From today, the Leningrad region, Gatchina meet the participants of the 6th International Challenge tournament "White Nights". The city is located 45 kilometers south of St. Petersburg and has 100.000 inhabitants.

"White Nights" Challenge is one of the last events before the Olympic Games in London. The Olympians can get extra practicing matches to stay in a good shape and also gain some world ranking points for the new season.

The hot favourites to take the men’s singles title are the top seed Przemyslaw Wacha of Poland, Ville Lång of Finland, Irishman Scott Evans and Ukrainian Dmytro Zavadsky. In the women’s singles, it is probably the top seed Larissa Griga of Ukraine (pictured) and second seed Chloe Magee (Ireland) who have the best chances to meet each other in Sunday’s finals.

During the tournament, the local organizers also preparing a culture programme for already the third year in the row. This will take place after the semifinals and players dinner. The guests of the town will visit the "Night of the Music" at the town park. At the swimming scene, the orchestras from St. Petersburg and Moscow will play the symphonies of Rahmaninov and Glinka, and the event will go on as a gala-concert show during the whole night.

Organizers hope that the participants and guests will get warm and unforgettable memories and wish the participants a successful tournament.

Click here for the results of the 2012 White Nights.

Photo by BadmintonPhoto