The 1° Cadet & Junior and 2° Veteran World Grappling Championship was held in Dakovo (CRO) on 20-22 August 2010. The Championship was also the occasion of an international tournament for Novice and Schoolboys. The event was hosted by Mr. Zeljko Vukovic, President of the newly formed Croatian Grappling Federation and brought together about 150 competitors from 14 countries. The event was the result of a hard battle with several sport authorities, but its success and the joy demonstrated by the participants underlined the importance of hosting major international events for kids and veterans, two age groups that often neglected by National Federations. As Mr. Vukovic mentioned, "the young atheltes are the future of our sport and the veterans are often the ones responsible for training them towards successful senior careers".

The event attracted more than 100 young athletes aged from 12 to 19 who showed great skills and knowledge of the submission arts. The matches were very fast-paced and intensive with a higher submission rate than among the seniors. One truly memorable match was the Junior No-Gi Absolute final that opposed the Croatian athletes Ivica Tadijanov (90kg) and Antun Racic (70kg) who both won their respective category earlier in the day. The lighter grappler with a pro MMA record of 5-1-0 managed to win the great final after leading 5 to 1 by choking his opponent. Such positive atmosphere, sportmanship, and knowledge of the FILA rules were great indicators of the bright future ahead of FILA Grappling.

The veteran competition attracted less participants in terms of number, but high-profile athletes granted the organizers with their presence. In division C 110kg, the Polish Olympian, Andrzej Radomski, who had just made silver at the 2010 Freestyle Veteran World Championship in Domdidier, Switzerland, got the gold by winning over the Croatian Marijan Vukelic (bronze medallist at the 2010 Greco-Roman Veteran World Championship) and Hungarian Levente Banyai. In division C Absolute, the final opposed the Hungarian Olympic Greco-Roman Champion (Moscow 1980) and two times kick-boxing World Champion, Norbert Novenyi, to the former Greco-Roman wrestler Bernard Ban from Croatia (4th at the 1988 European Championship and 6th at the 1986 World Champonship). Mr. Ban showed great skills and ruthless willpower and finished by winning the match in overtime. He concluded the Championship by winning two additional silver medals in No-Gi 110kg and Gi 110kg. The President of the Hellenic Grappling Committee, Mr. Dimitris Dimitriou, performed very well for his first participation in a FILA championship by making second in division A 75kg and third in the Absolute category. Mr. Zeljko Vukovic, event organizer, also created a stirr among the public by winning a silver medal in division A 80kg. See the complete results at the following link.

FILA would like to thank the town of Dakovo for supporting the event and the members of the Croatian Grappling Federation for the great passion they all put into making this Championship a success and for their contribution to the development of grappling in Croatia and in the neighbour countries.

Following the fires and the heat wave that plagued Russia, some countries have expressed their concerns about the ecological and atmospheric situation in Moscow during the next Senior World Championship in September.

In response to these concerns, The Russian Wrestling Federation broadcasted a statement to guarantee that the fires around Moscow have been extinguished, the smoke has been spread and the weather forecast of the second half of August in Moscow is expected to be cooler. The Ministry of Sports of Russia guarantees that the atmospheric situation in Moscow is under vigilant control of relevant Russian authorities and is in accordance with the required standards. All the scheduled competitions are maintained.

In case of changes in the situation, the 2010 World Senior Championship Organizing Committee will inform us immediately.

Please find the final program regarding this Championship at the following link.

FILA wishes all teams a great competition in Moscow.