18.03.2014 Silver medal of the Paralympic Games

Yesterday the President of Russia Vladimir Putin congratulated the athletes on excellent play at the Paralympic Games and presented them with national awards. Four Ugra players – Konstantin Shikhov, VasiliyVarlakov, Vladimir Litvinenko and the youngest Russian sledge hockey player NikolayTerentiev were among the champions and prize winners. Yesterday the President of Russia Vladimir Putin congratulated the athletes on excellent play at the Paralympic Games and presented them with national awards. Four Ugra players – Konstantin Shikhov, VasiliyVarlakov, Vladimir Litvinenko and the youngest Russian sledge hockey player NikolayTerentiev were among the champions and prize winners. Yesterday the President of Russia Vladimir Putin congratulated the athletes on excellent play at the Paralympic Games and presented them with national awards. Four Ugra players – Konstantin Shikhov, VasiliyVarlakov, Vladimir Litvinenko and the youngest Russian sledge hockey player NikolayTerentiev were among the champions and prize winners.ThenationalRussiansledgehockeyteam debuted at these Games and took the second honorable place. In the last final match Russian sledge hockey players played with the team of the USA and lost with the score 1:0 and became silver medalist of the Paralympic Games. At the first minutes the Americans began their attacks and took a very high pace. In the first period the task of Russian team was to keep the net inviolable. Thetaskwasperformed. American players had more goal opportunities than Russian team but our guys could withstand the first period. The athletes from both teams bore heavy responsibility – final play, battle for “the gold”, and sometimes our team and American team made incorrect decisions and lost the puck many times. In the second period the teams played in the same manner. AmericanteamkeptapaceandRussianteamgradually leveledtheplay. Inthe middle of the period Aleksey Lysov lost the puck in our zone, American forward took it quickly and appeared face to face with VolodyaKamantsev and then made a goal. However, our guys began attacking. It was pleasant to look at KostyaShykhov. HeliterallytormentedAmericanplayers. Butourguyscouldnotmakeagoal. Americanteamwonthesecondperiod. In the third period our team played better; there were more shoots in American net. At the very end VasiliyVarlakov made several shoots to the net but he could not kick a goal. KostyaShikhov made a dangerous shoot but the goalkeeper managed to react. IlyaVolkov also tried to make a goal. But American players had luck. Americawonwiththescore 1:0. According to Eduard Isakov, president of sledge hockey ckub “Ugra”, at the home winter Paralympic Games sledge hockey players made the impossible: “It was worth much that our team fought against the leading teams of the world where sledge hockey has been developing for more than 20 years. All guys gathered themselves up and played with high commitment. Today they meet the President of Russia; they are national heroes, eminent people and athletes with a capital “A”. And I am proud that our Ugra guys took part in these Games, made substantial contribution to the today’s result. An athlete grows up when he plays with an equal or stronger opponent. Sledgehockeyplayersgainedvastexperience. It will be a great motivation and incentive for them and now they understand for what they work on ice so much. They made a great contribution to the development of sledge hockey in Russia. They proved to disabled guys that they can achieve many things if they set a goal.” Today at night at 01:00 Konstantin Shikhov, one of the heroes of the Paralympic Games and silver medalist of the Paralympic Games of 2014, flies toKhanty-Mansiysk. On March 26 camp trainings of sledge hockey club “Ugra” begin. The final of Russia Championship takes place from April 20 to April 26 in the city of Aleksin. According to AleksandrZykov our prize winners of the Paralympic Games are waiting for country championship and are disposed to win.