By Gary Anderson

January 24 - European and Asian judoka are in Tyumen for a one-off series of matches ©Kostadin Andonov/EJF Media Judoka from Europe and Asia will take to the tatami in Tyumen, Russia, tomorrow for the inaugural ECCO Team Challenge which will see 14 inter-continental match-ups take place between a host of Olympic and World Championship medallists.

Tyumen is no stranger to hosting big vents, having staged the World Judo Masters this year, and July will see it become the home of the Russian Grand Slam event, taking over from Moscow.

This competition at the Tyumen Technopark has been organised by the Tyumen Judo Region and will see seven male and seven female athletes from Europe and Asia take part in a series of one-off matches to determine an overall team winner.

The European team will be managed by Russian Judo Federation general team manager Ezio Gamba, while their opponents Asia will be led by Director of the Judo Union of Asia, Armen Bagdasarov.

President of the Tyumen Judo Region, Sergey Kushkov, welcomed the teams and delegates at the official presentation where he was joined by International Judo Federation (IJF) vice-president and European Judo Federation (EJF) President Sergey Soloveychik.

EJF President Sergey Soloeychik (centre) welcomes athletes and delegates to Tyumen ahead of the ECCO Team Challenge ©Kostadin Andonov/EJF Media EJF President Sergey Soloeychik (centre) welcomes athletes and delegates to Tyumen ahead of the ECCO Team Challenge ©Kostadin Andonov/EJF Media
























"On behalf of the IJF and EJF, I welcome everyone to Tyumen for the ECCO Team Challenge," said Soloveychik.

"Tyumen has been and continues to be an important place for the judo community to meet up for important competitions.

"I am grateful to the Tyumen Judo Region and the Governor for their support.

"We're very pleased to have the best athletes in the world here including world and Olympic medallists."

The match between Arsen Galstyan and Naohisa Takato looks set to be one of the highlights of the day.

Galstyan represented Russia at London 2012, where he took gold in the under 60 kilogram category, while Japan's Takato returned to action in Rio to take the World Championship crown last year.

"I thank everyone for supporting the event and I'm looking forward to competing," said Galstyan.

"I know I have a very serious and skilled opponent and it will be an intriguing contest for everyone to watch."

Other stand-out contests on the men's side will see Mongolia's former world champion Tsagaanbaatar Khashbaatar taking on the Netherland's double World Championship silver medallist Dex Elmont, while another former world champion Lee Kyu-won, from South Korea, will take on Georgia's World Championship runner-up Varlam Liparteliani.

Naohisa Takato and Arsen Galstyan will square-up in one of the big matches on the schedule in Tyumen ©Kostadin Andonov/EJF Media Naohisa Takato and Arsen Galstyan will square-up in one of the big matches on the schedule in Tyumen ©Kostadin Andonov/EJF Media
























Alexander Mikhailin will be looking to delight home fans when he takes on Kyrgyzstan's rising star Iurii Krakovetskii in the heavyweight division.

Alesya Kuznetsova is another who will be hoping to secure a home win but she will face a tough test in the form of Mongolian world champion Urantsetseg Munkhbat in one of the highlights of the women's draw.

Mongolia will also be represented by Sumiya Dorjsuren who will be up against four-time European champion Telma Monteiro, while double European champion Abigal Joo of Hungary will be out to make it a hat-trick of wins against South Korean Jeong Gyeong-mi.

To watch the latest action on Judo TV click here.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
October 2013: Judo to stage new Intercontinental Challenge between Europe and Asia