Festival of university sports starts in Kazan 22.01.2012
January 21 became a day entirely dedicated to basketball in Kazan. On the threshold of Tatyana’s Day or Students’ Day in Russia, the Kazan basketball complex Basket Hall hosted the 5th edition of the Stars Match basketball tournament among teams of the Student Basketball Association (SBA)
The match was preceded by two major events. The first one was a political one, signing of a cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation represented by Minister Andrey Fursenko and the Student Basketball Association represented by its President Alexander Konovalov. The agreement implies a cooperation aimed to promote a healthy way of life and develop physical culture and sports, especially university basketball.
The signing ceremony saw the attendance of Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov, State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy of Russia Natalia Parshikova, 1st Vice President of FISU and Russian Student Sports President Oleg Matytsin, famous basketball players and sitting sports managers Sergey Belov, Anatoly Myshkin, Sergey Panov, former head coach of the Russian national basketball team Sergey Elevich, etc.
The Tatarstan President called the signing «a milestone event for Kazan». «Thanks to Kazan’s winning bid to host the 2013 Summer Universiade, the attitude to university sports and infrastructure has changed. Sports is the best idea that brings us together. I wish there were more such milestone events in our country,» said Rustam Minnekhanov.
The masterclass hosted by seven-time NBA champion Robert Horry for student athletes became the second major event held in Basket Hall. The evening programme included numerous competitions, and first of all, the Stars Match.
To be honest, the organisers didn’t expect that the 5th edition of the SBA Stars Match would gather so many fans of basketball in Basket Hall. There were doubts that students will find time to come and see the match due to the examination period. But they didn’t take into account such a magic feeling as emotional involvement, the feeling that works wonders. Young people came to support their friends, classmates, groupmates. The event even gathered students of higher education institutions from Naberezhnye Chelny, Almetyevsk, Nizhnekamsk, Ulyanovsk, Cheboksary and Yoshkar-Ola that had partnered with the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate. Team 2013 also was present at the event; most Kazan 2013 executives even came with their families. Later on, Larisa Sulima, Chief of Staff of the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate, explained: «It’s for the first time that the Universiade Directorate have introduced the routine of inviting organised fan groups from the universities of neighbouring republics and regions that have become partners with Kazan 2013 to interesting sporting events. In such a manner, a year prior to the 2013 Games, we are beginning to encourage regional students to visit Kazan in order to see international sporting events and as a consequence of that, to attend the future Universiade as spectators.»
The appearance of Sergey Romanov and Rivaz Bikbov on the court sent the audience into euphoria. But it faded into insignificance, when the name of another basketball legend Georgy Korolev, a head coach of the East team, was announced over the speakers.
«I’m not basketball player, but a handball player,» said Dmitry Rogozin, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Government. «But I love basketball, and respect it, that’s why I’m here. There are two different teams here, but they have one body and one soul, and it’s ours, Russian.»
«We are celebrating a holiday today,» Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov said. «A lot of different sporting events are held in Kazan in the run up to the Universiade that we are to stage in 2013. But today is a special day. Students are competing today, students, in whose honour the University Games are held.»
«I like everything here, except for the weather,» seven-time NBA champion Robert Horry confessed. «Only the weather was far from perfect, not like the one we have in Texas.»
«We haven’t seen each other for a long time,» said Sergey Belov, an Olympic, world and European champion and Vice President of the Student Basketball Association. «We are here today to congratulate you on the forthcoming holiday, Tatyana’s Day. »
Before the start of the game, the East team had a two-victory lead, as it won the two previous matches, 3-1. But during the match in Kazan the West team broke the opponents’ winning streak, claiming the trophy both in men’s and women’s events. According to the regulations, the male basketball payers played three-quarters of the match, while the women’s teams clashed against each other in the final quarter of the match. The overall score was 107-92 in vafour of the West team (83-77, 24-15). And only in the VIP match West yielded the championship to East, 31-30.
Djaudat Abdullin
Special to kazan2013.com
