Curling, Shipulin and a Bond girl. How will the sports festival in Taimyr go?

The story about one of the most popular curling tournaments this time is better to start with … biathlon. One of the guests of honor in Dudinka will be the famous Anton Shipulin. Together with two-time world championship winner Matvey Eliseev, they will share the secrets of mastery at a new shooting range that has opened near the Taimyr ice arena. And this is a real example of how sport has become a driver for the development of a city located beyond the Arctic Circle.

– Our annual tournament has grown into a mega-event: the Taimyr arena has been built, a curling school has opened. Dudinka teams take part in competitions, and the tournament itself is a long-awaited sports event for the residents of our cities, journalists and the best athletes. We are waiting for everyone in Dudinka! – said Larisa Zelkova, Senior Vice President of Norilsk Nickel.

Unique Format

This time, six teams will come to Taimyr, including the Olympic squads of the Russian men’s and women’s teams with skips Sergey Glukhov and Alina Kovaleva. Six teams, a round robin, seemingly nothing out of the ordinary. But men’s and women’s teams will play in the same tournament, and curling is perhaps the only game sport in which such a confrontation has real intrigue.

– It’s very good that the tournament will be mixed, because it’s always interesting to play against strong teams. Men are physically stronger, and with the help of a sweep they can get more accurate throws. But we played with the boys many times, and sometimes we won. So there are chances, we will fight,” Anastasia Bryzgalova stressed.

Photo: © Evgeny Tumashov

New Bond Girl Role

At the 2018 Olympics, Anastasia Bryzgalova was nicknamed the Bond girl for her resemblance to the heroines of the popular epic movie. One of the most recognizable curling players in the world will come to Dudinka for the third time, and each of them in a new capacity. “The first time I played a mixed double, the second in the women’s team, and now I will go as a coach. In fact, when I was offered this trip, I hardly thought. The only thought was: how to negotiate with my grandmother to leave her a little child. And so, I always come to Dudinka with pleasure. There is no other tournament like this in the world,” said Anastasia Bryzgalova.

Young athletes will be able to learn from the leaders of the Russian national teams. The Junior Nornickel Curling Cup, which has already become traditional, with the participation of teams from Dudinka, Krasnoyarsk and Kuzbass, will be held before the main competitions. And guests of honor and journalists will play in the night curling league, which will make its debut at the tournament.

– Many of our participants have been coming to Dudinka for years, which shows their attitude towards this tournament and the region as a whole. Every year, with the support of Norilsk Nickel, the competitions turn out to be bright, interesting and memorable. This time we decided to change the format in order to open our sport in a different way, – said Dmitry Svishchev, President of the Russian Curling Federation, head of the Committee on Physical Culture and Sports of the State Duma.

There is no doubt that the whole world curling will follow the tournament in the Arctic with such an intriguing plot.