Ice and Speed Phygital Festival, Friendship Cup in Sledge Hockey, and 5×5 Hockey Cup Tournament Held at CIPR in Nizhny Novgorod

The Ice and Speed Phygital Festival, the Friendship Cup in sledge hockey, and the 5×5 hockey cup tournament were held at the ‘Digitalization of Industrial Russia’ (CIPR) conference from May 21 to 23 at the Meshchersky Sports Complex. The opening ceremony was attended by Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Chairman of the Government of Russia, and Gleb Nikitin, Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. Athletes competed in three disciplines: phygital basketball, phygital racing, and phygital sledge hockey. The festival was attended by approximately 1,000 people in total.

‘Phygital is a very interesting new movement that emerged in February of this year with the first Games of the Future in Kazan opened by our President. The competition brought together virtual and real sports. A well-rounded individual, as referenced by the Head of the State, cannot develop in just one environment. The folks hone their skills in computer games and, then, demonstrate remarkable prowess on sports fields. These new champions will represent our country at the new Games of the Future, which are now being held globally. I wish all participants in the tournament bright victories, sporting and creative achievements,’ said Deputy Chairman of the Government Dmitry Chernyshenko in his welcoming speech.

The festival’s distinguished guests also toured the competition venues: the phygital center in the cinema hall, the game hall, and the ice arena of the Meshchersky Sports Complex. At the ice arena, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Governor opened the phygital sledge hockey tournament with a symbolic puck throw.

‘The Nizhny Novgorod region is now a top force in sledge hockey, including in terms of ideology. By holding sledge hockey tournaments, we invite teams from new regions of Russia to participate, and we help the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics to develop this area of sport. We see how sport enables children with health issues to resume a completely normal childhood,’ stated Gleb Nikitin, Governor of the Region.

The phygital sledge hockey competition had two stages. The teams first competed in the digital arena, and then proceeded to the ice arena to play 3×3 sledge hockey. Four children’s teams competed for the cup: Legion (Rostov-on-Don), Chaika-Sledge (Nizhny Novgorod), Lugansk-Sledge (Lugansk), and Torpedo-Sledge (Nizhny Novgorod). Torpedo-Sledge was the competition winner, with Lugansk-Sledge taking second place and Chaika-Sledge coming in third.

16 teams took part in the phygital basketball tournament. The game was held in two formats: interactive basketball on consoles in the phygital zone and classic 3×3 basketball in the game hall. The winning teams were those that achieved the highest score in both the phygital phase and the on-site match. Perspektivnyak took first place, IRL Gaming received the silver medal, and Red Anchor was awarded third place.

The participants in the festival’s phygital races competed with each other in speed, agility, and technical proficiency. In a relay race format, team pilots alternated between the digital and real tracks, ensuring that both segments of the race were completed by each of them. The gold medal went to Horizon Racing, the silver medal to STK Nika, and the bronze medal to Tsirkulyarka.

‘Phygital is a competitive format that combines physical and digital sports, leveraging virtual reality technology to foster essential skills in athletes. Phygital training and competitions help in socializing and engaging console gaming enthusiasts interested in sports. To participate in tournaments, kids need to demonstrate proficiency in both digital and real-world sports. For traditional athletes, phygital offers a platform to hone concentration, reaction speed, strategic thinking, logic and other skills in a digital setting,’ said Dmitry Kabaylo, Minister of Sports of the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

In addition to the phygital festival, hockey tournaments were also held at the Meshchersky Sports Complex as part of CIPR.

A friendly Friendship Cup in sledge hockey was held on May 21. It was a match between a select team of phygital sledge hockey players and a team of representatives from the Nizhny Novgorod Region Government, CIPR guests, and participants. The children’s team won with a score of 2:1.

On May 22-23, Meshchersky also hosted a 5×5 ice hockey cup tournament, in which four hockey teams took part: DIGITAL SPETSNAZ consisted of ministers of digital development and heads of digital transformation from Russian regions, a team from the Government of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, the Officers’ Hockey League select team from Nizhny Novgorod, and Digital Troopers, representing the business community and CIPR participants. The Officers’ Hockey League select team was awarded first place, the Nizhny Novgorod Region Government team received the silver medal, and Digital Troopers was awarded the bronze medal.

The Ice and Speed Phygital Festival was a joint initiative of the Government of the Nizhny Novgorod Region and Digital Forums LLC, with the support of the All-Russian Federation of Phygital Sports and the Officers’ Hockey League.