HoD Meeting nears completion

The Heads of Delegation (HoD) Meeting of the 27th Summer Universiade in attendance of the FISU Family and the Kazan 2013 SU organisers is coming to an end today. More than 120 representatives of the countries participating in the Games from the USA, Canada, China, Latin America, Africa, Asia, the European Union and the CIS were taken on a tour of a few Universiade competition venues. They visited Basket Hall, the Central Stadium, the Track and Field Hall, the Rowing Centre, the Gymnastics Centre and the Tennis Academy. The honorary guests also visited the Kazan Kremlin and looked around the student campus – the Universiade Village. Some of them shared their impressions of Kazan as the host city of the upcoming 2013 Summer Universiade.

“It's fantastic!” said Neal Holden, an official delegate of the US International University Sports Federation, who was overwhelmed with emotions. “Last time, I visited Kazan in September during test events. There are a lot of delegations here today. I actually expect that strong teams will be taking part in the Summer Universiade, and the competitions will be amazing.”

The head of the Congo delegation, Justin N Siesie Tamakou, who came from the city of Kinshasa, expects a lot of good from the Summer Universiade. He sees it as a good opportunity to discover the Russian soul and understand the people who represent Russia. He also considers it as an interesting platform for sharing knowledge.

“As you know, Turkey has already hosted two Universiades – the Summer Universiade and the Winter Universiade,” said Pulur Atilla, who leads the delegation of the Turkish University Sport Federation (TUSF). “But it seems that the Games that Kazan is preparing for us can amaze the world.” During the 2013 Summer Universiade, Pulur Atilla would like to see the same things he witnessed at other Games: brotherhood, friendship and smiling eyes. In his view, the Universiade is an opportunity for athletes from all over the world to meet. He likes the city where people of different religions and ethnicities live in peace with each other. “It is a good place for hosing the Universiade,” believes Turkey's representative. He particularly praised the visa-free travel introduced by the Russian Presidential Decree for the Games time. “It is a great incentive for athletes to come here and it is also good for the growth of tourism. A problem-free entry is a big plus for the development of Kazan,” the guest added.

The Heads of Delegation were also impressed by the activity report delivered by the Organising Committee of the 28th Summer Universiade Gwangju 2015. The South Korean project, just like the project of the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, contains quite a few interesting practices.

But the most anticipated event was the team draw. The main intrigue regarding the distribution of teams in football, volleyball, basketball, water polo, rugby 7 and field hockey into Pools A, B, C and D has been solved. Now predictions can be made. Famous athletes and Heads of Delegation who took part in this exciting process shared their experience with the media.

“We expect very strong water polo teams,” noted Irek Zinnurov, the famous Russian water polo player, Merited Master of Sports, Kazan 2013 Ambassador. “The leading contenders for gold are the USA, Austria, Serbia and Montenegro.” Irek Zinnurov admitted that the fight for gold will be fierce, but he hopes that the Russian team will win. He believes that very strong players are coming over to the Summer Universiade. He is pleased that three players of those who have already been included in the team are from WPC Sintez – Zinatullin, Shepelev and Odintsov. He predicts that the players from Kazan will be in majority.

“The most important thing for us is not the draw results but the fact that students from all over the world will get here together to communicate with each other and share knowledge,” said Wan Gang, the head of the Chinese delegation. In his opinion, Russia is a serious sports power and its national team is going to be a serious rival to other countries. 

Russian volleyball player Alexander Volkov, who is the Kazan 2013 Ambassador, believes that this year's Summer Universiade promises to be very interesting owing to the fact that applications for participation came from countries where university sport is developing rapidly. “We will cheer on all sports, and we hope for good results,” concluded Alexander.

The head of the Russian delegation, Sergei Seyranov, shares Alexander Volkov's opinion and is sure that there are no weak teams at the Universiades and every team comes here to win. He believes that it is a waste of time to make any predictions now based on the results of the previous Universiades or anything else.