Key Events in FIAS Sport Calendar 2012

On February 21-23, the first tournament of a category "A" in this year - the Open Championships of Belarus in prizes of the President of Belarus - will be held in Minsk. There are three international tournaments of a category "A" in FIAS Calendar 2012. In addition to the Championships in Belarus, we will have Memorial Potapov U. (Vladivostok, Russia, June 10-12) and the USA - Open in May. For the sambo athletes, the key sport event of this year will be the World Cup held in 4 Stages. The First Stage that has already brought the starting points of the Cup classification was held during the last weekend in Uralsk (Kazakhstan). Sambo athletes have 3 more Stages before them - A. Kharlampiev Memorial (Moscow, Russia, March 24 - 27), A. Astakhov Memorial (Caracas, Venezuela, June 28 - July 1), and the World Cup Stage in prizes of A. Aslakhanov (Russia, October 5 - 8). Upon the results of the four Stages, they will determine the winners in each weight category (men and women) among whom they will distribute the prize fund. FIAS divided the international events in World Cup Stages and A class tournaments on the basis of particular criteria. The criteria for the World Cup Stages are as follows: the program was drawn up to include both men's and women's competitions; the tournament must be traditional and have a track record of no less than five years; and the athletes must represent 15 countries on 3 continents. The requirements to A class tournaments are different: the track record is also considered (no less than 5 years), but not so many countries will be represented (10 countries on 2 continents), and the program can include only men's or women's competitions. Thus, FIAS Calendar 2012 contains 4 World Cup Stages and 3 international A class tournaments. But the most important events of this sport year will be the World Championships - the Planet Forum for Youth and Juniors, that will take place in Sofia (the capital city of Bulgaria) on October 11-15 and the World Championships in Minsk (the capital city of Belarus), November 8-12. Another key point of the sport calendar for this year is the World Cup among students that will be held in Kazan (Russia) from November 30 to December 3. As we approach SAMBO's debut in the program of World Universiade 2013, this event will be an important test for FIAS to pass. "FIAS has been doing a lot of work related to the preparation for Universiade 2013. Its purpose is to implement the interesting and creative ideas that will help SAMBO look distinctive and bright among the other martial arts represented in Kazan. The oncoming World Cup among students is one of the stages of this work", commented FIAS Executive Director Sergey Tabakov on the "students' part" of the Calendar. "Surely, the development of the students' SAMBO is one of the most important tasks for FIAS. The students of today form the most active and creative part of the world community; they are the future industrialists, top-managers, researchers and politicians. They are the ones who can bring our favorite sport - SAMBO - into the life of the society", thinks FIAS President Vasily Shestakov. The Calendar for the year 2012 is very extensive; it gives the athletes vast opportunities for self-fulfillment; for the organizers and Management of FIAS it will be the platform for approbation of interesting creative ideas that will bring us closer to the more beautiful and successful SAMBO.