Today, on November 10, a press conference dedicated to the opening of the 2021 World Cup in hand-to-hand fighting was held at the Salut Hotel.

The press conference was attended by the President of the International Federation of Hand-to-Hand Fighting Sergey Astakhov, President of the Moscow Federation of Hand-to-Hand Fighting Pavel Titov, Vice-President of the Federation of Hand-to-Hand Fighting of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Vice-President of the International Federation of Hand-to-Hand Fighting Bakhtiyor Mirzakulov and the chief referee of the competition Igor Kuftin.

Sergey Astakhov greeted the participants and said: “Despite the fact that the World Cup in hand-to-hand fighting is being held for the eighth time, it is for the first time being held in the Russian Federation. We are very grateful to the Government of the Russian Federation, the Government of Moscow, the Ministry of Sports, the Department of Sports of the city of Moscow, the Hand-to-Hand Fighting Federation for their help in organizing this tournament.”

Pavel Titov commented on the calendar for the next year: “We are going to expand the program of tournaments held in Moscow. There are many events of the interregional level; we plan to hold, among others, at least 3 tournaments of the international level.”

Bakhtiyor Mirzakulov announced that the championship held in Tashkent this year will be held in Bukhara next year, where it is planned to further raise the level of the event and make the tournament a real festival of sports for 7 days.

The speakers also noted that the Cup of the Caspian Federations, which was held this year and in which 5 countries took part, was conducted at the highest level. And therefore the tournament will open its doors to other countries and participants. The 2022 World Cup is to be held in Milan in October. And the Asian Open Championship is to be held in November, 2022 in Kazan.

Sergei Astakhov told that negotiations were underway with the international organization Sport Accord, which unites non-Olympic sports. To enter this organization, the International Hand-to-hand Fighting Federation needs to collect confirmations from 45 countries that this kind of sport is recognized as a sport in each given country and has its own federation.

The chief referee of the competition Igor Kuftin said: “As of 18.00, November 10, we have registered 240 participants from 30 countries, though many are still being held up due to airline delays.”

In addition, the speakers recalled that starting next year, new uniforms would be introduced – white and green. However, next year there will be a smooth transition to a new uniform, so athletes in the old uniform will also be admitted to the competition. “Khaki is the color of the defenders of the Fatherland, the color of border guards defending the country. Hand-to-hand combat emerged among the military and the police. By choosing this color, we wanted to emphasize the historical roots of the sport,” said Sergey Astakhov.

We remind you that the 2021 World Cup in hand-to-hand fighting will take place at the Irina Viner-Usmanova Gymnastics Palace from November 11 to 13. The first fights will take place tomorrow (November 11) from 10 am.