The tournament is held every year on 23 August in Kharkiv, the city’s birthday.

In Kharkiv our fighters from both the Kharkiv and Sumy branches competed.

In fencing divisions Alla Shovkoplias took an honourable 2nd place in Shield & Sword.

Alla Shovkoplias receiving her medal

Team divisions were our priority, and training had been geared specifically toward them.

We fielded three trios for the 3 vs 3 division:

Knyaz 1: Ilias Vyshutin, Bohdan Vlasov, Oleksii Ostrovskyi, Oleksandr Popov;

Knyaz 2: Mykyta Andreiev, Ruslan Badalov, Dmytro Kriuchko, Maksym Horkin;

Sumy Meat Factory (Knyaz 3): Yurii Vlasenko, Ivan Melnikov, Bohdan Kalinichenko, Andrii Soloshenko.

Knyaz 2 team

Other teams on the lists included «Taurus», «Sharukhan» and «Vershnyky Apokalipsysu».

Every team delivered a worthy fight and unforgettable moments for the spectators.

Knyaz 1 was led by club captain Ilias Vyshutin.

Under his command the team worked in sync and racked up win after win.

Knyaz 2 was made up entirely of fighters who had competed at Battle of the Nations that year — including «Ukraine 1» fighter Mykyta Andreiev.

Knyaz 3 dubbed itself the «Sumy Meat Factory» — a joking name, since every fighter except Kharkiv junior Andrii Soloshenko came from Sumy.

The line-up was captained by Yurii Vlasenko, another «Ukraine 1» fighter at Battle of the Nations.

«Knyaz 3» clashing with «Taurus»

Thanks to teamwork in every line-up and the effort put in, all 3 teams reached the podium, with «Knyaz 1» claiming the top prize.

Winners received medals, diplomas and a cup.

Thanks to the «Ritter» club organisers for the traditionally high level of organisation.