Students of Gzhel State University Anastasia Semenova (Faculty of Social and Humanitarian Education, Physical Education) and Xenia Evgenova (Faculty of Social and Humanitarian Education, Physical Education) won gold medals in the International Badminton Tournament VICTOR Croatian International, which took place from March 29nd to 1st April 2018 in Zagreb (Croatia).

It was an exceptionally successful tournament for Nastya and Xenia. On the way to the final, our badmintoners broke the resistance of couples from Croatia, Italy and Denmark. The final was tense, but luck was with them: Anastasia Semenova and Xenia Evgenova won the victory in the final.

Of course, luck only comes to those who practice hard. The success of Anastasia and Xenia is accompanied by serious preparation. Before the start, the girls were trained two times a day at one of the leading bases for the preparation of the Russian badminton team in Kratovo (Moscow region).

The international tournament VICTOR Croatian International was preceded by the annual All-Russian badminton competitions for the memory of Honored Coaches of Russia V.G. Ramiltseva and Yu. N. Chervyakov, which took place on March 23rd – 25rd in Nizhny Novgorod. This representative tournament was for Anastasia Semenova and Xenia Evgenova a kind of rehearsal of the performance in Zagreb. Despite the fact that our students stood in the net under the first number, all the games were difficult and tense, but the pair of Semenova-Evgenova was able to defend her first position and brought deserved gold medals from Nizhny Novgorod. One of the most intense was the final meeting, but our badmintoners won a brilliant victory, beating a couple from Moscow, Olga Golovanova and Elizaveta Tarasova.

Such achievements are a convincing example for imitation and motivate university students to engage in sports. In the badminton section of the sports club of GSU more than 50 sportsmen are training today under the guidance of the master of sports in badminton, head of the chair of physical culture and safety, candidate of pedagogical sciences, K. B. Ilkevich. In January 2018, students at Gzhel University became bronze medal winners of the Russian badminton championship.

Due to their perseverance and diligence, Anastasia and Xenia are in the main part of the junior and in the reserve composition of the "adult" Russian badminton team. In 2017 the girls went to competitions in Estonia, Croatia, Slovakia, Finland. Anastasia and Xenia are familiar from childhood, they often train together before the competition. In late 2017 athletes began to perform in pairs and very successfully!

Congratulations to Nastya and Xenia on winning the international tournament!

E.I. Tarasenko,

head of sports club