Slivko's victories, Garanichev's illness and Yurlova-Perkht's refusal: what was the Izhevsk rifle memorable for

The Izhevsk Rifle stage of the Russian Cup, which takes place at the end of the year, traditionally arouses great interest among fans.

The fact is that it is becoming a kind of qualifying tournament for the IBU Cup, and even for the World Cup.

So in 2021, the competition was surrounded by a lot of intrigue.

True, its start was in doubt due to severe frosts established in Udmurtia.

The organizers even had to postpone the individual races from December 23rd and 24th to the 25th.

But on Saturday the weather improved slightly.

According to the regulations, if the temperature drops below 20 ° C, you cannot go to the start, if it is below 15, factors such as wind speed and humidity are taken into account.

As a result, the biathletes still went into battle, although an hour before the women's race the thermometer showed -18 ° C. Biathletes insulated themselves as best they could: they put on thick gloves on their hands and covered their faces with a special plaster. But that didn't help. So, Evgeny Idinov, who won the individual, slightly froze his nose. The rest, having finished, strove to go to the room under the stands as soon as possible. And the prize-winners on the podium were literally shaking from the cold. But most importantly, the Izhevsk rifle took place, and seven people were determined who will go to the IBU Cup in January.

For women, the fate of Victoria Slivko became the main intrigue. She won the right to go to the IBU Cup following the results of test starts in Tyumen and Khanty-Mansiysk in November. But the coaching staff of the Russian national team, headed by Mikhail Shashilov, chose not to include it in the composition. She had to prove her worth at the stages of the National Cup, where the athlete won four victories and confidently headed the overall standings.

In Izhevsk, she again proved that the decision of the coaches of the national team was wrong.

In the individual race, Victoria finished first despite three penalties.

And in the sprint she got the “golden double”.

The 27-year-old biathlete with one misfire beat Tamara Derbusheva and Polina Plyusnina, who shot them accurately.

Finally, in the second sprint, Slivko finished fourth.

She has demonstrated that she is in great shape at the moment and is ready to show high speed.

“I am very glad that, finally, I will go to international starts.

There were no big grievances, but, of course, after the selections in Tyumen I was upset, then everything went away.

I'm not going to swear with anyone, everything is fine.

I have not yet communicated with anyone from the RBU or the national team headquarters, I just know that I am going to the IBU Cup.

I feel well enough, but I am sure that you can still add, ”Slivko quotes“ Match TV ”.

And the personal mentor of the athlete Leonid Guryev was surprised by the fact that his ward had not been invited to the national team earlier.

In his opinion, she deserved it back in December.

“Why was Maxim Tsvetkov pulled up on time in Obertilliach in the men's team, but the rotation was not carried out for women?

The selection criteria allow it.

Now Vika is going to the IBU Cup, but I don't know what it takes to get to the World Cup.

I will tune her to win until the end of the year and at the Olympics too ... She trained as a team, conscientiously performed all the loads, did not violate the regime and showed normal results in the selection, but the coaching decision took those who were below her, ”the Metaretings specialist quotes.

The complete opposite of the Izhevsk rifle triumphant was Larisa Kuklina, who got into the main team, but at the KM stages she was frankly disappointing.

In Udmurtia, she managed to qualify for the IBU Cup, but the performance in the recent past of one of the leaders of the national team was not very pleasing.

For comparison, in an individual, with two misses, she managed to lose three seconds to Slivko, who did not close three targets.

Other competitors, for example, Ekaterina Noskova, who took the fourth line with five misfires, turned out to be much faster than her.

Also, the fans were waiting with great interest for the arrival of Ekaterina Yurlova-Perkht.

It was in Izhevsk that the return of the world champion, who had recovered from childbirth, was to take place.

But two days before the prostitute, she announced that she would not perform due to her health condition.

“My body is not 100% ready for work, and as an experienced athlete who knows himself, together with the coach and functional diagnostics specialists, on the eve of leaving for the Kyrgyz Republic, it was decided to cancel this trip,” the biathlete wrote on Instagram.

In men, another experienced athlete, Evgeny Garanichev, faced with health problems.

The OI medalist started the season at the WC, but due to disastrous results, he was transferred to the IBU Cup.

There, the native of the Perm region also failed to shine.

Therefore, he had to prove his right to continue playing for the national team on the Izhevsk rifle.

Unfortunately, this was not done.

As an individual, the 33-year-old biathlete experienced serious shooting difficulties.

Six penalties prevented him from climbing above eighth place even in the National Cup.

In the sprint, the result was better - fourth position with one misfire.

It seemed that in the final race, Garanichev would show the maximum and still solve the problem.

However, Evgeny did not go to the start at all, citing problems with his throat due to low temperatures.

“I had edema at night.

In the morning they called a doctor, since he was not on the team, he diagnosed laryngitis.

We'll have to refuse to participate in the race, health is the most important thing, "explained the coach of the Tyumen region national team Maxim Kugaevsky.

His words are quoted by TASS.

It remains to state a fact: one of the brightest biathletes of his generation, who took bronze at the home Olympics and won races at the KM stages, finally dropped out of the national team.

And it will be extremely difficult for him to go back to 33 years old, given the increased competition from young compatriots.

And the worsening results from season to season push the veteran to retire.

Another sensation with a minus sign was the failure of Nikita Porshnev.

Last season for the World Championship medalist turned out to be crumpled due to the transferred coronavirus.

Before the start of the current one in the national team, he failed to qualify and in Udmurtia intended, finally, to close this gap.

But he managed to shoot only in one race - the first sprint, which Porshnev won.

He failed the individual, being only 17th and making six misfires on the firing line.

Nikita finished seventh in the second sprint.

These results were not enough to get into the top three.

Idinov, who had a frostbitten nose, was not in it either.

As a result, Dmitry Ivanov will go to the IBU Cup as the leader of the overall standings of the Kyrgyz Republic, Mikhail Burundukov, who did not fall below the sixth line in the Izhevsk rifle, and Mikhail Pervushin, who won bronze in the last start and ahead of Petr Paschenko.

However, he also got a chance and will perform at the next stage in Brezno-Osrblje.

This is due to the fact that Burundukov will need time to complete the documents.