The Siberian adult table tennis championship starts in Irkutsk, such level competitions have not been held in the city since 1973. In the region, the sport is actively developing, 22 sections operate in 19 municipalities, with about 10 thousand people involved, and organizers especially recall Igor Zusman, who stood at the origins of Irkutsk table tennis. The article also tells about preparing the region's strong team and the main rivals in team and individual events.

“The Siberian Table Tennis Championship among adults is a significant event. Competitions of this level were last held in Irkutsk in 1973,” said the First Deputy Minister for Physical Culture, Sports and Youth Policy of the Irkutsk Region, Ilya Reznik. “This sport is developing dynamically in the Irkutsk Region: in 19 municipal districts there are 22 table tennis sections, where about 10,000 people train. Speaking about table tennis, one cannot fail to pay tribute to the memory and respect of the Honored Coach of Russia Igor Zusman. It was this man who became the founder of table tennis in the Angara region.”
As Ilya Reznik explained, until now Irkutsk has mainly hosted interregional table tennis competitions among children. In 2011, Irkutsk hosted the Siberian Federal District championship among children under 12, and in 2013 our city hosted the Siberian Federal District championship among children under 15. In April 2014, the Siberian championship among children under 12 is scheduled to be held.
As noted by the vice president of the Irkutsk Region Table Tennis Federation, Sergey Yudin, the Irkutsk Region team is very well prepared, and it includes the strongest athletes from Irkutsk, Angarsk, Shelekhov, Usolye-Sibirskoye, and others. “The Irkutsk Region team will definitely be among the top three,” he emphasized.
The team competitions begin on January 22 at 11:00 a.m., and the official opening is at 4:00 p.m. The individual competitions begin on January 24 at 10:00 a.m. The main rivals of the Irkutsk team among women are teams from the Republic of Khakassia, the Novosibirsk Region, and the Kemerovo Region. The main rivals of our team among men are athletes from the Novosibirsk and Kemerovo regions.
Based on materials from the press service of the Department for Physical Culture and Sports of the Irkutsk Region