Translated material
Week calendar
This week there will be two rounds of the Premier League championship, extremely rich in capital derbies: there will be four matches between capital teams. “Torpedo” and “Dynamo” will decide the issue of maintaining their place in the Premier League not only in meetings with the “railroad workers”. The Torpedo team has a real chance of catching up with the Blue and Whites and leaving penultimate place, since in another game of the week they will host Rubin Kazan, and the Blue and Whites will have a problem taking points from Spartak four days earlier.
TENNIS. October 23--29. ATP tournaments (men). St. Petersburg, Basel (Switzerland), Lyon (France). WTA tournament (women). Linz (Austria).
The St. Petersburg Open, the second ATP men's tournament held in Russia, has the same status and prize fund ($1 million) as the capital's Kremlin Cup. However, the composition of the competition participants on the banks of the Neva will be somewhat weaker, primarily due to the absence of Marat Safin. According to him, the organizers did not provide him with a decent amount of additional bonuses, which are paid to especially popular players outside the officially announced ATP prize fund. As in Moscow, Nikolai Davydenko was seeded number one. In the opening round he will meet Frenchman Fabrice Santoro. Here are other pairs of 1/16 finals with the participation of Russians: Teimuraz Gabashvili - Wesley Moody (South Africa), Mikhail Youzhny - Rainer Schuttler (Germany), Igor Kunitsyn - Bjorn Fau (Germany), Dmitry Tursunov - Maxim Mirny (Belarus) , Evgeniy Korolev - Jan Hernykh (Czech Republic).
The tournament in St. Petersburg has been held since 1995, and its first winner was Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who had already completed his career. Only Marat Safin (2000, 2001) and Swede Thomas Johansson (1997, 2005) managed to win the title in Northern Palmyra twice. The current champion will receive $142 thousand in prize money and 175 points towards the ATP auxiliary ranking. Even those who lose in the first round will not lose out, having become richer by 10 thousand dollars.
The tournament in Basel stands out for world number one Roger Federer, as he plays in his hometown. The Swiss played here six times, but missed the last two seasons. Among the girls in Austria, Nadezhda Petrova, seeded number two, will defend the title she won last season. Then the Russian woman beat Patti Schneider from Switzerland in three games in the final. On the opposite side of the tournament bracket from Nadezhda is the main star of the competition - Maria Sharapova. Both of our compatriots, Schneider and Czech Nicole Vaidishova, were exempted from participation in the 1/16 final matches.
BASKETBALL. October 24-26. Euroleague ULEB (men). First group stage. 1st round . October 24, 29. Super League. Men. October 23, 25--29. Super League. Women.
The capital's army team, led by the Italian Ettore Messina, will play their first match in the ULEB Euroleague as its current champion on Wednesday at the site of the Italian club Napoli. The next day, the winner of the ULEB-2005/06 Cup, Dynamo Moscow, will make its debut in the tournament. The Blue and White's opponent is not difficult - Cologne's Rhein-Energia. True, the plans of the team of Serbian specialist Dusan Ivkovic are by no means Napoleonic. According to the president of the club, Evgeny Gomelsky, Dynamo’s goal in the tournament of the strongest teams of the Old World is to reach the second stage of the “Top 16”.
CHESS. October 23--28. International tournament. Barcelona (Spain). Hoogeveen (Holland).
In Holland, the loser of the unification match for the world title, Bulgarian Veselin Topalov, will play with Ivan Sokolov, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Judit Polgar in a two-round tournament. The most famous competitors in Spain are the Ukrainian Vasily Ivanchuk, the representative of Moldova Viorel Bologan, who lives in Moscow, and the Dutch veteran Jan Timman.
HOCKEY. October 23--24, 26--29. Super League .
In the coming days, all 19 top division teams will play their 18th matches and complete the first round. On Tuesday, two derbies will take place at once: the “metallurgical” one between clubs from Magnitogorsk and Novokuznetsk and the capital’s confrontation between “Krylya Sovetov” and “Dynamo”.
FIGURE SKATING. October 23--26. Grand Prix Series. 1st stage. Skate America. Hartford (USA).
Russia on American ice will be represented by the following skaters: men - silver medalist of the World Junior Championships Sergei Voronov, sports pairs - Elena Efaeva and Alexander Menshikov, bronze medalists of the Russian Championship Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov, dancing pair - Natalya Mikhailova and Arkady Sergeev .
SKI RACING. October 28-29. World Cup stage. Dusseldorf (Germany).
The ski season in Europe opens with a sprint stage. The races will take place on an artificial track laid right along the streets of Dusseldorf. On Saturday, the women will compete in the ultra-short distance 800m, while the men will have to cover 1.5km in qualifying and elimination races.
MOUNTAIN SKIING. October 28-29. World Cup stage. Sölden (Austria).
Six and a half years have already passed since the Russian alpine skier Olesya Aliyeva was the last time among our compatriots to become a prize-winner at the World Cup stage. Austrian specialist Bernd Zobel has been invited to the Russian team. It is expected that it will work until the 2010 White Olympics. Our alpine skiing is in complete decline. The team's coach, Vladimir Makeev, has already stated that none of the women's team, with the exception of Alena Kazakova, will participate in either the World Cup or the 2007 World Championships. Due to significant rejuvenation, the team is currently completely uncompetitive.
SHORT TRACK. October 27--29. World Cup stage. South Korea.
RUGBY. October 28. 2007 World Cup qualifying match Portugal - Russia.