#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. From May 27 to May 30, Dudinka will again host the northernmost international curling tournament – the Arctic Curling Cup. It is part of the most prestigious world series, the World Curling Tour, organized by the Russian Curling Federation with the support of the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation and the Nornickel company.
Recall that the international curling competition, which has become traditional for Dudinka, was first held in 2017. A year before that, the Taimyr Cup was played among the strongest Russian teams. In 2016, a curling section was opened in Dudinka.
Last year, the pandemic and restrictive measures didn’t allow to hold the tournament.
Fortunately, the Arctic Cup is returning to Dudinka: as before, the strongest players will be defined at the Taimyr ice arena – from May 27 to May 30. This time mixed teams will perform. The main trophy will be played by curlingists from six countries: Switzerland, Sweden, Estonia, Italy, Hungary and Russia. Several national teams will represent our country at the tournament. The base of the Russian national team Anastasia Moskaleva and Alexander Eremin (world championship winners), will come to Dudinka immediately after the end of their performance at the world championship. And also a specially formed team of skips of the men’s and women’s national teams of Russia – Alina Kovaleva (silver at the 2021 World Championship, selection for the Olympic Games-2022) and Sergey Gluhov (fourth place at the World Championship of the current year and selection for the Olympic Games-2022).
And before the start of the game of professional athletes, spectators will be able to cheer for the children’s teams of Dudinka, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Krasnoyarsk. The Arctic Curling Cup traditionally starts with the Junior Arcticcup tournament.
As the senior vice president of Nornickel Larisa Zelkova noted, the company systematically supports both mass sports and high-performance sports:
“It is gratifying that in the upcoming Arctic Curling Cup these two components complement each other. The best players from all over the world will compete for the prestigious trophy and pass on their experience to aspiring athletes. In recent years, Dudinka has become one of the most significant points on the world curling map, where athletes feel at home. This was preceded by serious work to create sports and additional infrastructure, attract the strongest specialists to the region, and popularize winter sports in Russia. The world’s northernmost ice arena, Taimyr, again invites the best of the best”.
“For Dudinka, this is the fifth jubilee curling competition. When we first decided to organize the tournament here, we didn’t think it would become so significant and prestigious in the world of curling. I would like to note how dynamically this sport is developing in the Krasnoyarsk region: and the pupils of the Taimyr curling school are already seriously competing with the young generation of athletes”, said Dmitry Svishchev, president of the Russian Curling Federation. “Nornickel made a huge contribution to this. Thanks to our fruitful cooperation and its comprehensive support, we were able to create all the conditions for the development of our sport. I am sure that the competition will be held traditionally at the highest organizational level, and we will witness an interesting fight on the northern ice”.
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Text: Mikhail Tuaev, Photo: open sources
