SAMBO World Cup Stage for the Awards of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

For the sambists of the world, this sport year will start on January 27, with the Sambo World Cup Stage in prizes of N. Nazarbaev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. This is the first one of four stages of Sambo World Cup that will be held in 2012 under the aegis of FIAS.

In addition to this Kazakhstan Stage of the World Cup, there are the following Cups in the official FIAS calendar: A. Kharlampiev Memorial (Moscow, Russia, March 24 - 27), A. Astakhov Memorial (Caracas, Venezuela, June 28 - July 1), and the World Cup Stage for in of A. Aslakhanov (Russia, October 5 - 8).

Kazakhstan is a country with strong sport traditions. In 2011, the 7th Asian Games were held with great success in Astana and Almaty. This year, the high-mountain skating-rink Medeo in Almaty will host the World Championships in ice-hockey, and Kazakhstan will welcome the World Boxing Championships in 2013. Among the sports popular in Kazakhstan are football, hockey, and weightlifting. Among the combat sports, the most popular ones are boxing, wrestling and, of course, SAMBO. At the last World Championships in Vilnius, Kazakhstan team won 9 medals (1 gold medal, 2 silver medals and 6 bronze medals respectively) and took the 5th place in team classification (in 3 disciplines).

The Sambo World Cup Stage 2012 will take place in the Ice Palace of Uralsk (a city in the European part of the North Kazakhstan with the population of ca. 250 thousand people). The organizers of the World Cup expect that about 200 athletes from 15 countries of the world will participate in the World Cup. Among them will be athletes not only from the traditional SAMBO states, but also from the USA, Germany, Korea, and Iran. The medal events to be held are the men's and women's competitions in sport SAMBO and the competitions in combat SAMBO in 68 kg and 82 kg weight categories.

We would like to remind you that, this year, FIAS will determine three World Cup winners following the results of the four Stages. The prize fund will be distributed among the three winners. The winners of the Gold Medals in each weight category and in the men's and women's competitions will receive $ 3000, the winners of the Silver Medals - 1500, and the bronze medalists will get $ 750. Special awards of the International Sambo Federation are waiting for the nominees in the following categories: "Best Athlete" (M) and, "Best Athlete" (W), as well as "Best Journalist" and "Best Photographer" covering SAMBO competitions.

It will be Uralsk, where athletes will open the score that will help them take a step closer to the World Cup and the prestigious title of the Best athlete of 2012. Only a few days are left until that moment. We wait edgily for the first results of the Cup and wish all the athletes and trainers success in the implementation of their plans, in the joy of all the Sambo fans!