International Shuai Jiao Championship

From the 20th till the 26th of May,the 3rd International Shuai Jiao Championship was held in the city of Wenzhou in China.Sponsored by the Sports Management Center of Weightlifting,Wrestling and Judo of the State Sports General Administration,the Chinese Shuai Jiao Association,the Sports Bureau of Zhejiang province,and the People's government of Wenzhou.
The tournement itself lasted 3 days while the matches held in the afternoon and evening.From a  tecqnical point of view the organisation of the championship was exceptional.Every morning the athletes had the chance to use the arena to practice and warm-up.Many competitors used this time  to spar with the other athletes from different clubs and countries  and it was a great opportunity to exchange skills and gain experience.
The tournement was attented by 20 teams from 17 countries and regions with almost 300 athletes taking part.The China team 1 placed first overall with their wrestlers capturing 16 medals including an impressive 11 gold. The China team 1 was made up entirely of national champions including the famous wrestler Wang Zheng who has won the national title in his weight class since 2004 and Liu Tian Sheng, a young wrestler from Hebei who now trains in Beijing and has been near unstoppable in local and national tournaments for the last 2 years.
Of special note at the tournament were the number of wrestlers from the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia. Wrestlers from this province grow up in a tradition of wrestling thanks to their indigenous form of wrestling known as Bokh. Bokh and Shuai Jiao have influenced one another over the years and watching top level competitors from this province blend together the powerful Bokh techniques with highly technical shuai jiao throws was very exciting to watch
The Greek team was consisted of  the team leader and head coach Doukas Dimitris,coach Divanis George and the athletes Kavouras Evaggelos,Papandreou Vassilis and Toumpakari Ioanna.
Competing against strong components,in categories with over 15 athletes, the greek athletes overcame the knock out phase and managed to be  placed among the 8 first athletes.Kavouras at -82 kilograms came 7th,Papandreou at -90kg gained 6th position.Toumpakari at -56kg came 5th competing at her first match with Solongo a very strong athlete from Moggolia who ended up winning the first place in their category. Solongo is a national champion of Moggolian Shuai Jiao, a twice national Judo bronze champion and a coach at the Moggolian Police Academy.
The annual school of international shuai jiao judges took apart along with the championship.Many coaches from several regions of China attended it.The famous coaches Wang Yang Hui from Hebei as well as Xu Gang from Being were in charge.The well known Ma Jian Guo was the head of the judges.Coach Divanis represented the Greek team and successfully gained his certification after passing the demanding exams.

It is a fact that after many years  Shuai Jiao is coming back to claim its position in the sports field.The continuous effort and hard work of the Chinese,Usa and European federations lead in organising successfully championships every year.The greek team having taken part both in Rome and in Wenzhou championship,has become an integral part of the European family of Shuai Jiao,contributing to the spread and development of this challenging and impressive sport.

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