First World Martial Arts Games to open in Beijing Sat.

BEIJING, August 28 (Itar-Tass) --The first-ever World Martial Arts
Games are opening in the Chinese capital on Saturday.
They have brought together representatives of thirteen Olympic and
non-Olympic martial arts, such as aikido, judo, jujitsu, karate, kendo,
kickboxing, Thai boxing, sambo, sumo, taekwondo, wrestling (pancration,
grappling, female wrestling and belt wrestling) and wushu.
The Russian team will perform in ten events. It will not be
represented in judo, boxing and kendo. The reason why Russia is absent
from the first two disciplines is the mismatch of international calendars.
World championships are held simultaneously and they are competitions of a
higher rating. As for kendo, no Russian managed to qualify.
The Russian national team numbers about 60 athletes, including triple
world champion Alexander Yemelyanenko (combat sambo), European champion
Anastasia Baryshnikova, world championship medalist Anna Soboleva
(taekwondo), multiple world and European champions Artur Bagayev and Alan
Karayev (sumo), winner of the 2008 Olympics in demo events Muslim Salikhov
and Darya Tarasova (Wushu).
The team has the task to take first place in the team standing. The
first two events in which Russians will appear today are wushu and sumo.
Both tournaments will last two days. Then Russians will take part in
jiu-jitsu (August 29-30), Thai boxing (August 29 and 31 and September 2),
aikido (August 30-31, demonstrations), karate (31 August - 1 September),
taekwondo and wrestling (September 1-2) and kickboxing, sambo (September
3-4).
The competitions will be held at the Olympic Sports Center, Beijing
University of Science and Technology and the China Agricultural University.
At the Games there will be a special place for cultural events.
The Games will last till September 4.

.Wushu fights open first-ever World Martial Arts Games in Beijing.

BEIJING, August 28 (Itar-Tass) -- The first World Martial Arts Games
have opened in Beijing with fights by masters of wushu - a traditional
Chinese martial art that enjoys acclaim in many countries around the world.
The gala opening of the Games is due tonight at the Olympic Sports
Center. The competitions will last till September 4.
The World Martial Arts Games are held under the auspices of the
international organization SportAccord and the International Olympic
Committee. Athletes from 60 countries will show their skills in thirteen
Olympic and non-Olympic sports (aikido, judo, jiu-jitsu, karate, kendo,
kickboxing, Thai boxing, sambo, sumo, taekwondo, wrestling and wushu).
Russia has delegated a team of 60 athletes, who passed qualification
fights and received invitations from the international sports federations.
As sources at the Russian Union of Martial Arts told Itar-Tass in an
interview, the Russian athletes' chances of success at the Games are very
high. In 2009 alone Russians won 274 golds, 211 silvers and 195 bronzes at
international martial arts tournaments.

-0-str


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