The President of the SAMBO Association of Uzbekistan Alisher Alimov made important statement about the martial art for FIAS official webstie. During the conversation he shared the secrets of the success of Uzbek athletes at international competitions, talked about how the change in weight categories affected sports results, as well as about the upcoming World SAMBO Championships 2021 in Tashkent.
How do you assess the performance of Uzbek athletes at the World Cup?
– First of all, I would like to thank the International SAMBO Federation, the All-Russian SAMBO Federation for organizing the sports event. You know that due to the pandemic, there are very few such tournaments in the world, and we understand how much work it costs.
As for the performance of our athletes, you have probably already noticed that we brought a renewed lineup to this World Cup – guys and girls who became champions of Uzbekistan. We wanted to give them a chance to perform in the international arena, to prove themselves, to gain experience. It’s no secret that any athlete feels differently at home and on the international stage.
How successful was the first day of the competition for the national team of Uzbekistan?
– We, of course, expected a little more, especially from the first day. But sport is sport, it is impossible to predict the results. I can say that the training of our guys was very serious. Before each international start, we carefully prepare our athletes, without any indulgences. This time we decided to save our titled athletes, world champions, so that they can properly prepare for the Asian Championships, which will be held in Tashkent from June 4 to 6. In addition, from 12 to 14 November 2021, the capital of Uzbekistan will host the World SAMBO Championships. The guys will have a good opportunity to show themselves, their technique, all their best sports qualities.
In recent years, the national team of Uzbekistan has been showing high results at international tournaments. In your opinion what is this connected with?
– As you know, since the beginning of 2019, the team in the National SAMBO Association of Uzbekistan has completely changed: the general director, senior coaches, coaches of the women’s team, coaches of the youth team. Also, there was a change in the leadership of the Sambo Association – the vice-presidents were updated, the administrative staff changed. With my colleagues, we work side by side for the benefit of the development of SAMBO in Uzbekistan. But in fairness, it should be noted that without the high attention of the President of Uzbekistan to sports in general, and SAMBO in particular, we would not have achieved these results. It is very important for both the leadership of the Association and the athletes to feel the guardianship of the head of state.
Read the full interview HERE.
