The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev and Washington Capitals’ captain Alex Ovechkin were front and center Tuesday night at the Club Platforma in Sochi, Russia, for a professional Combat Sambo tournament. For those not familiar, Sambo is a Russian form of martial arts and combat sport.

Other NHL Stars in attendance Tuesday night included the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin (second row) and retired NHL star Pavel Bure (end of first row next to Ovechkin).

Sambo was originally developed in the early 1920s by the Soviet Red Army to improve their hand-to-hand combat abilities. It was intended to be a merger of the most effective techniques of other martial arts.

The tournament consisted of ten duels (three rounds for five minutes each round) between the Russian national team and the world team.

The organizers of the competition are the largest sports and education center in the country “Sambo-70” and LEAGUE S-70, with the support frm the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation, the administration of the Krasnodar region, and the mayor’s office of Sochi.

The name of the tournament “PLOTFORM S-70”, which has been held in Sochi for the past 8 years, comes from the name of the previous venue – the club “PLOTForma”.

Additional images from the event:

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