The INRTU team won the first stage of "The Cup of Two Lakes" bandy tournament

The first stage of "The Cup of Two Lakes" bandy tournament took place on the ice of Lake Baikal on March 30. The team of Irkutsk Technical University became the leader, the second place was taken by the national youth team of Mongolia, and the third place went to the student team of Buryatia.

The first stage of the tournament took place on Baikal Lake near Bolshoye Goloustnoye on March 30. The date of the tournament is dedicated to the 42nd anniversary of the Russian-Mongolian flight into space, which took place from 22 to 30 of March 1981 on the board of Soyuz-39.

Jugderdemidiin Gurragchaa, the head of the organizational commit said at the opening of the tournament,

"I am glad to meet the memorable anniversary of the space flight among our ball hockey players on the ice of Baikal and Khuvsgul lakes. I wish our teams great sports achievements. I think that friendship will win in the end."

INRTU Rector Mikhail Korniakov wished the hockey players a good start and a beautiful game. Mikhail Korniakov added,

"It is symbolic that "The Cup of Two Lakes" coincides with the Soviet-Mongolian flight into space, and the tournament is dedicated to this event. In this way we develop not only sport, but also the cooperation between two countries."

The match between the INRTU team and the national youth team of Mongolia ended with the score 1: 0 in favor of Irkutsk. In the second game the team of Irkutsk Technical University defeated the student team of Buryatia with the score of 2:0. The national youth team of Mongolia beat the team of Buryatia with the score 2:0. The INRTU team scored 6 points and became the leader of the first stage of the tournament. The national youth team of Mongolia earned 3 points and the team of Buryatia got 2 points.

According to Maksim Blem, the head coach of INRTU team,

"The victory is not an accident. We train four times a week, and we have good facilities. This tournament has its own difficulties. The ice was melting because of warm weather. I played in such conditions, as there were no artificial ice rinks before, but for the team it was new. In my opinion a hockey player must be ready for any weather conditions. Despite everything, our team showed a good result. We are training for the second stage of the tournament." 

The second stage will take place on April 4. The teams will play on the ice of Khuvsgul near Khankh.