2011 World SAMBO Championships in Lithuania: four days before start

Some 400 athletes from 45 countries of the world are expected to participate in the upcoming XXXV World SAMBO Championships next week. Vilnius will welcome representatives of sports SAMBO (men and women) as well as combat sambo wrestlers.

We would like to remind you that 300 competitors from 30 countries participated in the last year World Championships in Tashkent (Uzbekistan). At the time the most representative delegations were those of Europe and Asia, who sent to Tashkent athletes from 14 and 11 countries, respectively. The medals of Tashkent competition were distributed between the participants from 16 countries, a fact that speaks of rather broad modern geography of SAMBO. The trio of leaders in the SAMBO team standings was as following: Russia, Bulgaria, Belarus.

Who are the favorites on Lithuania's mats?

Undoubtedly, at the moment the Bulgarians are very strong in combat SAMBO. At the last European Championships, which was the home one for them, the Bulgarians won five silver medals and a gold in the most prestigious heavyweight category. The Bulgarian heavyweighter Martin Marinkov achieved impressive victory by a submission hold on the second minute of the bout despite being 1-8 down over its course. In team rankings the Bulgarian combat SAMBO wrestlers only lost to team Russia by a small margin.

We would like to point out that for the first time in history of the European Championships the French national anthem has been played during an awards ceremony. French athlete in 100kg weight class Nicholas Mbog stepped on the top of the podium. In the final he sensationally defeated Bulgaria's Ivan Stoyanov.

France, a trendsetter in fashion and in judo, is successfully trying on a sambo jacket. The sounds of French anthem are likely to become quite common at SAMBO competition very soon.

A serious and interesting competition in this spectacular weight class is expected in Vilnius.

It will be the representatives of combat sambo for whom the majority of Lithuanian spectators will root for. After all, the Lithuanian sambo wrestlers won two bronze medals at the SportAccord's First World Combat Games in Beijing a year ago. Lithuania's Sergej Grecicho (74kg weight category) and Tadas Rimkevicius (heavyweight) climbed on the third steps of the podiums of this prestigious martial arts forum in China. One could be certain that these weight categories will be the focus of a special attention of the Lithuanian public.

In women SAMBO we are likely to witness another duel between the favorites: teams Belarus and Russia. At the this year European Championships the Belarusian ladies won three gold medals, but still finished behind the Russians in the team rankings. Belarus has mostly been represented by experienced wrestlers at the event, while the Russians have sent a young, untested line up. In the end, in a competition between experience and youth, the youth has prevailed.

The Lithuanians certainly expect a victory from their compatriot, a heavyweight competitor Santa Pakenite, who finished only fifth in Tashkent. At home, with the support of her fans, Santa undoubtedly will try to climb to the top of the Worlds podium.

Sambo wrestlers from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan shined at the 2011 Asian Championships. Certainly these athletes will be among medal contenders in Lithuania too.

Traditionally, representatives of such sambo powerhouses as Mongolia and Georgia also perform strongly at the World Championships.

Let us also mention the South Koreans: recently SAMBO has been developing very fast in the country. Allow us to remind you that the Korean athlete Kwangsub Kim won a bronze medal in sports SAMBO at the aforementioned SportAccord's World Combat Games in Beijing in 68kg weight class. The Chinese sports forum has been quite representative, and, certainly, the Korean sambo wrestler is in great shape and eager to compete for a medal of the World Championships.

The geography of SAMBO is expanding; the interest towards this unique martial art is growing in all over the world. It gives us hope that the upcoming World Championships will surprise us, present us with new favorites and astonish us with intricacies of engaging sports competition.

The wait is almost over!