Part 2 of interview with Nikolai Mishta, see here for part 1: http://en.armpower.net/article/en/nikolai-mishta-a1-russian-open-2015-is-waiting-3518.html

How are A1 finances doing? Will the prize pool be the same as last year?

Of course. The only thing that is unclear as yet is the strange and artificial inflation of the dollar. Let's hope this will change by the middle of the year, but anyway, the money prize will be no less when counted in rubel, even more. We are thinking about expanding money prizes in the disabled category to the 5^th place in every category, because they have OPEN. I'd also like for women to compete in A1 again, the new prizes in OPEN look promising.

There are rumours that in 2014 the A1 organizers had trouble financing the prizes. Is that true?

We did have some trouble The organizing costs were much bigger than we expected. This led to some Ukrainian and Russian fighters getting their prizes later, in a month's time after the contest. But no one was upset.

What can you say about the cast of contestants, will we see any armwrestling celebrities?

We are not worried about the attendance. The whole Caucasus will be there. All 2014 contestants have confirmed their starts this year, providing no serious injuries befall them. I have other worries – whether we won't have to get 8 table for the eliminations.

Do you plan to surprise the audience in any way?

We have no need to surprise the audience.

We just want everybody to experience the spirit of contest and be satisfied with the most expected bouts by stars of armwrestling. A1 is a unique opportunity for the common fighter, who is in no national team and wants to try their hand against the best in the world. This is the feeling we want to cultivate.

Across the ocean our sport already has TV coverage. What are your plans as for the media?

I can say already that there will be some free broadcasts in the Internet and also live broadcasts on TV. We are negotiating with different channels, and the outlook is promising.

You have signed a contract with Denis Tsyplenkov, do you see him fighting Chaffee, Pushkar, Larrat or Todd?

I really appreciate Denis's part in A1 and armwrwestling. All the fights you mentioned are unavoidable, , though right now Chaffee is the leader in North America, but maybe Larratt and Brzenk will be able to stand up to him. I do hope they come and we will see who's the strongest in the world.

I see you regularlily at federal tournaments, where you always show stable and progressive style. Do you make a living off of armwrestling?

I've been fighting since 1998, but gained my master of sports in 2011. This was due to working without a coach. Then I trained with Alex Mundzhishvili, Arthur Aghajanian, and presently with Khadzimurat Zoloev. So far my best score is 5^th in the Russian Championships. But I don't intend to stop there.

Why armwrestling?

This is my passion, a way to develop my strength, to compete fairly against an opponent, I just like all of it! Some say you cannot break free of armwrestling. That's true, it;'s a way of life!

Ilya Izman