The Russian SAMBO Championships will be held from February 27 to March 1 in Orenburg. The tournament among men, women and in Combat SAMBO will be organized in the sports and cultural complex “Orenburg”.
Russian sambists will fight not only for the medals of the national championships but also for the right to represent the country at the largest international starts. Traditionally, the gold medalists will go to the World Championships as part of the national team, and the silver medalists will go to the European Championships.
The main intrigue of the tournament is related to the change in the number of weight categories in connection with the updated FIAS rules. The All-Russian SAMBO Federation decided to hold competitions in 7 weight categories for women, 7 for Combat SAMBO and 8 for men.
The national category of up to 53 kg was added to the international “seven” weight categories for men.
Thus, during three competitive days, athletes will compete for sets of medals in 22 new weight categories:
Men: 53 kg, 58 kg, 64 kg, 71 kg, 79 kg, 88 kg, 98 kg, +98 kg.
Women: 50 kg, 59 kg, 54 kg, 65 kg, 72 kg, 80 kg, +80 kg.
Combat SAMBO: 58 kg, 64 kg, 71 kg, 79 kg, 88 kg, 98 kg, + 98 kg.
“This year we are holding the Russian championships in new weight categories for the first time. Since the leaders have not yet decided, the results of the competition will be unpredictable. And although we have already held the qualifying stages in the new weights, the permutations of athletes are still noticeable, because it is very difficult for adult sambists to change the weight category. I think it will take a long time for stabilization here: maybe a year or two. So at the upcoming championships, we will have a lot of new names and fresh forces. I hope that the strongest athletes who will be able to adequately represent our country at world starts this year will be selected for the national team,” Sergey Eliseev, the President of the All-Russian SAMBO Federation, commented.
Source: sambo.sport
