European judo championships 2016 to serve as one of final qualifying rounds for Rio Olympic games

In April 2016, the Tatarstan capital will play host to the European Judo Championships, one of the most prestigious and top-rated continental judo competitions.

Individual and team judo competition will be held at the 9,000-seat Tatneft Arena Ice Palace on April 21-24. Tickets to the tournament can be purchased on the ticket agency’s official website zamnoi.ru. Tickets cost from 100 to 300 rubles.

Kazan has a wealth of experience of preparing and staging high-profile sporting events: Russian Judo Championships (2011), judo tournament of the 27th Summer Universiade (2013), Russian U18 Judo Championships (2015). In fact, the Universiade legacy was a decisive factor in the European Judo Federation’s decision-making process regarding the host city for the pre-Olympic European Judo Championships.

The Kazan tournament is one of the qualifying events for the 2016 Olympic Games and is about to bring together Europe’s best judokas and major contenders for Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro (BRA). Medals won at the continental championships will earn winners rating points as follows: gold – 400 rating points, silver – 240, bronze – 160. The Russian national team will feature its leading athletes both in individual and team events of the tournament, as reported by the press office of the Russian Judo Federation (RJF). Over 5,000 visitors are expected to come for the tournament. Around 600 competitors from more than 40 countries will come to compete at the event.

The tournament will run for 4 days. The first three days, April 21, 22 and 23, will determine medallists in the men’s.and women’s individual events. April 21 will see women compete in the 48, 52 and 57kg events and men in the 60 and 66kg events. On Friday, April 22, judokas will fight for medals in the women’s 63 and 70kg and men’s 73 and 81kg. Saturday, April 23, will feature the women’s 78 and +78kg and men’s 90, 100 and +100kg events. On the final competition day, April 24, medals will be up for grabs in the men’s and women’s team competition.

Fort reference

Four years ago, Russia already hosted the European Judo Championships. Back then, the tournament was held in the Urals, in Chelyabinsk. The Russian national team placed first in the overall standings, with five gold medals, three silver medals and one bronze medal in individual events and two medals in the team competition (gold in the women’s and silver in the men’s events).

During the previous continental competition, which was held as part of the 1st European Games in Baku (AZE), Russian judokas claimed three gold, one silver and four bronze medals in individual events, one bronze medal in the men’s team competition and one more bronze in the competition among visually impaired judo athletes, thus contributing to the national team’s first place in the medal telly. Among those who won gold medals at the European Games were Beslan Mudranov (60kg), Kamal Khan-Magomedov (66) and Kirill Denisov (90); silver medal – Ivan Nifontov (81); bronze medals – Mikhail Pulyaev (66), Irina Dolgova (48), Natalya Kuzyutina (52) and Renat Saidov (+100).