VIDEO: "The Prime Minister's Cup" Tournament Celebrates Human Will, says Nikol Pashinyan

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Mrs. Anna Hakobyan attended the final stage of the "Prime Minister of Armenia's Cup" amateur table tennis tournament today in Charentsavan, Kotayk Province. This year marks the second round of the table tennis tournament, launching the 2023 amateur competitions for the "Prime Minister's Cup of Armenia".

Nikol Pashinyan and Anna Hakobyan watched the four final matches held at the Ara Manukyan Youth Sports School in Charentsavan. Following the competitions, a solemn award ceremony was held.

The amateur table tennis tournament took place in Yerevan and all provinces of Armenia, in two stages, with two age groups participating: those aged 18-40 and participants aged 41 and older, both male and female. In the final round, competitors who placed 1st to 3rd in the two age groups of the first stage competed against each other. Participants who achieved places 1 to 10 in both age groups received certificates, medals, and cash prizes from the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport.

The cash prizes for the first place amounted to 1,000,000 AMD, 500,000 AMD for second place, 300,000 AMD for third place, 100,000 AMD for fourth place, and 50,000 AMD for each of the 5th to 10th places. Participants winning first place were also awarded symbolic cups this year.

The Prime Minister presented awards to the winning men in the 18-40 age group who placed 1st to 3rd, and also handed commemorative gifts and diplomas to the two oldest participants, Emma Arakelyan and Karen Beglaryan, representing Syunik Province. Other prizes were distributed by the Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport, Zhanna Andreasian, the Deputy Minister, Karen Giloyan, and the Deputy Minister of Health, Lena Nanushyan.

After the award ceremony, the Prime Minister gave a speech, stating, “Dear attendees, I would like to congratulate our cup winners once again. The Prime Minister's Cup for table tennis has been held for the second year. We are organizing this tournament to popularize sports and physical culture. You know that we acquire entirely new equipment for each specific table tennis tournament, and after the competition, this equipment is transferred to regional sports schools, so that this sport—table tennis—can develop, a healthy lifestyle can flourish, and a spirit of competition and victory can emerge along with a sense of unity and completeness.”

You may have noticed that this year, we implemented a change in the tournament's symbols. We already have medals and symbols specifically produced for the Prime Minister's Cup. This also signifies the development of this idea and initiative.

What we see on the playing field speaks of many things. We witness the will to win, the spirit, we see success and failure. It is also through seeing and participating that we must learn to live with all of these, to overcome failures and despair, to shape our will to win, and to have the determination to reach our goals. Our aim is to have a strong, powerful, and prosperous state—having the Republic of Armenia that features such sports halls as a common sight in all our communities, villages, and neighborhoods.

Thousands of children and adults should enter these sports halls—to strengthen and cultivate their will—and adults must serve as role models for the youth through their own will. Ultimately, we can heal ourselves—physically, psychologically, and morally.

I want to thank all participants. This year's playing field has seen familiar faces from last year's tournament. In three forms, this year we already have double cup winners, but we also saw new faces in both the playing and awarding stages. I want to particularly congratulate our double prize winners and hope that with the increase in the number of participants and improvements in infrastructure, the competition will intensify, and we will have new champions. However, it is crucial that those who win do so in a fair competition, primarily owing to their own will.

The Prime Minister's Cup is about celebrating human life and human will. In conclusion, I want to thank all the organizers, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport. We see that every time we demonstrate special diligence towards our organizational details, which is primarily our respect for the participants, the sport, and the audience. Thank you all, and I wish us all success!”