Hockey on Border Patrol's watch. A friendly match between teams from Amurskaya Oblast and Heilongjiang province was played right on the Amur river. An ice rink was set up right on the border.
Anton Selivonik will share the outcome.
They were in two places at once: the ice rink was set up right on the border river Amur. Only the players were allowed on the ice. On the left bank is the Russian city Blagoveschensk, and on the right side is the Chinese Heihe. And right in the middle, an international hockey battle is about to begin.
The teams enter the ice from the side of their corresponding country. During the game, each of the players will cross the international border many times, as it stretches right down the center of the field.
The kids begin first. And the second historic game begins! The first two matches between Amurskaya Oblast and Heilongjiang province were held 1 year ago. Then, both the kids and the adults from Russia beat their rivals with scores 2:0 and 4:3. The date was chosen on purpose, it's Valery Kharlamov's birthday. Notably, 2 out of 3 goals were scored by the 9-year-old Nikita Pozdnyakov. playing under the legendary number 17. The young player has big plans.
Nikita Pozdnyakov: "To make it into the NHL, to make it big, to be famous".
Russian kids beat their Chinese counterparts with a score of 3:0. Then, it was the juniors' turn. These are collective teams of the two near-border regions. Russia was represented by players from Blagoveshchensk, Svobodny, and Novobureyskiy. Foreign players were from Qiqihar and Harbin. This is the second year that Jiao Xianjun is participating in the event. He says there's a lot to learn from the Russian players.
Jiao Xianjun: "I'm very happy to participate in such matches. I gain experience from the Russian players. Your guys have very good technique. I'm very glad to learn from them".
"Score the puck! Score the puck! "
Only the players' close friends and relatives were allowed to come cheer for the teams. After all, Border Patrol is fully enforced, and the river's ice has its limitations. The rest were cheering from the embankments. In Blagoveshchensk, the game was streamed live onto a big screen.
Mikhail Teterev: "It's awesome. They're cheering over there, we're over here. Everyone's screaming".
The juniors' game was intense. There was only one goal, scored by Amur players.
Maksim Sobolev, Forward, Amurskaya Oblast: "I'm very impressed with the game. I'm very happy to have played here, there are many fans, everyone's glad and happy".
But victory isn't so important, as the games were planned as an additional friendly gesture between the two bordering territories. Last year, the meet was fully organized by the Russian side, and this year, the rink was prepared together.
Aleksandr Kozlov, Governor of Amurskaya Oblast: "Our two leaders, Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi Jinping agreed to support and expand word hockey, and right now there's a Chinese team playing in the KHL. We talked about it in 2015, and today we're having our second meet. I'm convinced that it's a good-spirited tradition that will continue for both the Amurskaya Oblast and Heilongjiang province".
The ice rink used for the international games will go into one of the Blagoveshchensk neighborhoods. It will be open to all that wish to play, without the watch of Border Patrol.
Anton Selivonik, Vasily Artemchuk, andVictor Karbushev, Vesti, Blagoveshchensk.
