We went for a billiard ride: how Russians perform at the World Games

The World Games, held in China, are on the sidelines in the Russian information space — although this is the competition in which our athletes have almost invariably won the medal standings since 2001 (in 2013 they were the first in the total number of medals and the second in gold). Once every four years, athletes compete in several dozen non-Olympic sports in one place, including exotic ones like dragon boating or tug of war (formerly Olympic sports). Read more about the course of the Games in the Izvestia article.

Submariners' Medals

After half of the Games program, Russia won three gold, two silver and four bronze medals and ranks 17th in the team competition, which is understandable, because only 36 Russians were allowed to participate in the Games, three of whom participate in demonstration Aikido. The Russians won medals in three types. Konstantin Shakhtarin won the men's 71 kg Thai boxing in excellent style, knocking down his opponent from Italy three times in the 9-minute final. The rest of the medals are in two types of underwater sports. The first was swimming in fins for speed (finswimming), where Diana Sliseva became the heroine of the Games with two gold medals. The second was breath-holding swimming (freediving), where Alexander Kusakin and the legend of this sport Alexey Molchanov took silver. It is unlikely that there are still 34-time world champions in our country.

"The reception in China was very cool, it's one of the biggest competitions I've participated in,— Molchanov told Izvestia. — There were a huge number of sports, thousands of athletes. And the whole organization, the reception at the airport, in the athletes' village, in the pool — everything was very beautifully organized. I have a lot of experience, the first World Cup was in 2005. I started preparing more in the pool especially for these Games, starting around November, since my main specialization is diving into the depths.

According to Molchanov, freediving has a good chance of becoming an Olympic sport.

— The World Games generally brought together sports with Olympic potential. Maybe freediving will be included in the program at the next Olympics, and work is underway in this direction. I hope that in the next 5-10 years we will become an Olympic sport. Let's see how the results of these World Games will be evaluated. I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who followed the broadcasts, was sick — freediving is not only a sport, but also a hobby that allows you to travel, dive and see the most beautiful places in our world, interact with marine animals. Among other things, he develops the ability to control breathing and relax, which is also very important. Therefore, it is useful to practice them. But if you like it, then train safely, with a partner, so that someone can insure you," the silver medalist of the Games advised.

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Will there be more medals

There is only one sport left in the program of the Games, in which Russians are represented — SAMBO, and there we have the right to count on medals. Nine people represent Russia in SAMBO, among them five-time world champion Sheikh-Mansur Khabibulaev, world champion Sofia Istomina and World Cup winner Hovhannes Abgaryan also perform. The program is scheduled for August 13-14, and broadcasts can be freely viewed on the Games' website.

There could have been another game involving Russians, billiards, for the second week, but there was a unique situation there. Our representative, world champion Kristina Tkach, did not reach the 1/4 finals.

It is difficult to explain the situation according to normal logic. It was like this: Tkach lost 5-7 to German Kaplan and won 7 against Spaniard Ropero.:6. The Spaniard beat the German 7:4. That is, all the players had one victory each.

According to Tkach, the total number of games won is usually calculated in the pool, which is indicated in the table. Tkach has 5+7=12, and Kaplan has 7+4=11. But for some reason, the organizers decided to apply a different scheme at this tournament, apparently considering the difference in games. Tkach was surprised by this turn of events, but she did not criticize or protest.

But the good thing is that Russians are gradually expanding their representation at international competitions. Hopefully, Russia will compete fully in all sports at the World Games in Karlsruhe in 2029.