The Two Lakes Cup Games on the Ice of Baikal and Khubsugul, Ascension to Munku-Sardyk
The international Two Lakes Cup tournament, dedicated to the anniversary of the Soviet-Mongolian crew's flight into space, will be held on the ice of Lake Baikal and Khubsugul. The INRTU's Irkutsky Politekh team, the national teams of Mongolia and the Buryat Republic will meet on the ice on March 5 and April 3. The program of the Cup will be topped by the climb of Russian and Mongolian students to the peak of Munku Sardyk.
For the first time the competition was organized in 2022 as a part of the Sport Student Ball Hockey League. The organizing committee of the international tournament is headed by the first cosmonaut of Mongolia, the hero of the USSR Zhugdardemidine Gurragcha, who flew into space 43 years ago as a member of the Soyuz-39 crew.
Currently, the Two Lakes Cup is included in the sports events calendar by the Russian Ministry of Sports. The tournament was supported by the Minister of Sport and Youth Policy of the Republic of Buryatia Ivan Kozyrev, the Russian Student Sports Union and the Mongolian Student Sports Union.
The hockey players will compete in a total of six games. The first stage will be held on March 5 at Lake Baikal near the village of Maximikha (Buryat Republic). The final games will be held on April 3 on the Khubsugul ice near the Mongolian settlement of Khankh.
The Munku Sardyk climb was initiated by Zhugdardemidin Gurragcha. At the end of March, Russian and Mongolian students plan to lift the Two Lakes Cup flag to the peak. It is symbolic that Munku-Sardyk is the highest peak of the Eastern Sayan Mountains, located on the Russian-Mongolian border.
According to Sergey Anosov, INRTU Vice-Rector for Campus and Corporate Management, the first Cup was held solely on INRTU's initiative:
“Now we have received a great feedback from our Mongolian colleagues and representatives of the Republic of Buryatia. They have agreed to cover part of the costs and to prepare the ice.
The importance of the tournament is also proved by its inclusion in the Russian Ministry of Sport's calendar. In total, there are six youth ball hockey events, two of which are the Championship of the Sport Student Ball Hockey League and the Two Lakes Cup.”
Sergey Anosov added that colleagues from China and Kazakhstan, hockey players from Krasnoyarsk and Khabarovsk Krai (regions), as well as Kemerovo Region showed great interest in the event:
“However, organizing the open ice games is a real challenge. In the future we are looking to expand the Cup and involve more youth teams. In May we plan to organize competitions for our foreign partners in Irkutsk.”
INFORMATION:
The flight of the Soviet-Mongolian crew took place on March 22-30, 1981 aboard the Soyuz-39 spacecraft. The international crew consisted of Vladimir Dzhanibekov, commander of the ship, Hero of the Soviet Union, pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR, major general of aviation, and Zhugdardemidin Gurragcha, Hero of the USSR, cosmonaut-researcher, citizen of Mongolia
