They are now preparing for grand finals in four disciplines of the Games of the Future in Kazan, Izvestia correspondent Artur Ishpulatov said on February 29.
On Thursday, the names of the winners will be announced in the phygital versions of basketball and BMX – bicycle stunts, as well as sports programming and drone racing.
In the fight for the right to reach the finals, the Russians from the Ural Basket team lost.
“It’s just that playing on your own soil is always a little harder, a little more responsible, in fact,” said Ural Basket point guard Kirill Gorshkov.
The Russians lost to their opponents from the USA; there is only one American on this team. The remaining participants – two Brazilians and a Cypriot – flew to Russia, bypassing sanctions, without fear of being under the yoke of the American authorities.
“When we were invited, it was very good news for us. Everything was fine, even great,” said Leonardo Branquinho, a member of the R10 Team USA team from the United States.
In the final, the Americans' opponent will be the Liga Pro Team from St. Petersburg. First, she became a leader in the digital competition. Then she showed her strength on the floor, defeating her opponents from China.
“We knew that the Russian team was very strong. And we knew she would win. Therefore, we took it calmly,” assured Wenxuan Zhang, a member of the MDMX team from China.
The Liga Pro Team is now preparing for the finals.
“We are constantly moving in the game. We prepared very hard for this tournament, so we are physically ready,” said Liga Pro Team attacking defender Shalva Shatashvili.
The winner will be determined today, the outcome of the match is unpredictable, both teams are too strong.
The final of the group stage in Counter Strike-2, which took place the day before, also exposed the nerves of the fans. It lasted several hours. The Russians became the best. The digital stage turned out to be so devastating that we didn’t even have to fight for victory in the laser tag arena.
“I am impressed. In my memory, there were few such events in Russia. I have more than a thousand messages on VKontakte alone. “Help us with a ticket.” But there’s no way you can help, because everything is sold,” noted XGod team player Mikhail Stolyarov.
The attention of the audience at the Games of the Future is also focused on physical skateboarding. This is one of the most exciting and multicultural disciplines. Participants flew in from Europe, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand.
“I'm glad I don't listen to people in France or Europe. I'm glad to be here. It's really cool. Russian people are very friendly to us. This is cool,” said phygital skateboarding competitor from France Thomas Cartier.
Participants from Australia and New Zealand saw snow for the first time in their lives. It wasn't just the Russian winter that shocked them.
“This is probably the best competition I've ever been to. This is incredible! ” — Benjamin Curry, a participant in the phygital skateboarding competition from Australia, shared his impressions.
The winner of the physical skateboarding competition will receive $175 thousand. Juan Esteban Vallejo traveled a long way from Colombia for this award.
“My main motivation for winning is that I really want to buy a house for my parents,” he admitted.
Skateboarders note the friendliness of Russians. Many are planning to return here as tourists. Some even started learning the language.
Earlier, on February 27, at the “Games of the Future” in Kazan, one of the most spectacular disciplines – the drone race – was launched. Competitors in the 16-team drone race must fly 25 laps of an obstacle course as quickly as possible.
On the same day, the final of the robot battle took place. To crush their opponents as quickly as possible, the participants equipped the robots with formidable weapons. The team from India managed to win first place and received $175 thousand.
“Games of the Future” combines traditional sports competitions and e-sports. They take place from February 21 to March 3 in Kazan. 300 teams from around the world will take part in the competition. 1.5 thousand volunteers from Russia and friendly countries will be involved in the tournament.
There are a total of 21 disciplines in the games program. One example of the format is figital football, an analogue of mini-football, in which athletes combine participation with playing the football simulator EA Sports FC 24. In figital basketball, real basketball is intertwined with the computer game NBA 2K. Similar combinations of the two formats will be at the Future Games in hockey, racing, martial arts, skateboarding and cycling, as well as cycling (BMX).
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