Love to SAMBO has no bounds: Review of the National Championships in Asia. Part one

SAMBO is actively developing in the world. Every day more and more future athletes come to clubs; competitions attract more and more fans. Every year new countries join SAMBO family and conduct their first National Championships. We would like to offer You to take a trip to Asia and find out what important events took place in these countries last year. There are many countries in this large part of the World which fell in love with SAMBO and became real fans of this sport. SYRIA In Damascus, on the 9-th of February the meeting of the delegates of ASF and the President of Martial Arts Center, Brigadier General Bassam Yuniss and the Secretary General Ridvan Alzuki took place. The most important outcome of the meeting was an agreement signed by both parties to hold the first Syrian SAMBO Championship. ASF representatives were welcomed by Minister for Sports, President of the NOC of the Syrian Arab Republic, Brigadier General Juma Mowaffaq. He assured the President of the Asian SAMBO F. Pulatov of support for SAMBO in Syria and handed over a letter with the official recognition of this sport in the country. In March 1-3, 2011 in Damascus, the First National Championship in Syria was held. The event was organized by the Center of Martial Arts of Syria with support of ASF and FIAS. Competitions were held on sports SAMBO among women and men combat SAMBO among men. The tournament was a notable event in the sporting life of Syria, the President of Arab SAMBO Union Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Arab countries SAMBO Championship Jamal Nasser, President of the Center of Martial Arts, Brigadier General Bassam Yuniss, Counselor of the Russian Embassy in Syria Kutrashov Elbrus attended the Championship. LEBANON Saturated weekdays of the Asian SAMBO Federation continued by the trip to Lebanon on the 10-th of February 2012. The delegation of ASF was cordially received by the President of the National Olympic Committee of Lebanon Mr.Antoine Cratier. He handed the letter of official recognition of SAMBO by Lebanese NOC to Mr. Pulatov. Representatives ASF also held talks with the President of Federation of SAMBO and Judo of Lebanon Francois Saade and Secretary General Abdo Ayoub. The outcome of meeting was an agreement to hold West Asian and Arab Countries SAMBO Championship in May 2011. Beirut became a center of Asian SAMBO: in May 7-9 the capital of Lebanon hosted Constitutive Congress of West Asian SAMBO Federation (WASF), the Second Championship of Arab countries and the third West Asian SAMBO Championship. Representatives of Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Morocco, Sudan had attended the Constitutive Congress. Representatives of these countries had unanimously elected Yassin Al-Ayoubi from Syria President of WASF. Vice Pesidents of the new Federation are: Francois Saade from Lebanon, Mochles Al-Iraqi from Iraq and Khaled al-Hadidi from Jordan. West Asian and Arab countries SAMBO Championship gathered in Beirut's strongest athletes from Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Algeria, Sudan, Jordan and Morocco. Asian SAMBO Federation would like to thank the SAMBO and Judo Federation of Lebanon for a high level of organization of the Congress and tournament. JORDAN The First Jordan National SAMBO Championship had become an important event in Amman. It took place on 25-27 February 2011 thanks to the efforts of the Jordan SAMBO Committee and support of ASF and FIAS. Athletes competed in sport SAMBO (men and women) and combat SAMBO among men. Such distinguished guest such as Head of the Organizing Committee of the Arab Martial Arts Games, President of Kickboxing Federation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Dr. Bassel Al Shair visited the National Championship. He praised the organization of the Championship. On the eve of the First SAMBO Championship of Jordan, 11-13 February, ASF delegation visited Amman. The delegation consisted of the President of ASF F. Pulatov, his Advisor H. Valiev and director of the Department of International relations A.Fayziev. During their visit they met with the President of the Jordan SAMBO Committee Khaled Hadidi, Head of the Organizing Committee of the Arab Martial Arts Games- 2011, the President of the Federation of Kickboxing of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Dr Bassel Al-Shair, and Vice President of the National Olympic Committee of Jordan Dr. Sari Ahmed Hamdan. Thanks to the initiative of Mr. Al-Shair, it was decided to include SAMBO in to the program of Arab Martial Arts Games. He noted that including SAMBO in program would adorn the tournament. We would like to specify that the Arab Martial Arts Games will be held in 2013. The exact date and venue for the tournament have not been determined yet. Vice-President of the NOC of Jordan Dr. Sari Ahmed Hamdan told ASF President F. Pulatov that SAMBO is recognized by the NOC of Jordan, and soon will be awarded an official document of recognition. In his turn Fazliddin Pulatov, thanked hosts for the warm reception. TAIWAN The honor to host the first National SAMBO Championship had the city of Taipei. Athletes from different regions of Taiwan met here in March 12-13, 2011. Competitions were organized on its highest level by Taiwan's National Olympic Committee with the support of ASF and FIAS. Spectators, who attended the tournament, saw intense competition among men and women in sport SAMBO and among men in combat SAMBO. Among the guests were representatives of Taiwan's law enforcement bodies and the heads of the federations of different kinds of Martial Arts. After the successful competitions the delegation of ASF was received by the Secretary General of the NOC of Taiwan, Kevin Chen Kuo. Mr. Chen said that in the near future SAMBO Federation of Taiwan will receive official recognition of the NOC. TURKMENISTAN March 2011 brought to this country an important sporting event. Turkmenistan held a Third Central Asian SAMBO Championship (the first two were held in Tajikistan). During the opening ceremony Turkmen artists made a performance for SAMBO fans. The tournament was organized by the State Committee for Sports and Tourism of Turkmenistan with the active assistance of the ASF and FIAS. Strong contenders met in Ashgabat on March 26-28: athletes from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. They were competing for medals in sport SAMBO (women and men) and in combat SAMBO (men). Athletes of Turkmenistan won in the team competitions. Third Central Asian Cup has attracted the attention of such important guests as representatives of the Government of Turkmenistan, sports and business communities. The level of competition was praised by the President of Asian SAMBO Federation F. Pulatov, who accepted the invitation of Turkmen sports management to consider holding Asian Championship-2014 in Ashgabat. Based on materials provided by Asian SAMBO Federation