Source: EYEPRESS Images/F.L Wong
[Saba Sports News] Reports from Russia, including Uralpress, have stated that Vladimir Ivanov, one half of the Russian “Twin Towers” doubles pair and former All England Championships men’s doubles champion, has taken up the position of Minister of Sport for the Chelyabinsk Oblast after retiring from professional play. Ivanov, who stands at 197 cm and pairs with his partner Ivan Sozonov, was known as one of Russia’s “double towers.” In 2016, they famously beat Liu Xiaolong/Qiu Zihan, Lee Yong Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong, and Hiroyuki Endo/Kenichi Hayakawa to win the All England Championships, becoming the first-ever Russian men’s doubles champions in the event’s history. After their victory, they celebrated by joyously performing the Maori Haka dance on the court, making headlines worldwide that year. However, later that year, Sozonov suffered an Achilles tendon injury during the European Championships, forcing him to recover for several months. Luckily, his recovery went well, and they made it to the 2016 Rio Olympics, where they were defeated by Chai Biao/HONG Wei, bowing out at the quarterfinal stage. They did not achieve many notable wins afterward, winning only some lower-tier Super 100 events. In 2020, Ivanov and Sozonov beat teams including Han Chengkai/Zhou Haodong, Kamura Takeshi/Sonoda Keigo, and Olympic bronze medalists Andrew Ellis/Chris Langridge, though they ultimately lost 0-2 to the eventual champions Watanabe Yuta/Hiroyuki Endo in the semifinals. That same year, they won the Denmark Open runner-up title. In 2021, they reclaimed the European Championship men’s doubles crown and participated in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, but were eliminated in the round of 16, after which they gradually faded from the badminton scene.