On the second day of the Competitions and the Ural Federal District Championship in Verkhnyaya Pyshma, we all cheered for our junior sportsmen, junior sportswomen and representatives of men’s combat sambo

On December 15, the entry to Russian Competitions in Kazan in February, 2022, was at stake for juniors aged 18-20 in Verkhnyaya Pyshma. As little as three sportsmen from the Ural Federal District (finalists and a bronze medalist) could go there. Young sambo wrestlers competed for a treasured chance in eight weight categories, and the Sverdlovsk Region team did it very successfully, although the resistance of the athletes from the Kurgan and Tyumen Regions was very strong. Nevertheless, this did not prevent our guys from winning 16 berths out of 24. And some, such as Ilnur Nurmukhtarov (up to 98 kg) from Sambo and Judo Sports School of the Olympic Reserve, Ekaterinburg, will be able to compete in both youth and junior events next year.

The junior women expanded their quota for a trip to Kazan to the so-called “big three” (finalists and two bronze medalists) at the cost of their past merits at national championships. It would seem that rivals should have taken a chance to squeeze through the dense ranks of the Sverdlovsk Region women, but they could not use that chance even all together at least by half. Our girls won 18 out of 32 transits to the capital of Tatarstan without much fuss. Moreover, for example, Kristina Dudina (up to 50 kg) from the regional Olympic Reserve College (Ekaterinburg) and her colleague Valentina Shtentsova (up to 59 kg) from "Rodina" Sports Club (Ekaterinburg) can prepare at once for the Russian Competitions among girls and for a similar junior’s tournament next year.

Hard men from combat sambo, who competed for the right to participate in the Russian Championship in Verkhnyaya Pyshma in March next year, had no choice. They had to get into the final at all costs at the Ural Federal District Championship. The trainees of our recognized combat sambo schools in Nizhny Tagil, Kachkanar and Alapaevsk turned out to be the most skillful and strongest in spirit among the Sverdlovsk Region athletes. At least seven of them will go to Verkhnyaya Pyshma for the 2022 Russian Championship.