On the 1st of March IV International Tournament Zloty Tur was held in Warsaw. This year it was very special event, because it was given status of World Cup. The strongest competitors from Russia, Poland, Finland, Germany, Ukraine, Slovakia, Romania and Kazakhstan participated in the tournament.

Competitors' level was so high that till the last moment it was hard to guess who will be the winner of the lightweight. Last year's champion Sergey Kuznietsov lost with Andriej Bielinski from Ukraine and with Alexey Ostapczuk from Russia in the beginning. One day before the tournament during the pre-weight-in he was overweight by 2 kilos and it was hard to lose them. On 1st of March during the official weight-in heartless scales did not show the weight he expected. He was the last one registered competitor and did not have a time for warming-up.

Russian Champion Alexey Nikitchenko and Andriy Bielinski from Ukraine met in the final fight. It was equal and caused a lot of emotions. Competitor from Osetia was in luck this time. Third place was taken by Alexey Ostapczuk from Russia. Bronze medal from the World Cup is this young sportsman's greatest achievement.

Men's Senior Right Hand 63 kg
1. NIKITCHENKO Alexey (RUS)
2. BELYNSKIY Andriy (UKR)
3. OSTAPCZUK Alexey (RUS)
4. LIGUS Sergiy (UKR)
5. KUZNETSOV Sergey (RUS)
6. WISELKA Adam (POL)

Cvetan Gashevsky was the main favourite to win gold medal in middleweight. But his opponents were also strong. Rustam Babajew, Hrihoiy Bondaruk and European and World Champion Taimouraz Tsakhilov also participated in the tournament. So it was not easy, but Cvetan Gashevsky had a good start. He beat Eduard Serdjuk from Ukraine and Taimouraz Tsakhilov from Russia. His third fight was with Rustam Babajew from Ukraine, who won thanks to his effective hook. That day Rustam Babajew was in very good condition and he really deserved to win gold.

Semifinal battle Gashevsky vs. Tshakilov was the best fight of the tournament. In the beginning Gashevski tried to beat Taimouraz by hook, but Taimouraz's hook was also good. Next, their elbows were losing contact with the pad and hands were slipping out. It is hard to find the words to express this situation. When the fight was started another time, both competitors hooked again. Suddenly Gashevski changed his style and opened Taimouraz's hand. The way he changed hook into toproll is still a big mystery... Well, at least it is clear why Bulgarian competitor is called "professor". This victory cost Cvetan Gashevsky so much that he was not able to beat Rustam Babajew in the final.

Men's Senior Right Hand 78 kg
1. BABAYEV Rustam (UKR)
2. GASHEVSKI Cvetan (BUL)
3. TSAKHILOV Taimouraz (RUS)
4. BONDARUK Hruhoriy (UKR)
5. MALAKHOV Andrei (KAZ)
6. SERDJUK Eduard (UKR)

Everyone was wondering: "Will Jan Germanus win with Taras Ivakin and will he get himself back World Champion title in heavyweight?". Jan treated that fight really seriously and he was well prepared. Before the tournament he said: "Last year's loss made me to resign from few important tournaments. All silver medals I won last year I have given away to my friend, because there is no place for them in my collection. Only gold counts!".

Legendary sportsman Anatoly Skodtotaev from Osetia and Russian Champion 2002 Gennady Fardsinov also arrived to Warsaw. They were favourites to win gold, but they had decided to settle their accounts. Their fight made the tournament more splendid, but both competitors lost their strengths. Anatoly Skodtotaev said later: "I knew very well if I let Gennady win, I would be better during the next fights. But it was the first time I competed against him over armwrestling table and I really needed to find out which one of us is better.".

Exactly the same like last year Germanus and Ivakin met in the final fight. During the qualifying fights Iwakin had been beating Germanus, so nobody doubted that he would win again. Germanus seemed to think a lot during the fight and he caused a slip-out. He reached his main purpose: straps were applied. After "Ready Go" signal he pushed Ivakin's hand to the table quickly as lightning. Nobody expected things were going to go this way. Next, the rivals met for their third time in the crucial match. But this time Ivakin saw through Germanus' game and did not give him any chances for a slip-out. This way he became a champion. Unexpectedly, third place was taken by Ion Oncescu from Romania. Unknown till then, full of energy Ion surprised everybody showing his great skills. Read about him below.

Men's Senior Right Hand 95 kg
1. IVAKIN Taras (UKR)
2. GERMANUS Jan (SVK)
3. ONCESCU Ion (ROM)
4. IVANOV Sergiy (UKR)
5. GLOWINSKI Artur (POL)
6. FARDSINOV Gennadi (RUS)

Since his first fight Alexey Voevoda made everybody sure that he was not going to give away his World Champion title in super-heavyweight. It was difficult to guess who was going to take second place, because all the participants were really well prepared. Ruslan Kokoev lost very hard fight with Andrey Sharkov from Ukraine. Peter Gazdarica won with Slavik Kachmazov thanks to fouls only. He needed just a few centimeters to beat Kokoev. But Ruslan won anyway and has proved everybody that victory can be achieved always, even in the situations found as hopeless.

Men's Senior Right Hand +95 kg
1. VOEVODA Alexey (RUS)
2. KOKOEV Ruslan (RUS)
3. SHARKOV Andriv (UKR)
4. GAZDARICA Peter (SVK)
5. KACHMAZOV Slavik (RUS)
6. GLOWACKI Slawomir (POL)

No doubt fights for Champion title in open category were the greatest attraction. You should see it! Taimouraz Tsakhilov and Alexey Voevoda met in the first match like David with Goliat... There is 50 kilos difference between them! "Nobody else can slip-out with Voevoda" - said proudly Tsakhilov after the tournament.

Jan Germanus' and Ruslan Kokoev's fight was not a fun. Few times Germanus seemed to win, but somehow Kokoev did not let him and beat him in fourth try at least. "It's a big deal to win with Germanus' biceps" - assumed Voevoda. The competitors lost their strengths after the hard fights, so Kokoev took eighth place and Germanus was twelfth. Then, unexpectedly again, Ion Oncescu came out of the shadow and beat: Taimouraz Tsakhilov, Peter Gazdarica, Petri Kualo from Finland, Slavik Kachmazov from Russia, Gennady Fardsinov. Romanian won bronze medal in this most prestigious category. All his opponents had put up some very hard fights before they competed against him. So it is hard to decide if he is really so good or it was just his lucky day.

Taras Iwakin and Alexey Voevoda met in the final. When everybody was looking at Taras' enormous biceps, they started to doubt if Voevoda wins. Part of audience counted on a miracle. But there was no miracle and Voevoda won all the fights easily.

Men's Senior Right Hand OPEN
1. VOEVODA Alexey (RUS)
2. IVAKIN Taras (UKR)
3. ONCESCU Ion (ROM)
4. FARDSINOV Gennadi (RUS)
5. IVANOV Sergiy (UKR)
6. KACHMAZOV Slavik (RUS)