The 2019 edition of the Ukrainian Beach Sambo Championships were held in the Black Sea resort of Zatoka in Odessa ©FIAS

The 2019 edition of the Ukrainian Beach Sambo Championships has been held in the Black Sea resort of Zatoka in Odessa, gathering 156 athletes from 15 regions of the country. 

This is the second beach tournament held under the auspices of the National Sambo Federation of Ukraine (NFSU).

Another age group - masters aged 45 years and older - was added to the competition this year. 

Medals were also awarded to under-16s and over-16s, as was the case in 2018 in Odessa Oblast.

"This dynamic discipline is attracting more and more fans in our country," Alexei Goncharuk, head of the NFSU Commission for the development of beach sambo, said.

"If in the first Championships there were a little more than 100 sambists, now the quantitative and geographical indicators have increased by one-and-a-half times. 

"And now we have decided to hold competitions in two arenas – it is good that their preparation takes only 15 minutes.

"The fights themselves, let's say, because of the substantive specifics, pass very quickly – few bouts last two or three minutes, according to the regulations, and the winner is announced by activity.

"Basically, the bout takes 15 to 30 seconds, when one of the athletes succeeds in technical action."

Some 156 athletes from 15 regions of Ukraine competed at the event ©FIAS
Some 156 athletes from 15 regions of Ukraine competed at the event ©FIAS

The tournament, along with the award ceremonies, lasted around three hours. 

Goncharuk noted the competition had been completed without injuries. 

"I want to thank the Odessa Regional Sambo Federation for the bright holiday of emotions that the Organising Committee gave us for the second year in a row and personally say thanks to tournament director Mikhail Makhnev," Goncharuk added.

"Now, like the year before, regional open tournaments will be held for different ages. 

"And again the lecture on beach sambo will be included in the programme of the annual referee and coaching seminar. 

"We are also looking forward to the appearance of a Beach World Championships in the FIAS (International Sambo Federation) calendar, which will add to the popularity of sambo as a whole."

The Rivne region topped the team standings ahead of the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions.

Their gold medallists were Nikolay Simonchuk in the boys' 55 kilograms category, Timur Samedov in the boys' over-65kg category, Bogdan Prosyan in the men's 62kg category and Aleksandr Chmyr in the men's 74kg category.

There were also silver medals for Svetlana Shevchuk in the girls' 37kg category, Yuriy Mikhaylov in the boys' over-65kg category and Timur Samedov in the men's 90kg category.