Kazan Lights Shine for Urals as Republic Hosts First Padel Tour
Maxim Kolobov and Nikolai Manyukov from the Urals academy triumphed over 15 other pairs in the tournament.
In Tatarstan, on 1 February, the first tournament of the Russian padel tour «Lights of Kazan» concluded. The series of prestigious national competitions is held under the auspices of the Russian Padel Federation (RPF). The tour, which includes the national championship and cup, helps identify the strongest professionals and amateurs, forming a national ranking.
Alena Vasilyeva competed in Doha with a Turkish partner, reaching the quarterfinals of an international padel event.
At the competitions in Kazan, 16 pairs of athletes competed. Two tandems from the club created by the Russian Copper Company — the Urals Padel Academy: Dmitry Myagkov and Evgeny Danilov, Maxim Kolobov and Nikolai Manyukov — fought their way to the final. The latter defeated their club colleagues in a three-set final.
— The match kept us in tension and intrigue until the very last point. It was hard to even guess who would be stronger. Such victories are the most valuable and memorable. I want to note that our team is young. For us, this is only the beginning of a long journey! And we also see how incredibly the level of play of each athlete has grown, — shared the academy director Darya Irkha.
As a result, both the gold and silver of «Lights of Kazan» went to the athletes from Yekaterinburg. Meanwhile, while the tournament was taking place in Tatarstan, another Russian — athlete and coach of the academy Alena Vasilyeva — went to the international tournament FIP Bronze Doha in the capital of Qatar. Together with Turkish athlete Dilara Torsell, she reached the quarterfinals, where the girls lost to the Japanese-Tunisian duo Chamly and Tokumoto.
The International Padel Federation (FIP) is the global governing body for this sport, founded in 1991 by representatives of the Argentine, Spanish, and Uruguayan padel federations.
