The fourth day of competitions in Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg, Oct 22, 2013: The fourth day of competitions in Saint Petersburg was full of great combat sports and martial arts action. Aikido, Kendo, Kickboxing, Karate and Muaythai were the spectacles of the day. In Karate, the finals took place in Women’s Kumite -61kg, -68kg, +68kg, Men’s Kumite -84kg, -75kg, +84kg. In Kendo the Men’s and Women’s Individual Competition ended with some unexpected results. In Aikido, a series of demonstrations followed through the afternoon. Kickboxing kicked off the tournament today and it turned out to be a glorious day for some athletes while others were left shattered. Hundreds of athletes continue competing for the medals and even more will be tomorrow and for the next five days.

KENDO

A Japan-less final for the Men’s Individual Kendo Competition

A Japan-less final for the Men’s Individual Kendo Competition. Dubi from Hungary and Lee from Korea fight it out for the gold medal.

Men’s Individual Competition

In the Men’s Individual Competition (5/6/7-Dan), the first match was between K. Lee (Korea) versus A. Kusurgashev from Russia. Lee is a tall athlete with superior reach and speed, but Kusurgashev continued to assail his opponent undeterred, in spite of Lee’s attempted thrusts to the throat. In the end, Lee’s textbook men strike (head) was enough to take the match.

The second match saw W. Haeke (Belgium) take on M. Wu (Chinese Taipei). Their two styles differed greatly with Haeke preferring to take a more orthodox stance and style of attacking, while Wu relied of short barrages of frenzied attacks to put his opponent on the back foot. Both fighters went at each other tit-for-tat, but no points were scored during the designated match time. Finally Haeke scored a conclusive kote strike (wrist) in extra time to claim his first victory of the day.

KARATE

Karate competitions ended at the Arena. A total of six medal sets were up for grabs on Monday in three weight classes in men’s and women’s competitions.

Rafael Agaev (AZE) won gold medal in an under 75 kg weight class, Luigi Busa (ITA) got silver and Noah Bitsch (GER) got bronze. Kenji Grillon (FRA) won gold medal in an under 84 kg weight class, Ryutaro Araga (JPN) got silver and Hany Shaker Elsayed Keshta (EGY) got bronze. Shahin Atamov (AZE) won gold medal in an over 84 kg weight class, Zabiollah Poorshab of Iran got silver and Enes Erkan (TUR) got bronze. Merillela Arreola (MEX) won gold medal in an under 61 kg weight class, Kristina Noelle Mah (AUS) got silver and Olga Stepanova (RUS) got bronze. Fatma Alzahraa Mahmoud (EGY) won gold in an under 68 weight class, Inga Sherozia (RUS) got silver and Cheryl Imberly Murphy (USA) got bronze. «Sherozia lost the third consecutive final. It seems she has mental problems», Head Coach of the Russian national karate team Omar Murtazaliyev said. Masa Martinovic (CRO) won gold in an over 68 kg weight class, Nadege Ait Ibrahim (FRA) got silver, Faten Aissa (TUN) got bronze.

MUAYTHAI

Artem Levin – Local National Muaythai Hero

Chairman of the Athletes Commission, Multiple World Champion and Team Captain of Russia.

Artem Levin needs no introduction to the fighting world. Five-time IFMA World Champion, multiple European Champion and the true Ambassador for Muaythai in Russia. Levin a fantastic sportsman, known for his skills in the ring but also for his sportsmanship and Fair Play, has been voted as IFMA’s Commission Chairman.

Levin stated that it is an honour for him to be the captain of the Russian Federation team in his own home country, at the second edition of the SportAccord World Combat Games in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. Muaythai has played a major role in his life, its cultural heritage and fascinating techniques known as the “art of limbs” makes Muaythai one of the most exciting ring sports and fascinating martial arts.

The pressure on everyone in the team with high expectations is enormous, the Russian team is well prepared both competitively and psychologically for such an elite event, which sees participation from the best Muaythai athletes from all 5 continents.

Levin also added: “sometimes it comes down to having some luck in the draw, as we have to win 3 times to become the champion and so far at the quarter-final we already lost two Russians out of 11 bouts. Vakhitov, my dear friend, sent Belarusian superstar and World Champion home, which was a major success and motivational boost for the entire team. Everyone is looking forward to the semi-finals today! The Muaythai competition is drawing many spectators clearly showing that Muaythai is gaining more and more popularity in Russia”.

KICKBOXING

World Combat Games kickboxing competitions have began on Monday. And it turned out to be a glorious day for some athletes while others were left shattered.

Anna Poskrebysheva (Russia) won her women’s Low Kick quarter-final bout against Lizzie Largilliere (France) in category of 52 kg and will meet Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung from Vietnam. And Farinaz Lari (Iran) made it to the semi-final without a fight. Her next opponent is Zehra Gulgen from Turkey.

Tonje Sorle from Norway will meet Lamyae Sdassi (Morocco) in women’s Full Contact semi-final in category of 56 kg. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai (Vietnam) and Camilla Viksten (Finland) were paired for the second semi-final.

In women’s Point Fighting in category of 60 kg Shauna Bannon (Ireland) won her fight against Adrien Kadas by a single point (13-12) and will meet Nadia Bayett in the semis. Chelsey Nash (Canada) gave Gloria De Bei (Italy) a tough test in the quarter-final but lost 9-12. Now 2010 WCG champion De Bei will try to won against Evelyn Neyens from Belgium to get through to the final.

“It was tough”, said De Bei after her fight with Canadian kickboxer. “She (Nash) was one of the favourites for the title”.

“She’s strong physically, technically and tactically. But I got through and it’s great. Now I’m looking forward. Obviously I came here to defend my WCG title”.

In men’s Point Fighting in category of 63 kg the spectators eye-witnessed impressive wins for Richard Veres (Hungary), Ryan Phillips (South Africa), Desmond Leonard (Ireland) and Adriano Passaro (Italy). These athletes won their quarter-final fixtures at least by seven points.

That was the same story in category of 84 kg. Daniel Colorado (Mexico) and Neri Stella (Italy) won their respective fixtures by impressive 10 points and were paired in the semi-final. Robbie McMenaney (Ireland) will meet Ali Eddouch from Morocco after he defeated Dmitriy Iakovlev (Russia).

There were two athletes, Seyyedmasoud Derekeh (Iran) and Volodymyr Demchuk (Ukraine), who won their respective fixtures in men’s Low Kick in category of 67 kg without a fight. In the semi-finals Derekeh will meet Kenan Gunaydin from Turkey and Demchuk will fight against 2010 World Combat Games champion Shamil Abdulmedzhidov (Russia). “I won my opening fixture but it wasn’t that easy”, Abdulmedzhidov said after his win. “It was a good bout but now I’m looking forward to the semi-final. I have to win and get to the final to defend my title”.

AIKIDO

Spirit energy masters

The demonstration of the basic aikido techniques started at 2:00PM in St.Petersburg’s Sports and Concert Complex.

Till half past seven different variations of the responses on the attack, starting with the basics of the free style, will be shown to the public. Main aikido principle – rerouting of the competitor’s energy to reflect the attack. In this high spiritual type of combats, based on the concentration of the force for the defense, there are no competitions. Another feature of aikido is that men and women fight against each other in equal.

The demonstration was opened by the team Japan – home country of aikido. Then, after them, Russian team showed their techniques. Today visitors will be able to see techniques of the athletes from more than 20 countries.

Wilko Vriesman, member of the executive committee of the International Aikido Federation and technical coordinator of the project:

– There are no competitions, so that the main purpose of these demonstrations is to show the knowledge of the masters, which was gained through many years. Normally, in Russia, such demonstrations take place twice a year. All the techniques are similar, but the performance may vary depending on the temperament of the country, with other words, cultural backgrounds. That is why the performance of each country is unique. —- Sportaccord