Press releases

MINSK, 9 February (BelTA) – Teams representing 16 countries will participate in the international sambo tournament of Category A entitled as Belarus Open Championships for the Prizes of the President of Belarus. The competitions will be held at the Minsk Palace of Sports on 10-11 February, head coach of the Belarusian national sambo team Vyacheslav Kot told the media, BelTA has learned.

“The forthcoming tournament is a great opportunity for our leading sambo wrestlers to rehearse ahead of the European Sambo Championship which is due in Minsk in May 2017. Representing Belarus at the forthcoming competitions will be Vae Tutkhalyan, Stepan Popov and Tatyana Matsko. However, some of the team leaders will have to miss the World Cup leg. Yuri Rybak, Andrei Kazusenok and Svetlana Timoshenko will not be among those competing on the Friday-Saturday event due to injuries,” Vyacheslav Kot said.

Among Belarus’ traditional rivals will be athletes from Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. The Presidential Sports Club will present additional awards alongside with its traditional Will to Win and Best Technique prizes. A teddy-bear will be the mascot of the forthcoming competitions.

The sambo competitions will be held in Minsk for the 11^th time.

Among the organizers of the tournament are the Sports and Tourism Ministry, the Minsk City Hall, the Presidential Sports Club, the National Olympic Committee, the Belarusian Sambo Federation and the International Sambo Federation (FIAS).