REPORT ON SZEGED WORLD CUP (HUNGARY)

21.05. &rdash 24. 05. 2009. Szeged ( Hungary )

In this year 888 competitors from 21 countries entered the 15 ^th WAKO Kickboxing World Cup, which was organized in Szeged ( Hungary ) for the fourth time.

The total amount of the money prizes was EUR 14 800.

The three-day-long program included all the styles in tatami and ring sports, namely semi-contact, light-contact, full-contact, low-kick, K1 rules and aero kickboxing.

Among the competitors there were children (8-9 years), cadet1 and cadet2 (10-12 years and 13-15 years), juniors (16-18 years) and seniors (18 years and older).

In semi-contact all the age groups had matches, while in light-contact only cadet2, juniors and seniors fought. In ring sports only juniors and seniors were allowed to enter. Naturally they competed separately.

One competitor was allowed to enter in only one category except junior semi-contact fighters, who competed with seniors together and, for the first time this year, junior light-contact fighters were allowed to enter in senior age category too.

The whole Belarusian and Serbian ring national team took part in the event, but many fighters arrived from Norway , Italy , Austria , Poland , Finland and Czech Republic . Besides the foreign fighters the whole Hungarian national team took part the World Cup too.

The filed of ring sports was especially strong with high number of participants: never fought 300 competitors together in the strongest ring styles before. The quality of most of the fights was worthy for a World Championship. During the three days more than 230 ring matches were conducted, which meant more than 70 matches per day. This meant significant burden on the fighters, referees and judges, but with the help of the organizers they did very well.

The winners were mainly fighters from Russia , Belarus , Serbia , Finland and Norway . Among the Hungarian winners we must mention Mr. Ferenc Hosszu and Mr. Gabor Czinke.

In the semi-contact fights mainly fighters from Hungary , Poland , Slovakia and Norway were the best ones. One of the most exciting events was semi-contact team competition. In this category one team consisted of three men and one woman. During the team fights the members of the teams fought 1×2 min rounds (unlike individual fights where fighting time is 3 x 2 min) and the points were summed that the team members got during the rounds. The winner was that team who had the most points at the end of the competition. In case of drawn game there was an additional match, which was fought until one fighter won.

The winner of the team competition was Kiraly Team (HUN) in this year too but the fighters of this club were successful in Grand Champion fights too. For the title of Grand Champion, the champion of the champions, anybody can fight, who also entered into an individual category too, (without weight category and age group limitations). This year the male winner was Mr. Zsolt Moradi (HUN) like last year, and the female Grand Champion was his club fellow Miss. Zsofia Minda (HUN).

During light-contact fights juniors had two options; they could fight with competitors from their own age group and also competitors from senior age group. The fighters competed very hard and with high quality matches for the first places. In light-contact categories, according to the traditions, the Hungarians did very well. We must mention Mr. Zoltan Dancso, who was very good as usual, but he had to fight very hard with his Russian and Ukrainian opponents for his victory.

During the event international referee seminar was held too. In the seminars there were presentations about the rules of tatami and ring sports.

The leaders, who visited the World Cup, all commented the event with appreciation regarding organization and quality.