Alina Kovaleva: “Tournaments, like in Dudinka, provide the necessary competitive practice”

Representative tournaments, like the 2022 WCT Nornickel Curling Cup in Dudinka, help Russian curlers train, which they haven’t had recently, the Russian team captain said. Alina Kovaleva .

Kovaleva’s team, formed on the basis of the Russian women’s team, won bronze medals on Sunday at the traditional WCT Nornickel Curling Cup 2022 in Dudinka. The first two places were taken by the men’s teams of Sergei Glukhov and Alexei Stukalsky.

— I love coming here, to Dudinka. There is an incredible spectacle both at the opening and at the closing, you experience extraordinary emotions when you watch all this. Glad to be here. And the quality of the ice is good, and the teams we play against. In general, they know how to make a real vacation here.

Was there a chance of winning?

– Yes, of course, but in the semi-final match we made several mistakes, for which we were punished. Now we often play with our boys in training and in other tournaments, in training camps. Especially in the year of the pandemic, it was common practice. Sometimes we beat them, sometimes they beat us, sometimes we don’t have to.

– Do these tournaments differ in terms of sports from the training camps you organize in Novogorsk?

“Strong teams have come here. The girls, of course, want to play with the boys, because they will be stronger and we will gain more experience. But here it turned out to be more of a vacation – it’s much cooler to go on the ice in such an atmosphere.

– How difficult is it for you, the leader of the national team, without international practice?

– Of course, we were upset that we didn’t go to the World Cup. I wanted to make up for the failed Olympics. A little upset, but that’s okay. We will follow the news. Our job is to win the Russian championship and participate in such tournaments in order to gain experience. It’s good that they are done, it’s a good practice.