The annual open district basketball tournament for young men, dedicated to the memory of the internationalist soldier Igor Solovyov, always generates great interest among sports fans.
The annual open district basketball tournament for young men, dedicated to the memory of the internationalist soldier Igor Solovyov, always generates great interest among sports fans. The organisation and conduct of these competitions are managed by the Department of Education, Sports and Tourism of the District Executive Committee, and the district council of the public association "Belarusian Union of Afghan War Veterans".
This year, eleven teams participated in the tournament. The grand opening of the competitions took place in the sports hall of the educational institution "Lepel State Agrarian and Technical College". Internationalist soldiers and other guests attended the event. Lepel resident Igor Vishnevsky, who himself had served his internationalist duty in that southern country, sang two songs with an Afghan theme to the accompaniment of a guitar before a large audience of young people and elders.
The director of the state institution "Lepel District Physical Culture and Recreation Centre", Rimantas Stripeikis, reported on the full readiness of the basketball teams for the start of the sporting battles to the chairman of the district organisation of the public association "Belarusian Union of Afghan War Veterans", Sergey Krivyal.
The deputy of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, Igor Martynov, addressed the attendees with a welcoming speech. After that, Igor Feliksovich presented the jubilee medal "20 Years of Troops Withdrawal from Afghanistan" to Valery Tukhta, a teacher at the state educational institution "Sloboda Kindergarten-Secondary School of Lepel District".
The deputy chairman of the District Executive Committee, Viktor Azaronok, expressed his satisfaction with the large turnout at this year's competitions and the wide representation of teams from the district's educational institutions. He emphasised the importance of preserving and multiplying the moral values of our ancestors, as well as the glorious combat and labour traditions.
The deputy chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Organisation of the public association "Belarusian Union of Afghan War Veterans", Alexander Petrushkevich, sincerely congratulated the attendees.
Sports contests unfolded on three grounds. In the sports hall of the agricultural technical college, basketball players from Lepel Secondary School No. 3, Borovskaya Secondary School, Polsvizh Basic School, and Starolyadenskaya Kindergarten-Secondary School competed for supremacy. The second subgroup of teams included Zaslonovskaya Secondary School, Slobodskaya Kindergarten-Secondary School, and Stayskaya Secondary School, who fought for victory in the properly equipped hall of the former vocational lyceum. The sporting confrontation between teams from Lepel Secondary School No. 1, Yerashov Gymnasium, Starolepel Basic School, and Bobrovskaya Kindergarten-Secondary School took place at Yerashov Gymnasium.
After the preliminary stage of the competitions, the young athletes were awarded commemorative gifts.
Teams from Secondary Schools No. 1 and No. 3, and Zaslonovskaya Secondary School reached the final. They gathered in the main building of the agricultural technical college, where the sporting contests continued. Before the decisive matches, the young athletes were treated to a delicious buckwheat porridge from a field kitchen.
In the first final game, teams from Secondary School No. 1 and Secondary School No. 3 met. The first half ended with a score of 9:3 in favour of the basketball players from Secondary School No. 3. The second half also proceeded under their control, making the final score of 11:5 a logical outcome.
The next match between athletes from Secondary School No. 1 and Zaslonovskaya Secondary School proved to be very hard-fought. The score difference throughout the entire game was minimal. The performance of Maksim Tauta from the Zaslonovskaya Secondary School team and Sergey Krivitsky from Secondary School No. 1 was particularly memorable. This was reflected in the final score of 13:12. The young athletes from Zaslonovskaya Secondary School emerged victorious.
In the decisive game, teams from Secondary School No. 3 and Zaslonovskaya Secondary School competed. With a minimal score advantage, the basketball players from the third school won. Thus, they took first place in the basketball tournament and were awarded the challenge Cup, a diploma, and medals from the district council of the NGO "Belarusian Union of Veterans of Wars in Afghanistan".
Teams from Secondary School No. 1 and Zaslonovskaya Secondary School took second and third places respectively, and were awarded diplomas and medals.
A special prize named "Tournament Organizer Shneiderman Alexander Borisovich" was awarded to a participating team that demonstrated a will to win but did not secure a prize-winning place. The basketball players from Yerashov Gymnasium were honoured with this distinction.
