1st World Grappling Championship

UNDER FILA WRESTLING - MMA - first time (Imagine asiatic gi in wrestling - NO COMMENT)





Man:

The 1st World Grappling Championship was held in Lucerne (Switzerland) on 20-21 December 2008. Troughout the two days of competition, over 300 matches took place in the No-Gi and Gi divisions. 14 grapplers from USA, Canada, France, Spain, and Brazil were crowned World Champions. Among them, four female athletes managed to get the gold in both Gi and No-Gi competitions, namely: Lisa Ward in 48kg, Laurence Fouillat in 55kg, Sheila Bird in 63kg, and Romy Ruyssen in 72kg.

As initially expected, the American team won most of the gold medals with 8 out of the 18 categories. The biggest surprise of the event came with the rise of the French team that brought 5 gold medals home. The French success can be attributed to the amazing performance of the two female athletes who domitated both the No-Gi and Gi competitions; Romy Ruyseen in 72kg and Laurence Fouillat in 55kg who also received an award for the "Best Submission". As per the team ranking, the best three teams in No-Gi and Gi divisions were 1) USA, 2) France, 3) Canada.

The new rules made a lot of difference in the competition as they provided the spectators with fast paced fights and a high submission rate. The complete results (No-Gi and Gi) can be consulted on the Championship official website, as well as the pictures of the event and the videos that will soon be available for free.