"The Future Of SAMBO In The Asian Games Is In Your Hands"

With these words, president of the SAMBO Union of Asia Alamjon Mullaev addressed the international and national technical delegates of this sport on the eve of the debut of SAMBO in the program of the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia. On August 29, they all gathered at the Jakarta Convention Center to attend a technical meeting prior to the start of the SAMBO competitions.

The SAMBO tournament at the Asian Games will be held from August 31 to September 1. Medals in 4 weight categories (2 among women, and 2 among men) will be played out by representatives of 18 countries of Asia. 75 sambists from Afghanistan, Bahrain, Vietnam, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, Chinese Taipei, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mongolia, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Japan and, of course, Indonesia will compete for the victory.

The technical meeting was attended by 27 international technical delegates (ITO) and 33 national technical delegates (NTO). Each of them was assigned with his own role and terms of responsibility in the upcoming competitions. As Alamjon Mullayev noted in his welcome address, it is due to the well-coordinated work of all members of the team without exception that the upshot would depend.

‘SAMBO was included in the program of the Asian Games for the first time ever – and so the long-cherished dream of SAMBO athletes of our continent has been fulfilled. Now, our task is to demonstrate to the whole Asia and to whole world that we rightfully take part in these largest multi-sport competitions on the continent,’ remarked Alamjon Mullaev.

In his turn, President of the All-Indonesia SAMBO Federation Krisna Bayu claimed that he was happy to welcome the sambists of the entire continent at the historic event in Jakarta, and along with the organizing committee would do everything possible for their comfortable stay at the Asian Games.

ITO-representative of SAMBO Union of Asia Suresh Gopi gave a presentation for the international and technical SAMBO delegates at the Games.

‘To me, and to all the members of the Asian SAMBO family, the Asian Games are an Olympic challenge. They say that the Asian Games are the second most important competitions for the continent, comparable to the Olympic Games. To me, they are the first most important competitions, though. Because they allow us to demonstrate our martial art, and give the sambists of each country a great chance to win a medal and to return home as a hero with this honorable award. This is a moment of pride, a historic moment for SAMBO, as we are participating for the first time in the Asian Games,’ said Suresh Gopi.