2018 European Men’s and Women’s Team Championships kick off in Kazan
On February 13 the official opening for the European Men’s and Women’s Team Championships (EMWTC) was held at the Kazan Gymnastics Centre. The tournament was opened by Chairman of the State Council of the Tatarstan Republic, Farid Mukhametshin, BEC Director for Sport, Peter Tarcala, President of the National Badminton Federation of Russia (NBFR), Sergey Shakhray, Deputy Director of the Department of State Policy in the Sphere of Sport and International Cooperation at Russia's Ministry of Sport, Anton Antonov, Chairman of the Accounts Chamber of the Republic of Tatarstan, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Badminton Federation of Tatarstan, Alexey Demidov, and Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports of Tatarstan, Vladimir Leonov.
Sergey Shakhray read out a welcoming telegram of Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev. “This year Kazan will again prove to hospitably meet the best athletes. They are winners and medallists of the world and European championships, the Olympic Games and those who are just expected to show their excellence and make it onto the podium. Badminton is hugely popular in Russia. Millions of people love it. It is not surprising that you can play badminton not only on special courts, but in the playground and parks, too,” the message says.
“Kazan is becoming the European capital city for badminton,” Shakhray underlined. According to him, the current EMWTC play an important practical role. “Tomorrow the inaugural international learning seminar gets underway. Children’s coaches, PE teachers, eye physicians will take part in it. They will share experience of treating myopia through badminton,” the NBFR President stated. Russian Sport Minister Pavel Kolobkov also welcomes the participants. His message was read out by Deputy Director of the Department of State Policy in the Sphere of Sport and International Cooperation, Anton Antonov.
For Tatarstan, the European Championships are a very important event and it is an honour to be entitled to organise and hold such a tournament. Chairman of the State Council of the Tatarstan Republic, Farid Mukhametshin, addressed the athletes with these words. “I want to say hello to you on behalf of Tatarstan's leadership and say thank you to BEC and the National Badminton Federation of Russia for their trust to hold these championships in Kazan. This sport is getting more popular from year to year, the number of participants increasing. I think we will keep supporting badminton, a favourite sport of many Tatarstan residents,” Mukhametshin concluded.
BEC Director for Sport Peter Tarcala paid tribute to the EMWTC host country and welcomed everyone in Russian as he had done the night before at the press conference. “The point is that badminton unites all of us. It creates a big European badminton family out of separate players and teams. It is for a reason that all the countries of Europe support BEC. We are from different countries, but we believe in badminton and its major qualities – intellect, power and honour,” Tarcala noted.
The European Men’s and Women’s Team Championships and European U15 Championships are underway in Kazan from 13 to 18 February. Tickets are on sale at the website of the Directorate for Sports and Social Projects and ticket office of the Gymnastics Centre.