Russian athletes aged 14-16 have arrived in Ashgabat for a joint table tennis training camp with their Turkmen counterparts. This is the first combined training session for young tennis players from Russia and Turkmenistan, reports a Takyk correspondent.

The guests in Ashgabat are alumni of the leading club and multiple Premier League winner, UMMC (Ural Mining and Metallurgical Combine, Yekaterinburg, Russia). They are training at the Olympic Village and the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports, where excellent facilities meet all modern requirements.

During breaks between training sessions, the Ural juniors will enjoy an engaging cultural and educational program introducing them to the sights and traditions of hospitable Turkmenistan.

UMMC coach Ilya Zhidkov praised the comfort and enormous scale of Ashgabat's sports infrastructure.

"The sports facilities are simply impeccable. The sheer scale is astonishing and astounding. We thoroughly enjoyed training here with the guys. I'd like to point out that the Turkmen athletes are of a very high standard. The competition was fierce in the friendly score-based games. We are absolutely confident that the Ashgabat training camp will mark the beginning of a strong sports friendship between the students of our countries' tennis schools, as well as a significant boost to the further development of bilateral cooperation in table tennis," said Zhidkov.