Sergei Ivanov welcomed the tournament’s participants and guests. In his speech, the Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office remarked, among other things, that hundreds of schoolchildren and students visited the Red Square as part of the Forum Ready For Work and to Defence programme. “This is great, because all this is being done for them and only for them. This means that basketball is becoming increasingly popular,“ Sergei Ivanov said.
A Junior Tournament and the competition for the Student Basketball Super Cup took place on the VTB Arena Open basketball court. The tournament opposed the champions of two different student leagues: Tallinn University of Technology team and Moscow State Academy of Physical Education team. The Russian team won 67 to 60.
The festival will close with so-called Match of Generations with children and students’ teams taking turns followed by VIP guests and famous athletes. The head coach of Team A is Sergei Ivanov; Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, Energy Minister Alexander Novak, and Senior Vice President of VTB Bank Andrei Peregudov will fight for their team on the court. Team B is composed of basketball veterans coached by Seoul (1988) Olympic Basketball Champion Sergei Tarakanov.
The 9th Forum, Ready for Work and to Defence, is taking place on the Red Square from May 30 to June 2. In addition to the basketball tournament there are competitions in futsal, volleyball, badminton and table tennis, a yoga marathon, and taekwondo demonstrations.