From September 25 to 27, Irkutsk will host the first All Russian judo tournament for boys for the city mayor's cup at Baikal Arena. This year it gained new status and drew 11 foreign teams.

On September 25, the First All-Russian Judo Tournament among boys for the Mayor of Irkutsk City Cup will be held in Irkutsk.
This was announced at a press conference by Dmitry Evert, head of the Department of Physical Culture and Sports of the Irkutsk City Administration. He clarified that the tournament in the Angara region has been held for 5 years already, but previously it had the status of an interregional event, and now it has moved into the All-Russian category, with an international focus as well, since 11 foreign teams have already submitted applications to participate.
Teams from China, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Greece, Azerbaijan, and Central Asia have already confirmed their participation. It should be added that the Azerbaijani national team will bring the winners and medalists of the European Championship.
“We need this tournament so that athletes can earn new sports ranks in Irkutsk,” Dmitry Evert said. “In 2014, Irkutsk brought together 1,300 athletes in four categories for the tournament; now we decided to shift from quantity to quality, so the level of participants will be higher, but we expect 450 athletes.”
“Last year the Uzbekistan team already competed in Irkutsk,” said the head coach of the Uzbekistan national team, Hadji Hasan. “We were impressed not only by the hospitality of Irkutsk residents, but also by the high level of organization of the tournament. The guys gained not only experience but also many friends, so this year we did not even think about whether to go to Irkutsk or not.”
The tournament will take place on September 25-27 at Baikal Arena, but in addition to the bouts themselves, the organizers are also holding a three-day training camp for all participants, which will make it possible to reinforce the skills acquired in the matches.
Sixty judokas will represent the Irkutsk Region. In addition, a training camp for athletes will be held as part of these competitions.