President of Russian committee of deaf sports: We are proud that the first-ever world deaf shooting championships are held in Kazan
12 sets of medals will be contested in the men’s and women’s airgun and small arm events during the inaugural edition of the World Deaf Shooting Championships that opened today at the Shooting Centre of the Dynamo Sports Complex in Mirny Township. This was reported today by President of the Russian Committee of Deaf Sports (RCDS), Alexander Romantsov at the kickoff press conference. The event was also attended by President of the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD) Valery Rukhledev, Head of the Sport Development Departnmet at the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sport of the Republic of Tatarstan Raif Vafin and member of the Swiss national team, Thomas Mösching.
As was reported earlier, the World Deaf Shooting Championships began today in Kazan. The tournament brought together 66 athletes from 16 countries; 19 athletes represent Russia.
Valery Rukhledev reminded that the history of deaf sport goes back to 1924 when the ICSDwas established and the first Deaflympics were held. According to him, shooting is the earliest discipline in deaf sports, which was included in the competition programme of the first Summer Deaflympic Games 1924 in Paris (FRA).
Valery Rukhledev thanked the Tatarstan leaders and RCSD for the opportunity of hosting the tournament in Russia. He expressed confidence that Kazan will host the first-ever Word Deaf Shooting Championships to the highest standard. The ICSD President also informed that there is a good chance that the Summer Deaflympics will be hosted in Kazan. He stated that this topic will be addressed at the upcoming meeting with Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov who attended the World Deaf Shooting Championships’opening ceremony today.
According to Valery Rukhledev, he’s extremely happy that deaf shooters from 15 countries participate in the tournament. The ICSD President informed that shooting is actively being developed in many countries thanks to the support from local authorities. He also reminded that a memorandum of understanding had been signed earlier this year at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters in Lausanne (SUI) between the ICSD and IOC. Therefore, deaf sports were basically acknowledged as part of the Olympic Movement. Apart from that, the ICSD opened its official headquarters in the House of International Sport (MSI) in Lausanne (SUI). “Currently, we are working in close cooperation with IOC and through this cooperation deaf sports are getting a substantial boost,” he said.
“I’m positive that the World Deaf Championships in Kazan will be held to a high standard. The entire world, including IOC, is following us. We hope that the delivery of this tournament in Kazan will raise Russia’s reputation to a higher level,” he concluded.
In his welcome speech, RCDS President Alexander Romantsov stated: “We are proud that the first edition of the World Deaf Championships takes place in Russia – at the Dynamo Sports Complex in Kazan, the city that obtained significant experience of hosting major international events.” According to him, this tournament will be the crucial stage of the teams’ preparation for the upcoming 23rd Summer Deaflympic Games due to be held in Samsun (TRK). As the RCDS President stated, the Russian national team has a good chance of topping the unofficial team standings. “We hope that our athletes will show good performance and the tournament in Kazan will be staged at a high level,” he said.
For his part, Thomas Mösching admitted that he arrived in Russia for the first time in his life and he counts on winning a medal at the first-ever World Deaf Shooting Championships. Throughout his 20-year career, the Swish athlete managed to win 4 Deaflympic medals and 9 European championship trophies. This time he hopes to claim a medal of the inaugural World Deaf Shooting Championships. “I’m eager to win my first medal at the first-ever World Deaf Shooting Championships,” he stated.