Lebanon managed to win a silver medal and nine bronze medals at the Asian and Oceanian Sambo and Combat Sambo Championships, which were successfully organized by the Lebanese Judo Federation and its branches in the Fuad Chehab (Junieh) sports complex for three days under the auspices of the Minister of Youth and Sports, Dr. George Callas and under the control of the Asian Games Confederation.
The President of the Judo Federation of Lebanon, Professor Francois Saade, in an interview with the electronic newspaper “Sport” expressed full satisfaction with the results achieved by Lebanon in the tournament, announcing the readiness of Lebanon to host the Asian Judo Championship in September next year, which has the right to participate in the Olympic Games after leaving China, which was supposed to hold them on its territory.
Saadeh said: “The results of Lebanon are satisfactory given the large number of foreign athletes who participated in the tournament, where there were more than 500 of them, and all of them have high ability and talent that allows them to control the medals.”
He continued: “I can say that we have made remarkable progress in holding the tournament on our soil at all logistical and organizational levels, and we have seen this in the reaction of foreign participants when they expressed their satisfaction and joy in Lebanon, and they were amazed at the places they visited in Baalbek, Byblos and other regions. Please note that some of them were afraid to visit Lebanon due to the inaccurate news they received about the security situation in the country, and we were also surprised by the absence of some athletes from the Gulf countries for unknown reasons.
In the context of his speech, Saade pointed out that the support from the Lebanese state is limited to the moral aspect, emphasizing that the costs of cleaning and accommodation are borne by the Judo Federation.
Saadeh said the Quality Union paid 170 million Lebanese pounds to obtain “entry visas” for participants coming from abroad to make the event a success and not face any repercussions.
In another context, Saadeh revealed that Lebanon was offered to host the Asian Judo Championships as champion from China following its withdrawal, following the positive response that accompanied the country’s hosting of the Asian and Oceania Sambo and Combat Sambo Championships, stressing that the Quality Union approved the request and tournament, which qualifies for the Olympic Games, next September on Lebanese soil.
In the final overall standings of the medal table, the first place was taken by Uzbekistan with 54 medals (30 gold, 11 silver and 13 bronze), Kazakhstan (18 gold, 27 silver and 11 gold) and Kyrgyzstan (13 gold, 10 silver and 7 bronze). ). Turkmenistan is in fourth place (3 gold and 6 silver) and 14 bronze), Philippines (1 gold and 1 bronze), Mongolia (2 silver and 1 bronze), Lebanon is in seventh place (1 silver and 9 bronze) in the forefront Arab countries, so that Syria finished eighth (1 silver), Iraq (7 bronze) and South Korea (3 bronze), Iran, Jordan, Malaysia (2 bronze) and New Zealand (1 bronze), while the rest of the countries The participants did not win any medals.
Source: El Iktisad