International SAMBO Tournament "Eigminas Memorial" was held in Vilnius

The 17th International SAMBO Tournament in Memory of Dr. Pranciškus Eigminas was held on December 14 in the Vilnius Palace of Culture and Sports. More than 120 athletes from nine countries competed for medals. The competitions were held in Sport SAMBO among men and women in adult and cadet age groups, as well as in Combat SAMBO among men.

"The first president of the Lithuanian SAMBO Federation, long-term Secretary General of the International SAMBO Federation (FIAS), Vice-Rector of Vilnius University, Dr. Pranciškus Eigminas is one of the most worthy figures of SAMBO in Lithuania and the world. He has dedicated more than 50 years to this sport," said Algirdas Navickas, President of the Vilnius SAMBO Federation.

At the opening of the competition, the athletes were greeted by the President of the Lithuanian Sambo Federation Dr.  Eduardas Rudas, Dr. Linas Obcarskas. The participants of the tournament were honored by the guests: the President of the Dutch SAMBO Federation Hendrik Jan Ningbers, the President of the Estonian SAMBO Federation Dmitri Samoshchuk, museumkeeper of Rokiškis Region Valius Kazlauskas, relatives of Pranciškus Eigminas – daughter Laura, sons Darius and Donatas, and grandchildren, other pupils and comrades of Pranciškus. The Lithuanian Anthem sounded the sound of a violin melody, which was greeted by a guest from Poland, the head of the Warsaw club and coach Ivo Cherniavski.

The competition was held on two mats. In the weight category up to 79 kg, the Paralympic Games medalist in judo Osvaldas Bareikis competed, who in a tough bout in the final lost to the multiple medalist of the European and World Championships Mindaugas Veržbickas from Ukmergė. Multiple European and World Sambo Championships prize winner Latvian Viktors Reško won the tournament gold for the third year in a row. The Combat SAMBO competitions presented spectators with many interesting fights.

Athletes from 6 countries won the tournament medals. In the team standings, Lithuanian athletes took first place, winning 11 gold medals. The second place went to the Latvian team (2 gold, 2 silver medals), and Poland took third place, winning 2 gold medals.