Orenburg’s Fakel-Gazprom table tennis club retakes top spot in nationwide contest
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On June 15–17, Orenburg hosted the final round of the 2017–2018 season of the national Men’s Premier League table tennis championship.
Twelve of Russia’s best table tennis teams vied for gold. Fakel-Gazprom made it to the finals without a single defeat. Less fortunate was last year’s champion, UMMC from Verkhnyaya Pyshma (Sverdlovsk Region), as they lost 0–3 to the Orenburg team in the first match.
The Sverdlovsk team needed a shutout win to retain the top title, but the chance was lost when the first player of Fakel-Gazprom, Jun Mizutani, won a micro-match against Grigory Vlasov by a score of 3–0. Although in Orenburg the UMMC club defeated the host team 3–2, the two matches resulted in a higher score for Fakel-Gazprom.
Jun Mizutani securing Fakel-Gazprom’s victory in national championship by winning micro-match
All the players of the Orenburg club – Vladimir Samsonov, Dmitry Ovcharov, Jun Mizutani, Alexey Liventsov, Fyodor Kuzmin, and Denis Ivonin – demonstrated impressive results throughout the season, carrying Fakel-Gazprom to victory in the national championship for the eighth time. This is the club’s second major achievement this year: a month ago, it won silver in the European Champions League.
Fakel-Gazprom’s Vladimir Samsonov, Dmitry Ovcharov, and head coach Vladimir Endolov cheering on every shot
Fakel-Gazprom team led by Vladimir Kiyaev (left in first row), Club President and Director General of Gazprom Dobycha Orenburg, celebrating victory
Background
Gazprom Dobycha Orenburg is a subsidiary of Gazprom Pererabotka and Gazprom. It is mainly focused on hydrocarbon feedstock production, processing, and transportation.
The company consists of 10 structural units, among them Europe’s largest gas processing plant and Russia’s only helium plant.
Gazprom Dobycha Orenburg’s output includes over 20 types of commercial products, including 100 per cent of helium and odorant and 80 per cent of ethane produced in Russia.
The ISO 14001:2004 environmental management system is in effect at Gazprom Dobycha Orenburg. The company employs over 10,000 people. It is headquartered in Orenburg.