

— Do you know any other players called up to the national team?

— Unfortunetaly, I cannot help you here, I don’t know all of them so well. There are few reasons for that. The first one is that we play in different divisions and we almost never meet each other. And the second one is that I’ve been in university basketball for a year and a half only, as I’ve been coaching men’s, women’s and youth professional teams only.

— Is the Stars Match the first ever match of this level?

— Of course, not. The most pompous match was held in Krasnoyarsk and saw the participation of NBA players. As far as I remember, Moscow also hosted a similar event. And we held our own Stars Match in Kazan, when the winning team of Tatarstan’s university championship, that KNITU-KAI has been claiming for the past five years, played against the team composed of top players of other teams.

— Speaking of basketball in Kazan, I can say that twenty years ago all the strongest basketball players have been studying at the KSU faculty of calculating mathematics and cybernetics. Practically all Kazan basketball players of UNICS.  Then they started to enter the law faculty. In addition, UNICS had a few players from Kazan State University of Architecture and Engineering. There were no strong basketball players in Kazan Aviation Institute.

— Yes, that’s true. The situation in men’s basketball has totally changed in the past five years. Previously, the team was coached by Svyatoslav Ryabov who owing to his enthusiasm created a good team made up of local students. Under his careful guidance, they have been winning the university championships of Kazan for four consecutive years. Last year the KAI basketball team won the championship under my leadership.

— Fairly often young athletes are admitted to universities due to their sports talents. In this context, Kazan National Research Technical Institute (KNITU-KAI) is absolutely out of the way. The university itself is technical and not tailored for sports, so to speak.

— I agree with that. But a possibility to get the second higher education is of real help to us now. For instance, our team’s top players Rivaz Bikbov, who graduated the Academy of Sports in Naberezhnye Chelny, Sergey Romanov and Oleg Dmitriev, that are alumni of UNICS-2, are getting their Master’s Degree in Sports Management. And they study without our involvement, I should say. Because, the SBA championship regulations include such a paragraph as «academic performance».

— What are other peculiarities of the SBA Championship’s rules and regulations?

— The university championship regulations do not allow the participation of professional basketball players that have acting contracts with the teams of the Professional Basketball League, SuperLeague, Major League. And it’s logical. But the illogical part is the one that allows the participation of basketball players regardless of their age (!). For example, famous Vasily Karasev, the ex-captain of the Russian national basketball team, played in the SBA championship under the banner of the Russian State Academy of Physical Culture. The team from Cherepovets had the starting five composed of five former professional basketball players that were over 40 years old. We were told that all students are allowed to play, regardless of their mode of study: either full-time, part-time or distance programme. I made a joke: «My son is studying in the US, he plays for Dallas University. May I invite him in our team? And he also has a friend, his name is Jordan. Let’s invite them both, as ‘distance learners’?» (Laughs). But to be honest, this season the regulations were corrected a little bit, now only full-time and part-time students are allowed to play.

— Where do UNICS-2 basketball players study?

— Most of them are Kazan Federal University students, as before. However, they are not allowed to play in the SBA championship and its matches are counted against the university championship of Kazan, or so-called University Games of Kazan. That’s the reason that Kazan Federal University never takes first places at our championship. Besides, we’ve included an age limit in the University Games regulations, only basketball players under 27 are allowed in the competitions. Even if you are a professional player, but if you study at the university, you are welcome to play.

There is another section in the SBA championship’s rules that permits to reinforce the team by adding two schoolchildren playing in the Children and Youth Basketball League. Not necessarily school leavers. For some teams of the regions it’s a real strengthening, as these children are members of the national youth teams of Russia.

— And the last question, why does the men’s team of KNITU-KAI tops the standings at Kazan’s championship and the women’s team always finishes in the last place?

— The women’s team is weak, it has no strong players. So far I have no time and possibilities to train the team in earnest. Besides, there is no task set before us to lead each basketball team to the top of the podium.

Djaudat Abdullin

Special to kazan2013.com

— Tatarstan table tennis athletes had quite a few chances to showcase their talents last year. One of them is the European University Championship that took place in Madeira, Portugal. Do you think it was your success at this championship that allowed to bestow the Best Tennis Player of Tatarstan Award upon you?

— I’m not quite sure. I think that I demonstrated a better performance at the Russian youth championship. I placed third in individual events and I had the best result in the team. Although, team and mixed double gold medals that I earned in Madeira are also a pleasing experience.

— Citizens of Kazan got acquainted with the European university championship in 2010, when we had the first table tennis test event for Kazan 2013. Did you feel any difference between the championship in Madeira and the one hosted by Kazan?

— Well, maybe in my performance only. I had nothing to boast about in Kazan, I took only team bronze medal. In all other things the championships were similar. Even our opponents were almost the same, they didn’t have time to update their rosters in the preceding year. It’s a university championship after all and athletes that have graduated from university are not eligible to compete there. Except, perhaps, the French delegation that has acquired skilled players that play for the national team.

— You have had a considerable change in Kazan Federal University’s team. Anastasia Voronkova claimed all possible medals in 2010. But she did not compete in Madeira this year.

— Yes, it’s true. Besides, we’ve travelled to Portugal with a different team from Moscow, not the one we travelled with in 2010, since they lost to us in the qualifying matches. Only two university teams were allowed from one participating nation. Notably, starting this year it will be even more difficult to qualify for such championships. Instead of a university championship, we will have European University Games that will be hosted by Spain, if my memory serves me right. Don’t confuse it with World University Games. And only one Russian table tennis squad will be delegated there.

—  There is a significant difference between Kazan’s university and adult table tennis teams, as certain athletes perform under Tatarstan’s banner only at university tournaments. Were you among those?

— Yes, I was. Several years ago I entered the law department of Kazan Federal University, as I transferred here from Ural Federal University. I was born in the Chelyabinsk Region, then I moved to Ekaterinburg, known for one of the strongest table tennis schools in Russia. And I was сompeting for Ekaterinburg, of course. Then I moved to Kazan. And I represent the Republic of Tatarstan at all competitions, regardless of their scale and status: either university or professional ones. As far as our squad is concerned, we have only one non-local tennis player that competes for the university team only, it’s Polina Mikhailova. And the rest of the team: Vika Lebedeva, Elza Sharipova, Katya Osetrina play for Tatarstan everywhere.

— Well, it figures. Sharipova and Osetrina are both alumni of the local table tennis school. Speaking of Portugal, this country have been among outsiders in table tennis for a long time. Is the situation any different now? Have people started paying more interest to competitions in Portugal?

— Due to attracting skilled tables tennis players from China to Europe and granting them a citizenship, any country may become strong nowadays. More than that, the Portugese team has Russian athletes that study at local universities. Don’t forget that it’s not a competition between national teams but a university tournament that allows international students studying in foreign univerisities to compete as well.

It’s true that local citizens pay an increasing attention to table tennis now. At present Portugal boasts strong athletes that draw local fans into sports venues.

— So, it turns out that you’ve managed to draw local table tennis fans getting a tan at the beach into sports halls?

— I doubt that. The weather for the period of the competitions was not hot at all. It’s not a hot climate zone, there are mountains and mountains everywhere…

— Well, while you were playing in Madeira, it was extremely hot in Kazan instead. Both outdoor and indoor, in the Boxing and Table Tennis Centre, where European junior and cadet championships were running. By the way, apart from individual events, our men’s team also plays in the Russian club championships. Is it the same for the women’s team?

— Yes, as part of Kazan Federal University’s team we compete in the Premier League. To make it clear for you, it’s the highest league in Russia. Then there is Superleague, Major League and so on. It’s just because the women’s table tennis team is not so talked about as the men’s team that also performs in the ETTU European championships. The competitions have a four-round system. We finished third in the 1st round and fifth in the 2nd one. The strongest team is from Vladivostok, it is composed of experienced international athletes from Ukraine and Belarus. Some other table tennis squads have Chinese table tennis players. We have a few non-local players as well, but they are from Moscow.

— You were not ready for Shenzhen 2011?

— The thing is table tennis players have always taken the University Games seriously, that’s why only experienced athletes were delegated to China. And I, being a little over 20, think that my biggest challenge, Kazan 2013, is still ahead of me.  I’m in my fourth year and I’m to graduate in a year, but I plan to proceed to postgraduate studies. Then, I hope, I will be ready to win the Universiade.

— Kazan Federal University’s law department and Tatarstan’s table tennis squad are almost the same thing. You, Marsel Valeev, Elza Sharipova and other lawyers-to-be. Is there anybody of your level at university championships?

— Of course, not. Just judge for yourself, we’ve reached a certain level in table tennis and currently we are improving our skills having training sessions twice per day, do you think there is someone of our level in the republic? By the way, we’ve recently moved to the new Boxing and Table Tennis Centre, we used to have our training at the children and youth sports school in Otradnaya street. I like our table tennis complex, we have a lot of tables, a well-lighted room. All is great!

Djaudat Abdullin

Special to kazan2013.com

— I would mention that the marketing programme is implemented in 5 key directions: work with sponsors, product licensing, ticketing  programme, creating the image of the Games and promotion of this brand. Each of this directions is labour-consuming and interesting at the same time. Each has its difficulties and peculiarities.

For example, working with the sponsors we realise that the Universiade’s brand is far more difficult to sell to the partners than that of the Olympics. The whole planet watch the Olympics, and we cannot say the same about the Universiade so far, but we are doing a lot to help the Universiade beat the records of TV audience in Kazan 2013. Our partners feel this potential, that is why apart from Megafon that became our partner in 2010, our partner list was supplemented last year by PricewaterhouseCoopers (the company provides a wide range of professional consulting services for the Universiade Directorate) and Ak Bars Bank that became a general partner and an official bank of the 2013 Games.

We would like to thank our partners for the trust they keep in the Universiade and its brand. I would also like to mention, that now we are going towards signing a number of contracts with big-name companies like McDonald’s, Coca-cola and Rosgosstrakh, the last of which is going to become an official partner and insurance provider for the 2013 Summer Universiade. BMW is preparing its final partner presentation, after which we will make a final decision regarding the partnership.

After the Universiade in Shenzhen, China, a lot of Chinese companies producing equipment, clothes, etc have expressed their wish to become sponsors of the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan. We are planning to visit China in February and discuss partnership possibilities in detail. After that we can define the framework of the future partnership.

Generally, the sponsor programme is estimated to run until the autumn of 2012, after that we will stop looking for partners and general partners and will work particularly on fulfilling partnership obligations. However, it should be mentioned, that the search and attracting 3-4 tier partners will continue until the very start of the Games.

— In the past year residents of Kazan and other cities of Russia were for the first time able to see merchandise with Universiade symbols for sale. Could you evaluate the results and key opportunities of the licensing programme?

— First of all, I would like to point out that in 2011 we have faced a situation when businessmen of all levels have considered it to be not only their right, but their duty to put the Universiade logo on their goods. With the help of the Ministry of the Interior of Tatarstan, we were able to reveal and end a few cases of illegal distribution of counterfeit goods with the Kazan 2013 logo on them. In these cases, the corporate identity requirements and conditions of the commercial use of our brand were violated. Taking into consideration the fact that the Universiade Directorate has its obligations to FISU, it was of highest importance for us to end the illegal use of the brand and to start working harder with official licensees.

We are in a continuous search of the companies that are ready to work in republican and all-Russia market producing official merchandise that would be interesting to our target audience – students, active young people, sports and healthy lifestyle fans. While choosing potential licensees, we consider public opinion, if people are ready to buy goods and services in different price ranges.

In the nearest future, the Executive Directorate for the 27th World University Summer Games in Kazan will sign a license agreement with three companies producing bakery and confectionery, perfumes and cosmetics, as well as traditional Russian wooden souvenirs with Khokhloma painting. In January 2012, we expect to meet with a whole army of potential licensees, including very large factories and plants, as well as the members of the Sochi 2014 Licensing Programme.

Generally speaking, the line of Universiade branded products will be wide, starting from office supplies and souvenirs to fitness wear and multimedia devices. We launched selling licensed products with the Universiade logo within the FISU Flag Relay Universiade in Your City! in the autumn of 2011. Based on our first experience, I think that the official Kazan 2013 merchendise store to open in Kazan in 2012 will be popular among Kazan citizens and visitors.

— Together with licensed products, tickets for the Games will also go on sale in 2012. How would you estimate the demand for tickets? What guidelines will frame the ticketing programme of the Games in Kazan?

— Successful implementation of the ticketing programme is another ambitious goal that the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate sets for itself in the run up to the Games. First of all, we have abandoned the idea of distributing free tickets, when people are forced to come so that the stadiums are full. This was done with the focus on the upcoming 2015 FINA World Aquatics and 2018 FIFA World Cup: we see the forthcoming Universiade as an opportunity to give rise to the culture of visiting sports and other events among residents of Tatarstan and other regions of Russia.

While developing the ticketing program, we have considered the experience of Cirque du Soleil. After acting as Executive Director of two Cirque du Soleil tours in Kazan, I can say that nobody cares for the audience as much as the Canadians do. At the same time, it is important to remember that Cirque du Solei is a world-famous show, and during the 2013 Summer Universiade little-known teams will be competing shoulder-to-shoulder with sports leaders and are not likely to be able to provide a spectacular show. And we need to sell the tickets for the events of the outsiders as well. The Chinese organisers, for example, solved this problem with the help of their a multi-million population, without straining themselves to provide additional service to the audience.

But for us the succes of the ticketing programe is measured not only by the quantity – the number of sold tickets and sales profit, but also by the quality, e.g. the level of service guaranteed with each sold ticket. This will define if the people, who have already visited our events or venues, would like to come again.

The ticketing programme assumes a full guidance of spectators coming to see sporting events and ceremonies of the Universiade, including the way they receive information about the upcoming events, buy tickets, get into the facilities, go through a security check – all these procedures must be carried out smoothly and not cause discomfort to spectators. For example, to avoid long queues and simplify payment procedures, we are working on implementing the MasterCard’s contactless credit card payment system Paypass. So in order to buy something, a customer will need only to touch a PayPass terminal with a card. No change, no hurry. We hope that this innovation that we plan to implement together with AK Bars Bank with the help of MasterCard, will allow to produce a trustworthy attitude towards electronic payments among Russian people. Not many people enjoy an opportunity to buy online so far. However, those who once use their cards to purchase goods and services online without leaving home or office, will not go to stores again and wait in queues. That is why I would recommend potential visitors of Kazan 2013 to use online ticket stores to purchase tickets for the Games.

— Speaking of which, when will the ticket sale start?

— The official ticket sale for the 2013 Games will kick off on July 6, 2012, precisely a year before the Universiade in Kazan. 700,000 tickets will be available for sale according the ticketing programme. First, we will sell the tickets for the Games Opening/Closing Ceremonies, and later – for sporting events. The entire ticketing programme will go in 3 stages – every 3 months the prices will rise. For example, the tickets that will cost 500 rubles on July 6, 2012, in 2013 will cost not less than 1,500 rubles. So we recommend everyone to visit this unique event, without precedent since the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, and buy tickets in advance only at authorised ticket centres of the 2013 Summer Universiade or on our official website, avoiding purchasing tickets from ticket touts. In order to buy a ticket, you will need to register at our website and after that you will receive your personal ticket containing several security levels. They will be validated by automatic electronic ticket entry systems, that, as we hope, will allow us to prevent speculative activities.

Right now we are working hard to get ready for the ticket sale and to foresee all technical and organisational difficulties. Once the sale begins, you can ask all questions regarding the ticket purchase and use by dialing 8-800-550-2013, a hotline for the 2013 Summer Universiade.

— You have mentioned that success of the ticketing programme will also depend on the level of Universiade’s brand recognition. What has already been done in this direction? What are the plans for the future?

— Last year the main role in promoting the brand was assigned to the FISU Flag Relay Universiade in Your City!, and to participants of the Kazan 2013 Ambassador programme – famous athletes, cultural figures and celebrities – more than 30 people. This list will be expanded in 2012, we are going to invite them all in Kazan so that those who are engaged in promoting the Universiade can feel the atmosphere of the upcoming event and see with their own eyes its importance for our city and region, especially for the youth.

Generally speaking, promotion appears to be one of the key lines in the preparations for the Universiade. In 2011 we launched a series of promo videos to be shown during Aeroflot flights, in airport express trains, on TV, in printed and Internet media, as well as in social networks and blog spots. As many as 8,000 people follow us on Twitter.

The PR strategy will be most intensively implemented in 2013, closer to the start of the Games, so that all Russians and foreign visitors would like to become part of this event. As early as in late January 2012 we will make a surprise for all fans of mobile gadgets: a free game about Uni the snow leopard kitten in the App Store. I will not reveal all the secrets of the game, but it is going to be a great adventure of the Universiade’s symbol across five continents. The game will appeal not only to kids, but to adults as well. To be honest, I really lost myself in the game when I first got it for testing. Moreover, this is another innovation in FISU practice as well in the history of the Olympics.

— So Uni the snow leopard kitten will virtually visit all the continents, albeit in a game. And what will the guests coming to Kazan in 2013 will see in the city?

— In Shenzhen we were impressed how creatively and brightly the city was decorated, so we have borrowed some know-hows from our Chinese colleagues. Right now the visual concept of the Universiade is under construction, but it can be said for sure that we will work on details: airport entrance halls, buses,  entrances, signs and guide posts at sports venues,  in the Universiade Village, hotels, medals, the torch and the cauldron, uniforms for volunteers and support stuff of the Games and even special suitcase stickers for the visitors and much more. We will do our best so that from the very first steps at the airport the guests will embrace the vibrantly coloured and festive atmosphere of the Games. Today, working side by side with professionals and people truly devoted to their work in the Universiade Directorate, I can say for sure that visitors will remember Kazan exactly like this – like an impressive international sports festival.

Media Department of Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate

As far as other projects are concerned, I can’t help but mention the spring marathon which was held under the aegis of the Universiade and with the support of the Children and Youth Committee, when all traditional annual talent shows and festivals were dedicated to the pereparation for the World University Summer Games. Most notably, we’ve changed the format of the Student Spring Festival and included the traditional athletics marathon of Kazan University and 1st Inter-University Cheerleading Tournament in its programme. It’s worth mentioning that the tournament was initiated by Kazan National Research Technological University, a partner of the 2013 Summer Universiade, and the sporting event took place in the Miras Sports Complex, one of the new venues of the University Games. Another fact I cannot omit is that if previously there were only 3-4 professional cheerleading teams in Kazan, the tournament triggered cheerleading development in universities. Currently, there are nearly 20 cheerleading squads in the republic.

Under the Kazan 2013 volunteer programme, this year we’ve implemented the Team 2013 Project among students of secondary specialised education establishments. In the new year we will establish even more active cooperation with colleges and technical schools of Tatarstan. A cooperation agreement with the Council of Directors of Secondary Specialised Education Establishments of Tatarstan will be signed any time soon to launch a city volunteer training for students of colleges and technical schools of Tatarstan. It stands to mention that the Shenzhen 2011 volunteer selection campaign played a huge role in attracting students of other federal regions of Russia in Team 2013. The team of Russian volunteers proved themselves excellently at the Games in China; another projects our boys and girls took part in are the Winter University Summer Games in Erzurum and Asian Winter Games in Astana. But the Volunteers’ Academy International Youth Camp has become a major volunteer event of the year 2011. The camp gathered team leaders from abroad and different federal regions of Russia. The Make U Real Kazan 2013 volunteer selection campaign was officially launched on the sidelines of the camp’s events; as of today nearly 6,000 people have registered at www.makeUreal.kazan2013.com.

— It’s no coincidence that in your work you first of all rely on the partnership with the educational community and non-profit organisations, as for many years you’ve been serving as Chairman of the Coordination Council of Pro-Rectors for Education Work under the Rector Council of the Republic of Tatarstan. What are the key results of this partnership in the year 2011? In what direction will this partnership develop in 2012?

— Indeed, in early 2011 we concluded cooperation agreements with nine youth NGOs of Tatarstan, including the Student League, Creative Youth Academy, Burevestnik Youth Physical Culture and Sports Society, Galaxy-Yoldyzlyk festival movement, Miss Tatarstan and Youth of Industrial Enterprise NGOs, New Media Youth Information Agency, United Russia Party’s Young Guard Regional Office and Youth Centre of the Republic of Tatarstan. All these organisations have become our reliable partners committed to promote the 27th World University Summer Games among youth. With joint efforts we’ve implemented a huge amount of sports- and tourism-oriented, information, educational, cultural, public and political events. As for the educational community, the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate placed their stake on the cooperation with education establishments, assuming that the 2013 Summer Universiade is a university competition. The year 2011 has been very fruitful in this regard. Firstly, it was due to the fact that 12 higher education establishments have expressed their readiness to take most active part in the preparation and staging of such a high-profile event. But, what matters most is that thanks to the International University Sports Federation, we’ve succeeded to bring the 2013 Summer Universiade to a nationwide level. During a month and a half, we’ve been escorting the historical symbol of international university sports across 16 federal regions of Russia, and 30 top higher education establishments have partnered with the Universiade Directorate.

On the first hand, now students of each of 42 higher education establishments know that in 2013, 40 years after our country hosted the World University Summer Games for the first time, Russia will again host the Universiade that will be staged in Kazan, the sports capital of Russia. On the second hand, the higher education institutions put forward an initiative to create Kazan 2013 volunteer training centres. The other day I got some good news from Orenburg and Kirov: regional volunteer training centres are scheduled to open in Orenburg State University and Vyatka State University some of these days. Similar volunteer centres started operating in Ural Federal University and Saratov State University.

By the way, the universities that had partnered with Team 2013 started to collaborate actively with each other. For instance, representatives of Kazan Medical University have already contacted medical universities of Ekaterinburg, Orenburg and Udmurt Republic to launch a joint preparation of chaperones and medical volunteers for the 2013 Games.

Another thing I’d like to mention is that the cooperation agreement with higher education institutions was not signed simply to observe formalities. Almost right after the FISU Flag Relay came to end, we hosted a kick-off workshop for heads of volunteer centres and press offices of the higher education establishments that had partenered with Team 2013 and discussed key joint projects.

In the new year all the trademark projects, implemented by the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Tourism of Tatarstan, Children and Youth Committee of Kazan, largest youth NGOs, will be taken to the national scale and will be carried out, for the most part, in the universities that had become partners of the Universiade Directorate. For example, the Team 2013 Project, that has already become traditional, will run in the higher education institutions that had partnered Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate and will become a key tool to train team leaders for the 2013 Games. Following the preliminary rounds that will be held on the basis of those universities, only best teams will be delegated to Kazan from federal regions. By the way, we also plan to stage the final of the Team 2013 All-Russian Project on the sidelines of the international youth volunteer camp. The camp is not just to become a final stage of the competition but also a training ground for team leaders of the universities that became partners of the Universiade Directorate. It’s noteworthy that all participants fo the camp will be obliged to become part of the team responsible for staging the Universiade after they undergo several internships at test events and competitions. In spring the combined team of Volga Federal District universities’ volunteers will help the organisers to run the 2012 UPI Spring Student Talent Festival, and in autumn they will travel to Vladivostok to assist with the organising activities leading up to the 2012 APEC Summit.

On the whole, all contests and projects we implement on the basis of the higher education institutions that had partnered Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate are focused on producing specific results, i.e. professionally trained personnel for the Universiade. In summer we plan to host the All-Russian Cheerleading Festival and expect to select best cheerleading squads for 24 venues of the 2013 Games. Another project, Faces of the Universiade, will also acquire an all-Russian status; in the coming half a year we need to select nearly 300 young models for the medal ceremony team.  Together with the Student League of Tatarstan we will organise the Polyglot All-Russian Language Contest. Based on the results of the contest, we intend to build a team of language services volunteers and team hosts.

— A volunteer host to a foreign delegation is, probably, one of the most public and critical volunteer positions. In what manner will language volunteer and team host training  be carried out?
— In the year 2012, we plan to start a close collaboration with the International Student Association of the Republic of Tatarstan, with this end in view we will sign a cooperation agreement this January already. Firstly, we expect that international students (there are representatives of more than 150 nations of the world currently studying in Kazan) will serve as team hosts to national delegations of the countries they are from. They have a good command of Russian and their native language and know Kazan well, let alone peculiarities of their home country. And in the period of summer holidays of 2012, when international students go to see their families, we will offer them to make a presentation of the 2013 Summer Universiade and Kazan 2013 volunteer programme in their hometowns and tell their compatriots about the city of Kazan.

The International Student Association will also act as an assistant in another project, Team 2013 among schoolchildren. This season of the project that the Universiade Directorate is set to host jointly with the Education Department of Kazan, is to become unprecedent in terms of the number of participants; teams from 165 high schools and 52 educational institutions of further education will assemble for the project. One of the challenges of the project will be the Kazan 2013 Participating Nations Contest. We will offer the entrants to study thoroughly the history and modern times, cultural peculiarities, national cuisine of the countries competing in the future Universiade, and then deliver a presentation of this or that nation to their peers. International students will act as team tutors, since they are native speakers and they know their own culture well. Another challenge of the Team 2013 Project is to film a video clip in the category I’m a Volunteer!, create the 2013 Summer Universiade Information Board and write a TV news story in the English language. In such a manner, we will succeed to make young citizens of Kazan get acquianted with representatives of the countries that are to arrive in our city in a year and a half already and captivate them by the ideas of the Universiade.

— You are responsible for the 2013 Summer Universiade HR training. What are the results of this work? What role will be assigned to citizens of Kazan in the preparation and staging of the Games?

— The saying «Personnel solve all problems» is very topical for our project. The preparation and delivery of such a high-profile global event without precedent since the 1980 Olympics requires involvement of highly skilled and responsible experts.

Thousands of work places emerged thanks to the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan: firstly, at construction sites of the sports venues, now in the spheres of administration and management. Along with the amount of work that increases on a daily basis, the number of employees of the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate is growing as well. A year ago we were nothing more than a small organisation, we stepped in the year 2011 as a team of 200 people and at the end of 2012 there will be 1,000 people working in the Universiade Directorate.

I’d like to mention one more thing, this year we’ve done a hard work and succeeded to do everything to make citizens of Russia experience the Universiade’s arrival. 99,96% of Kazan’s citizens are aware what event will take place in the city in the year 2013, surveys say. Our task for 2012 is to make sure that citizens of Kazan and people of neighbouring regions wish to become part of the preparation and staging of the Games. The major source of human resources will be higher education establishments, employment centres and recruitment agencies, with the help of which we will be hiring people for part-time and full-time employment. But let me assure you, there will be plenty of work for everyone! For instance, a dining hall is scheduled to open in the Universiade Village this year, and hundreds of catering service providers: cooks, product engineers, waiters, cleaners, etc. 65 venues will be put into operation for the period of the Games (64 sports facilities and the Universiade Village). Thus, if desired, any person can find an outlet for his or her potential and make a contribution to the preparation and staging of the Games.

Media Department of Kazaan 2013 Executive Directorate

— First things first, I want to stress that in the year 2011 we’ve obtained reliable partners in the sphere of culture: we’ve signed cooperation agreements with the Union of Composers of the Republic of Tatarstan, State Symphony Orchestra of Tatarstan under the guidance of Alexander Sladkovsky, State Ensemble of Song and Dance of the Republic of Tatarstan, Kazan Dance Ensemble. Moreover, in partnership with organisers of municipal, national and federal contests and festivals of the Universiade Directorate, the Universiade Directorate launched the most significant projects of the Cultural Universiade – UNI-reserve and UNI-elite – the programmes designed to discover, select and support talented youth. After having an impressive debut in early 2011 at major cultural events, such as Student Spring, Noon Recess, Spring Dripping Water, Galaxy-Yoldyzlyk and Spring Twists and Turns, the UNI-reserve and UNI-elite projects currently comprise the brightest young talents of Tatarstan and a few other Russian regions.

We can boast with pride that boys and girls we had purposely selected for participation in the 2013 Summer Universiade Opening/Closing Ceremonies, already paraded their talents at the Closing Ceremony of the Games in Shenzhen: the event was broadcast worldwide, nationwide, after which most talented youth received attractive offers. For example, Aida Garifullina, who performed the final song at Kazan’s presentation during the Closing Ceremony of the Universiade in China, has already been seen on the same stage with the best world tenor Alessandro Safina, has sung in tandem with Dmitry Bilan in the Phantom of the Opera TV show on the First Channel, and will appear on New Year’s Eve broadcast.

After Shenzhen 2011, the UNI-elite and UNI-reserve projects were acknowledged nationwide thanks to the FISU Flag Relay. Even now we recall with awe and excitement how we’ve been elaborating the concept of this project, how we’ve been preparing, how we’ve been handed the FISU Flag in China, how we’ve been afraid that we will be coldly received in federal regions because they will be jealous of Kazan being the host city of the Universiade. But once we stepped on the platform, we realised that all our fears were in vain.

We’ve mentioned it more than once that the FISU Flag Relay had enabled us to popularise the brand of the Universiade and entire university sports. The FISU Executive Committee members, as well as the organisers and partners of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, we’ve recently met with, expressed high opinion of the project’s significance and mentioned that we had hit the bull’s eye with that project. On this occasion, I would like to extend my deep gratitude to the team that organised and implemented this ambitious project under an ideological and organisational guidance of Larisa Sulima, Chief of Staff of the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate.

— The presentation of Kazan 2013 during the Closing Ceremony of the Universiade in Shenzhen is probably one of the most spectacular events of the Cultural Universiade in 2011. How will you remember it as a person directly involved in the preparation and implementation of this amazing show?

— Our presentation at the Games in China served, first of all, as a test for Team 2013, for our technical, organisational and creative skills. We shall note that 85% of artists that performed during Kazan’s presentation were members of the UNI-elite talent pool, and the show itself was directed by Kazan event specialists Maksim Skalozubov and Mikhail Volkonadsky.

We’ve demonstrated to the world everything we are capable of and, judging by the TV ratings, our performance stood out against the background of the Shenzhen Universiade Closing Ceremony due to a powerful energy, fitting video sequence and musical score. It was the first step for us in the preparation for the Opening/Closing Ceremonies of the Universiade in Kazan. And next year we even intend to speed it up.

All in all, we can talk hours and hours about the Universiade in China, describe the whole spectrum of our personal impressions and that entire experience that we’ve gained after we’ve seen the Games from the inside. Special attention is deservedly attached here to the Russia House, of course. Actually, the first Russian-Tatar House was organised in 2009 during the Universiade in Belgrade, Serbia. At that time, seeing how wildly popular it is, we decided we need to set up the same Russia House in China. We’ve brought in China our best representatives of UNI-elite that could make foreigners fall in love with a unique culture of Russia’s peoples. We’ve brought chief cooks from Tatarstan that conquered visitors of the Russia House with Tatar and Russian gastronomic delights. And MegaFon, the General Partner for the 2013 Summer Universiade, provided a free international call service to all attendees of the house. But in the process of preparation, while we were undergoing a complicated approval procedure by the Chinese Universiade Organising Committee and security service, we could have never imagined that the Russia House would enjoy such popularity. Based upon the statistics, during the period of the 2011 Games, representatives of 170 nations visited the house, over 1,000 people coming to see it every day.

Thanks to the Russia House, most foreigners got to know Kazan and, having fallen on love with our hospitality, expressed their willingness to come in the capital of Tatarstan to see the Universiade.

— So what will Kazan surprise its visitors with? What will the Opening and Closing Ceremonies be like? What will be done in this area of activity in the year to come?

— The year 2012 is to become a key stage in the run-up to the Universiade. Igor Ya. Krutoy (composer, people’s artist of Russia, President of the ARS Holding. – The Editor’s Note) was approved as a producer general of the Opening/Closing Ceremonies of the Universiade during the Kazan 2013 Supervisory Board’s session. Now, together with his team, we can go ahead with the organisational, technical and creative preparation of the ceremonies. The fact I want to underline is that this project is not to be fully outsourced by Igor Krutoy’s company, as at the early stage of the negotiations we’ve agreed that they will recruit in the preparation and staging of the ceremony specialists from Kazan: first of all, artists, musicians, designers, wardrobe directors, technicians, as well as directors and stage managers. All these people have already proved their professionalism, having carried out lots of large-scale spectacular events in Tatarstan.

— You’ve mentioned that we have our own professionals in our republic. Why then was it decided to choose event managers from Mosow as organisers of the Opening/Closing Ceremonies for the 2013 Summer Universiade? Is it because they are more experienced?

— Firstly, Igor Krutoy’s company really boasts a good experience of organising events similar to the Universiade ceremonies. Although, we have to admit that our country haven’t witnessed an event of this kind for 30 years already. And even numerous highly rated TV shows are still far from the World University Summer Games.

When we only started planning the Opening/Closing Ceremonies, we were faced with a choice: to invite either foreign event specialists or Russian ones. We said no to the first option at once. Firstly, their services are extremely expensive. And secondly, even if we could afford them, we were not sure that a foreign director would be able to reflect Russia’s special appeal down to the last detail, to show the the Russian spirituality and sincerity in all their beauty. Besides, we all know a bitter experience of Canadian organisers that, despite top class creative personnel and world-known Cirque du Soleil, invited an American specialist as a chief director of the Opening/Closing Ceremonies in Vancouver. As the Canadians later admitted, they hadn’t achieved the result they had been counting on.

That’s why right from the start we placed our stake on Russian directors. The only team that had a required experience and was capable to shoulder all the responsibilities and organise high quality work, was the company headed by Igor Krutoy, which, by the way, was fully responsible for the preparation and staging of the Opening/Closing Ceremonies of the Winter Asiade in Astana, Kazakhstan which ran in January 2011. We’ve also attended those ceremonies and met with directors and stage managers. We saw how professionally and responsibly these people work, how thoroughly their work is planned from technical, creative and organisational aspects.

After China, where we saw an awesome Opening Ceremony with good light, sound, up-to-date high technologies, we cannot afford ourselves to get into an awkward situation, that’s why we choose only best of the best professionals to work in each area of the preparation for the Games.

— It follows that the main dilemma has been solved. So which way will the preparation of major ceremonies for the 2013 Summer Universiade be heading to?

— We will sign an agreement with Igor Krutoy’s company any time soon, and starting January we will begin to work really hard. We have the Games preparation schedule where every day is carefully planned until July 6, 2013, and it promises no easy time for anyone. Indeed, we have only a year left for preparing the ceremonies, because in March 2013 we are already expected to get accommodated in the venue (the 45,000-seat stadium under construction where the Opening/Closing Ceremonies will be staged. – The Editor’s Note). By that time we need to launch main rehearsals, all the sets, sound and light equipment should be ready as well. The script of the ceremonies must be completed and approved, the cauldron must be designed and set up. Each area of activity will be assigned to a professional in this field. For instance, entire institutes will be recruited to make necessary calculations and design the cauldron which must be very beautiful and meet safety requirements at the same time.

Therefore, currently we have switched our full attention to the Games. I want to stress that, alongside the preparation of the ceremonies, we pay a huge attention to the elaboration of a cultural programme for the Universiade Village and cultural park’s management. During the period of the Games, cultural programmes will be carried out throughout the city, and we have 2 or 3 most probable options to organise the cultural park’s work. In early 2012 we will present those projects to the Kazan Mayor’s Office and Government of the Republic.

The next interview is coming soon and will be dedicated to the implementation of marketing programmes.

Media Department of Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate

— I think that one of the most principal results of the year is formation of the athlete and visitor transportation model. According to the project elaborated based on the positive experience of the Shenzhen 2011 Organising Committee, the transportation model of the 2013 Games in Kazan includes 152 intracity routes providing comfortable transportation services to passengers between venues of the Universiade in accordance with events timetable.

First of all, streets that have been reconstructed or are currently under reconstruction were taken as a basis for intracity bus routes. Active discussions are in progress on allocating exclusive traffic lanes for public transportation and transportation of the 2013 Summer Universiade. Either way, traffic flow control-related issues will be fundamentally settled at the start of the next year.

— In what manner are these transportation network changes going to affect lives of ordinary  citizens of Kazan? Will the city’s public transportation plan change as well?

— Needless to say, the Universiade is not simply competitions, but also a celebration, a show for the audience. That’s why presently, jointly with the Executive Committee of Kazan, we discuss different public transportation management plans for Kazan 2013 and seek to make comfortable delivery of spectators to competition venues top priority of the city’s route network. So far, we have two principal approaches. The first one lies in the fact that the operating route network will be updated in compliance with the Games’ schedule of events. And according to the second one, a separate route network will be created specially for the Universiade’s visitors. Although the decision is yet to be made, whatever decision it is, visitors and athletes will be delivered to sports venues with maximum comfort.

In this regard we would like to make sure that local citizens understand one simple fact: a considerable transport inflow is expected for the period of the 2013 Games, that’s why we strongly recommend citizens of Kazan to use public transport than their cars. Buses are not only an urgent need that will allow to relieve a traffic congestion but also will serve as a reliably fast and comfortable means of getting around the city and travelling between the venues.

— Speaking about international traffic, how does the matter stand with the preparation of Kazan’s major transportation connection points?

— This year we’ve completed the draft of the arrival/departure project plan for all client groups of the Universiade. It’s worth mentioning that according to preliminary estimates, nearly 80% of athletes and visitors of the Universiade will arrive in Kazan via Moscow. The official arrival point is the Kazan International Airport. Moscow airports will serve as hub ports. We also expect that 8% of our guests will arrive by train. In January 2012 all necessary agreements will be signed between the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate, Kazan International Airport and Railway Station Directorate, thus enabling us to to launch a methodical work with major transportation connection points. All needed hospitality services will be offered at both air and railway transport hubs.

Notably, we forecast flight and seat deficit in Moscow-Kazan air communication seven days prior to the start of the Universiade. Apart from the inrush of 170 national delegations, we have to keep in mind needs of visitors, tourists and fans of the Universiade and an already established day-to-day passenger traffic. In late December we will meet with executives of the Federal Air Transport Agency, as well as executives of Moscow’s airports, airlines that provide flights to Kazan and representatives of customs and border control. All emerging issues will be discussed and we strongly hope that our colleagues will be motivated to solve them.

— What will be done to provide visitors and athletes of the Universiade with comfortable transportation services? Do you think we can excel the organisers of the Shenzhen Universiade in this matter?

— We all have seen how efficiently transport system was organised at the Universiade in China. Besides, there are FISU minimum requirements that we must follow. However, we set ourselves an ambitious task which is to overcome our Chinese colleagues in the terms of transport service quality.

Everything has to be done to make guests of our city feel comfortable while getting around the city which is new for them. Firstly, all necessary information will be provided by volunteers and made available via specially allocated stands, booklets and video clips. Secondly, transportation plan’s scheme will be forwarded to participating nations in advance so that heads of national delegations could plan their routes and ways of transport before they even enter the territory of the Russian Federation. Visitors will be offered a whole range of hospitality services. Thirdly, quality of services will be ensured through types of fleet vehicles and drivers’ expertise.

— Speaking of which, in what way will the transportation staff recruitment be organised? To which extent will Kazan’ population be involved in this process?

— As we’ve already announced earlier, 1,040 cars and 525 buses will be put into use during the Universiade. Nearly 3,000 drivers are needed to be recruited for the ensuring a full operation of the transportation system. We put our main hope on citizens of Kazan. At the start of 2012 the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate launches a project under the working title ‘Driver of the Universiade’. We will establish skill standards for car drivers, and the key criteria will be a driver’s work experience (given the importance of transportation services, only experienced drivers will be recruited), perfect knowledge of the city’s plan, and, of course, a strong motivation to make such a unique event as the Universiade happen.

As far as bus drivers are concerned, this year, together with the Sochi 2014 Transportation Directorate, we’ve drafted an Olympic standard training programme for drivers of the Universiade. This programme was brought to the notice of transportation service providers in Kazan and Tatarstan on the basis of which the teaching process will be launched. Keeping in mind the fact that drivers are practically people on which the general impression of the city and the republic will depend on, the main goal is to train them and teach the culture of driving and driver etiquette. In the years to come, highly qualified transportation personnel is set become another part of the Universiade Legacy.

Another transport category, tourist buses, will be put into operation during the 2013 Games. In this matter we fully rely on transportation company’s vehicle fleet. In 2012 we will compete lists of transportation workers on payroll that later will be invited for the work during the Universiade in Kazan.

Media Department of Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate