(ATR) The 2019 International Weightlifting Federation World Championships opened in Pattaya, Thailand on Wednesday.
The Opening Ceremony featured a drum and wind instrument musical performance and the flag parade of the 100 countries participating in the event.
"This is a very special occasion. We are very grateful and happy that TAWA [Thai Amateur Weightlifting Association] has invited the weightlifting family for these World Championships," IWF President Tamas Ajan said.
"This is a very important event: 100 countries with more than 600 competitors from all five continents from the world are here."
After Ajan declared the world championships open, the host country’s flag was raised to the Thai national anthem. It will be the only time this will happen. The country is hosting the World Championships despite pulling its athletes out of the event. Thailand withdrew from all 2020 Olympic weightlifting and qualification in early March because of a number of doping violations.
Egypt is also absent from the event. On Tuesday, the IWF banned the country for doping violations committed in 2016.
The World Championships will run until Sept. 27.
ITF Presidential Election Next Week
The next International Tennis Federation president will be determined at the ITF’s Annual General Meeting in Lisbon on Sept. 27.
Incumbent David Haggerty of the United States faces three challengers in his bid for a second term: Dave Miley of Ireland, Ivo Kaderka of the Czech Republic and Anil Khanna of India.
Haggerty defeated Khanna, an ITF Vice President, in the last election in 2015.
Fourteen members of the Board of Directors will also be elected for four-year terms from 2019-23.
AIBA World Championships Reach Semifinal Stage
The 2019 AIBA Men’s World Championships are through the quarterfinal stage in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
It’s been a record-breaking tournament for India, with two of its boxers having clinched a medal by winning their quarterfinal matches.
Asian Games gold medalist Amit Panghal reached the semifinal in the 52kg (flyweight) category. Later on Wednesday, Manish Kaushik also assured himself at least a bronze medal by reaching the semifinal of the 63kg weight class.
The semifinals will be held on Friday with the finals set for Saturday, the final day of the competition.
Ordinarily an event with implications for Olympic qualifying, that is not the case for this edition. The IOC has suspended AIBA from organizing the Olympic tournament, including the qualification stage.
Olympic Wrestling Spots Available in Kazakhstan
More than 950 wrestlers from 101 countries are competing at the 2019 Senior Wrestling World Championships in Kazakhstan.
Thirty world titles in freestyle, Greco-Roman and women’s wrestling are on offer at the Barys Arena in Nur-Sultan. The top six finishers will lock up a spot for their country at the 2020 Olympic Games.
The medal rounds for the 10 weight classes in Greco-Roman have been completed with Japan, the Republic of Georgia and Russia each securing two golds.
The women’s medals are being awarded on Wednesday and Thursday before freestyle takes over from Friday through to the end of the event on Sunday.
United World Wrestling is live streaming the championshipshere.
Homepage photo: IWF
Written by Gerard Farek
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