World SAMBO Championships to be held in Bishkek for the first time in history

The capital of the Kyrgyz Republic, the city of Bishkek, will host the main tournament of the year in the FIAS calendar, the World Sambo Championships, from November 11 to 13. Competitions will be held in three disciplines: Sport SAMBO among women, Sport SAMBO among men and Combat SAMBO among men.

The general partner of the tournament is Rosneft oil company. Since 2013, the company has been the general sponsor of the International SAMBO Federation. During the cooperation, dozens of bright championships of the international level have been held.

Athletes from more than 50 countries of the world are expected to take part in the main sporting event of the FIAS calendar. Among them are Australia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Great Britain, Venezuela, Greece, Guinea, Honduras, Georgia, Djibouti, Egypt, Israel, Spain, Italy, Kazakhstan, Cameroon, Canada, Cyprus, Korea, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Mali, Morocco, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Niger, Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, Saudi Arabia, North Macedonia, Serbia, USA, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan , Uruguay, Philippines, Croatia, Chile, Japan and others. Athletes from Russia, Belarus and France will compete under the flag of the International SAMBO Federation in accordance with the decision of the FIAS Executive Committee. Also, for the first time in history, a team of refugees will participate in the World SAMBO Championships.

In total, 21 sets of medals will be played. Participants will compete for the title of the strongest athletes on the planet in the following weight categories:

Women: 50 kg, 54 kg, 59 kg, 65 kg, 72 kg, 80 kg, +80 kg

Men: 58 kg, 64 kg, 71 kg, 79 kg, 88 kg, 98 kg, 98+ kg

Combat SAMBO: 58 kg, 64 kg, 71 kg, 79 kg, 88 kg, 98 kg, 98+ kg

“The International SAMBO Federation continues to expand the geography of countries where SAMBO is developing and national federations are being created. We hope that this year, for the first time, athletes from Burkina Faso, Djibouti and Saudi Arabia will take part in the World Championships. Thanks to the support of the general partner of the World SAMBO Championships, Rosneft oil company, talented athletes from the most remote corners of the world will be able to come to the competitions.

A landmark event of the upcoming Championships will be the venue of the competition – for the first time in the history of FIAS, the main tournament of the year will be held in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek. Let me remind you that the techniques of the Kyrgyz national wrestling kuresh, along with other martial arts of the peoples of the world, are an integral part of the SAMBO technique. And today the Kyrgyz team, which has a strong SAMBO school and will perform in full force at home, can be considered among the tournament favorites. I am sure that we will witness spectacular and uncompromising fights in which samboists from all over the world will demonstrate the will to win, fortitude and technical skills,” said FIAS President Vasily Shestakov.