27 medal events to be contested at European sambo championships in Kazan

Over 300 athletes representing 30 nations will compete at one of the major sambo competitions – European Sambo Championships due to be held in Kazan on May 13-15. The tournament will be held at the Ak Bars Martial Arts Palace. Sambo fighters will step on mats and compete for medals in 9 weight categories. A total of 27 medal events will be contested.

The European Sambo Championships are held since 1973. Greece, Belarus, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Russia, Japan, Great Britain, Israel – all these countries hosted the continental championships in different years. In 2016, one of the major tournaments of the international sambo community, European Sambo Championships, will be held in Russia again, this time in the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Kazan already has experience of staging major sambo competitions. In 2012, the city played host to the FISU World Sambo Championships and in 2013 the sambo tournament was held here as part of the 27th Summer Universiade.

From year to year, sambo is gaining more popularity and it’s becoming more challenging for Russian athletes to keep the crown. At present, Russia’s obvious rivals are Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia and Ukraine.

The Russian national team will be presented by the nation’s strongest athletes. The team features 4 Merited Masters of Sport, 14 Masters of Sport International Class and 9 Masters of Sport.

The Russian national team will be have the following roster:

Sport sambo:

Men:

52kg Valery Soronokov (Sverdlovsk Oblast);

57kg Danil Ponomarenko (Sverdlovsk Oblast);

62kg Ruslan Bagdasaryan (Nizhny Novgorod Oblast);

68kg Denis Davydov (Moscow Oblast);

74kg Bislam Nadyukov (Krasnodar Krai);

82kg Evgeny Maksimov (Moscow Oblast);

90kg David Oganisyan (Krasnodar Krai);

100kg Dmitry Minakov (Bryansk);

+100kg Rustam Arslanov (Republic of Bashkortostan);

Women:

48kg Maria Molchanova (Perm Krai);

52kg Yulia Vitsina (Primorye Krai);

56kg Kristina Khramtsova (Moscow);

60kg Arina Pchelintseva (Moscow);

64kg Ekaterina Onoprienko (Perm Krai);

68kg Margarita Gurtsieva (North Ossetia);

72kg Galina Khambardzumyan (Moscow);

80kg Dinah Ambartsumova (Tver Oblast);

+80kg Angela Gasparyan (Moscow);

Combat sambo:

Men:

52kg Artush Asryan (Republic of Karelia);

57kg Mukhtar Khamzayev (Republic of Dagestan);

62kg Aleksandr Salikov (Nizhny Novgorod Oblast);

68kg Ruslan Gasankhanov (Republic of Dagestan);

74kg Zaur Azizov (Moscow Oblast);

82kg Ivan Lozhkyn (Nizhny Novgorod Oblast);

90kg Khadis Ibragimov (St. Petersburg);

100kg Vadim Nemkov (Belgorod Oblast);

+100kg Kirill Sidelnikov (Belgorod Oblast).