INTERNATIONAL MEN'S ROLLER HOCKEY TOURNAMENT
May, 26-28 2023
Emotions, like the best gift, are embedded in memory and remain there forever. This is how it turned out with the international tournament "Moscow Open Cup" 2023. A storm of joy and happiness to be a part of a big sporting event on the territory of the Kurchatov Stadium.

The tournament was organized by the Russian Inline Skater-Hockey Federation (RISHF) and the Kurchatov Sports and Intellectual Space, with the support of the Prefecture of the Northwestern Administrative District of Moscow.
"This was our first experience of holding international competitions in Russia, and we were certainly worried. But I think that everything went beyond expectations and even better. After all, we managed to establish contact between the teams, and during the matches there was no differentiation, everyone was one. According to the opinion and feedback of the participants, the organization of the event turned out to be at the European level. The spirit of competition, common goals and interests united all the people watching the games at the stadium. During the preparation stage, we met and began to communicate with many countries in Africa, Asia, South America, among them: Uganda, Colombia, India, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Hong Kong and others. Many of them watched the online broadcast during the tournament. This cooperation will help to learn a lot about the development of our sport, and the positive aspects allow us to make our sport even more interesting and massive. In addition, there is a high probability of these athletes coming to our annual tournament in the future. It was important for us to create comfortable and safe conditions for athletes and guests of the event. An ambulance was on duty during all the game days, many thanks to them for the prompt work of the medical staff. We have provided meals for all athletes, judges and organizers. Moreover, the whole process was captured by videographers or photographers. And we thank them for the beautiful and unique shots."

Igor Kolesov
Founder of roller hockey in Russia, Master of Sports, PhD.
Which teams participated?

The "Sayman" team from Iran,
The 333 team from Yekaterinburg
The "OSA." team from the Krasnodar region
The Sabotage team from St. Petersburg

Moscow clubs:
"Hermes"
"Leader"
"Moscow Sentinels"
"Kurchatov"

The first day of the championship, May 26. The grand opening of the Moscow Open Cup 2023 and the opening matches.

The opening of the tournament was held. Our holiday was attended by the following guests: Deputy Director for International Affairs and Personnel of the Kurchatov Institute A.V.Soroko, Head of the Shchukino district Council P.A.Sidorov, Head of the Shchukino Municipal District in Moscow - M.V. Kim.

The Virtus dance group also performed for the athletes and guests with two exciting performances, all the spectators promptly supported the dancers. Their performance energized them - and gave them cheerfulness on all days of the tournaments. Igor Kolesov received as a gift a personalized T-shirt from the Iranian team with the number under which the head performed as an athlete.
Трансляция 1 дня турнира
The second day of the Moscow Open Cup 2023, May 27. Group matches in two subgroups.

In group A, the first place with 7 points was won by the Sayman team from Iran, on the second day they barely defeated the 333 team (Yekaterinburg) 6:5, and in the final third match of the group against the Moscow Sentinels (Moscow), leading by one goal, missed the victory in the last seconds of the match and played 2-2.

I would like to note the Moscow Sentinels for their fighting character and in the second game, losing to the hosts of the Kurchatov stadium with a score of 4:1 in the last minutes of the match, they scored 3 goals and drew 4:4. As a result, the guys took 2nd place in the group. The hosts, the Kurchatov team, who, we remind you, won the first opening match with a score of 4:2, also missed the victory in the last minutes and lost to the guests from Iran 4:6. However, in the final match of the home team, they confidently defeated the team from Yekaterinburg with a score of 10:5 and took 3rd place. The latter, with three defeats, became the fourth in the group.
In the second group B, the Leader team (Moscow) took the first place with three wins and 9 points. In the first two matches, they confidently won with a score of 8:1 against the O.S.A. team and 11:3 against the St. Petersburg Sabotage. In the final match of the group games of the day, the Leader defeated the Hermes team with a score of 5:1, who became the second. Athletes from this team achieved a confident victory with the team from St. Petersburg "Sabotage" 9:3 and not without difficulty defeated the team from the Krasnodar region "O.S.A." in the third match with a score of 5:3. The latter won the third place in the group, having won the confrontation with the Sabotage team with a score of 6:2. The Sabotage team closed the group in the fourth place.
Трансляция 2 дня турнира
The third game day, May 28th. The playoff matches, the final and the awarding of the Moscow Open Cup 2023 at the Kurchatov Stadium!

The third day gave us a good atmosphere of a sports holiday, excitement and a lot of positivity. The high level of play of athletes from different countries and regions made it possible to enjoy the game and positive emotions. At the same time, the weather tested our organizers for strength: we had to fight the rain, but we managed.

It is worth noting that all the playoff matches were interesting and intense, we felt a big difference between the group matches and the decisive elimination games. It all started with the quarterfinals. Unexpectedly for everyone, the Leader team, which took the 1st place in the subgroup, lost to the last-place Yekaterinburg with a score of 3:5. Hermes defeated the hosts Kurchatov in a hard fight with the same score, and the Moscow Sentinels defeated the team from the Krasnodar region "O.S.A." 2:1 in a tense match. In the semifinal matches, Hermes lost to the Iranians in a tense match with a minimum score of 1:2, and the Moscow Sentinals team lost to Yekaterinburg 4:6.
In the match for the 7th place, the regional teams "O.S.A." (Krasnodar region) and "Sabotage" (St. Petersburg) met, in this game athletes from the warm region confidently won 6:2.
In the match for the 5th place, the Kurchatov team met with the Leader team. In a personal confrontation between two teams whose athletes grew up with our sport, in a hard struggle, the victory went to the host team with a score of 5:4.
In the match for the bronze medals of the tournament, the Moscow teams met, where one of the favorites of the tournament "Hermes" defeated "Moscow Sentinals" with a score of 5:1.
The final of the tournament turned out to be international, very emotional and dramatic, as a result, pleasing fans and Internet viewers. In the decisive match, the "Three Threes" team from Yekaterinburg met with "Sayman" from Iran. Note that this team is in the top 10 best online roller hockey teams and is the best team in Asia. The athletes showed high speeds, fast counterattacks and accurate throws, as well as a beautiful combination game. It seemed that losing 2-5 after the first half, the Iranians would give up their positions, but from the first minutes of the second half they won back 5-5, then again conceded 5:6, equalized 6:6 again, then finally went ahead 7:6, but Yekaterinburg turned out to be stronger and won with a score 8:7.
Трансляция 3 дня турнира
  • The result of the tournament

    1st place: team "333"!
    2nd place: team "Sayman"!
    3rd place: team "Hermes"
    4th place: team "Moscow Sentinels"
    5th place: team "Kurchatov"
    6th place: team "Leader"
    7th place: team "OSA."
    8th place: team "Sabotage"
  • The best players:

    Best forward - Keyhanfar Jalal ("Sayman")
    Best defender - Anton Fomichev ("Hermes")
    Best bombardier - Garik Maturin ("333")
    Best Goalkeeper - Valery Obolyaev (Moscow Sentinels)
    Playoff MVP - Garik Maturin (333)
The athletes have shown themselves at a high level, and we certainly believe in their further victories.

Summing up the results of the first international tournament, I would like to objectively note that all three days were well organized, and the athletes managed to pick up a good and positive atmosphere, friendliness, and exchange experiences of different styles of playing roller hockey. This is exactly what you always expect from such events. During the 2.5 days of broadcast on our YouTube channel of Russian Inline Skater-Hockey Federation, about 5,000 views were collected. A decent result!

In conclusion, I would like to say that all the work was definitely not done in vain: we gained experience, conducted an analysis, and made new strong connections.

As they say, through the thorns to the stars and only forward!

How to get to the Kurchatov Stadium
Moscow, Rogova str., building 1-1