Open SAMBO Championship of Austria

In December, the first Open Championship of Austria in Sports and Combat SAMBO (self-defense without weapons) was held in Vienna (the capital of Austria). In this highland country located in Central Europe the most popular winter sports are snowboarding, cross-country skiing, various types of slalom, alpine skiing, bobsleigh and biathlon. Austria is the only country in Europe where alpine skiing is a school subject. Among the summer sports, the most popular are football and yachting, among martial arts - judo. It was in Vienna where they held the European Judo Championship in April 2010. Judo is widely spread in the country; among the Austrians, there are World Champions and Olympic Champions. As to SAMBO, a sport close to judo, recently it has been developing rapidly in Austria. The first December Championship is a clear proof of it. The Championship was held in the National Budo Center with the participation of sportsmen from Russia, Slovakia, Italy, Hungary and Austria. In addition to the individual competitions, they held also the team competitions. The excitement and emotions typical for this type of competitions were not misspent this time. The battle between the All-European and the Russian Team aroused considerable interest of the audience. "I think that was not bad for the beginners. Now I feel more confident, and I am sure that I will do no other sports but SAMBO. We have just begun, but very many people are already interested in SAMBO. I think that sooner or later we will have a strong team," - said the Austrian sambist Afgan Abdullaev, the winner of the bronze medal. The cup "For the Will to Win" was established by the RF Embassy in Austria who rendered their assistance in the organization of this prestigious SAMBO tournament. The cup was presented to Austrian sportsman Yasmin Khadzialik by Sergey Nechaev, Ambassador of the RF in Austria. "We are very glad that there are enthusiasts in Austria who promote SAMBO. The Russia Embassy in Austria also pays great attention to this. We hope that sambo will keep developing in Austria and become as popular as hockey or football," - commented on the Championship Valery Sidorov, Attach? of the RF Embassy in Austria for cultural relations and the work with compatriots. Anatoly Kalkhadarov, the Trainer for various martial arts in Austria, said: "We would like to show to the people here what SAMBO is. It is a very young sport in Austria. Sport means international friendship and friendship among people. As to SAMBO, it also helps people protect themselves which is very important in the modern world". Except for the Vienna Championship, they also held trainers' seminars for advanced sambists and for those who make their first steps in this exciting martial art. One of the seminars was held especially for elderly people - retirees from Burgenland. This again proved that SAMBO is generally available and open to everyone; there are no age restrictions for it, and it is very good for health. The seminars were held by two sportsmen from Russia (the birthplace of SAMBO) - Vitaly Vidi, World Champion among Masters, and Mikhail Ilyukhin, World Champion in Mixed Martial Arts. "Our purpose was to see if the Austrian Federation is ready for this kind of work. In spring, we held a children's tournament; now, we have organized the championship for adults. Next year we are planning to hold another Championship, not for the sportsmen of particular age, but a combined one for children, adults, and veterans. This has been already done in Germany and Slovakia. I am very happy about the results of our work and would like to thank all of my friends who have helped us organize and hold this tournament. It was a challenging task; but I do hope that we will manage it," - with these words, Svetlana Neubauer-Sokolik, the President of Austrian SAMBO Federation, summed up the results of the Championship. Now, the SAMBO Championship is over, but in just two weeks, Austria will attract the attention of all the sports fans for another ten days. Innsbruck, a city that has already hosted the Olympic Games twice, will host the first-ever Youth Olympic Games. We, the SAMBO fans, are happy to know that the country where the Olympic Torch Relay is now in full swing knows and loves SAMBO.