Siberian foothold 2020 this year was held in an unusual format – the tournament consisted only of duels. On January, 5 fencers from Siberia and the Urals arrived in Novosibirsk (Russia). About 20 HMB athletes fought here for the gold. The event received international status – HMB athletes from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan came to compete with their Russian colleagues.

HMBIA News asked Anastasia Pankova why the tournament changed its format and whether it was a temporary change or not.

“This year it was decided to make the Siberian foothold in the format of duel nominations, due to the small number of such events during the year in our region. The main task for the athlete here is to show the accuracy of the blow, speed, endurance, hoping only on their own strength”.

In addition, Anastasia noted that this year the organizing committee of the tournament provided another experiment in the framework of the tournament – the event was a sports event only. There was no fair or show between fights:

“We decided to try a format where all the attention of the audience will be directed towards the lists without distraction to other locations. This was done to “immerse” the audience in sports and promote HMB into the masses”.

Both male and female fencers participated in the tournament. The fighters gave positive reviews on the tournament; it was quick, clear and harmonious. At the same time, it was comfortable for both fighters and spectators.

The Siberian foothold ended with the following results:

“Sword and Shield” men:

1st place: Vegriyanov Aleksey, “Steel Fist” club

2nd place: Klokov Dmitry, “Steel Fist” club

3rd place: Romanov Artem, “Steel Fist” club

“Sword and Buckler” men:

1st place: Savkin Fedor, “Steel Fist” club 

2nd place: Mazurenko Sergey, “Steel Fist” club 

3rd place: Olenikov Roman, “Steel Fist” club 

“Longsword” men:

1st place: Vladimir Kuvshinov, without a club

2 place: Sergey Mazurenko, Steel Fist club 

3rd place Chui Alexander, HMB club “Garda”

“Sword and Shield” women:

1st place: Anistratova Anastasia, HMB club “Garda”

2nd place: Cherkasova Elena, “Steel Fist” club 

3rd place: Zhelonkina Evgeniya, HMB club “Garda”

Yellow cards:

Chui Alexander for a blow under the knee and Artem Romanov for a blow to the foot.

According to the tournament organizers, “Sword and Shield” can be considered as the most popular nomination. In total, 18 athletes took part in this nomination.

We asked if the Siberian Foothold will remain an exclusively duel tournament.
Anastasia: “I think that there will be purely dueling, buhurt and mixed events. We will do as many tournaments as we can!”

We would like to congratulate the winners of the Siberian foothold and thank the tournament organizing team for the work that was done and for the promotion of the duel nominations and HMB sports in the region.

Photos by Vera Kuksa