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Sergey Sirant: My favourite word that I shout when supporting is “enjoy”!
Date: 7/26/2020 9:48 AM
Published by : Alan Raftery
While we await the restarting of the tournament calendar, some players are more eager than others to get going. Russia’s Sergey Sirant is certainly one of them. 

Sirant was hitting good form as Russia’s number one men’s singles player before the break and was looking to secure his spot for the Tokyo Olympics. Currently, it is very finely balanced with Vladimir Malkov just four places behind him in the Race to Tokyo ranking. 

Russia as a team has also been showing that it can compete against the best nations. Asking Sirant what is it that Russia is still missing to become European champions? 

-Russia is a very generous country for talented guys, but unfortunately, we do not have a good recipe to beat the Danish team.

The Russian men, along with hosts France secured a bronze medal at the European Men’s Team Championship in Liévin, behind the Netherlands and Denmark who won silver and gold, respectively. 

Russia will take part in the European Mixed Team qualification in December this year. They are in group two with Switzerland, Belgium, and Poland. Discussing how he sees Russia’s qualification chances, Sirant says. 

-Yes, of course, Russia will take part and fight for qualification. If we can do it, I do not like to think about it, but I hope everything goes well for our team.

Wait and see
If Russia does indeed forge a safe path to the final stages next year, history says that Russia will feature on the podium, having done so at the last six EMTC events. Agreeing with this precedent, Sirant says.

-Yes, of course, Russia will qualify for medals. We now have high-level players in each category, so the chances are good.

As Sirant alludes to, there have been some strong young players that have entered the senior squad, such as, Rodion Alimov (22), Alina Davletova (21), Georgii Karpov (19) and Mariia Golubeva (15). Sirant, 26, shares what role he plays in the team and how long he sees himself playing at this level. 

-The Russian team is very serious. So, I like to change that by positively setting up the team. My favourite word that I shout when supporting is “enjoy”!

-I will continue playing as long as my team needs me. In general, I plan to participate in the next Olympics. Wait and see (Russian proverb).

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