World Gushtingiri Championships debut in Tajikistan, uniting over 60 nations in historic event

euronews (in English)

In this episode of Focus, we attend the inaugural World Gushtingiri Championships in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

Transcript

00:00Gustingri is the mother of all other sports like judo, wrestling, sambo, kurash, sambo

00:08kurash.

00:09We come from Tajik national Gustingri.

00:21Tajikistan situated in the heart of Central Asia and home to more than 10 million people.

00:28It's also the founding nation of Gustingiri, their national sport.

00:32And Dushanbe, the capital, is the setting for the first World Gustingiri Championships.

00:49With a history that goes back over 5,000 years, Gustingiri is an ancient Tajik sport and a

00:55traditional form of wrestling.

00:57Gustingiri or Gustin itself comes from the Sanskrit word kushti, which means belt.

01:03Kushti or Gustin means taking the belt from each other, which gradually developed into

01:07Gustin and Gustingiri.

01:10The first World Championships was a pivotal moment for the sport as Dushanbe welcomed

01:15the international community to a two-day sporting spectacle.

01:20It's so important and we meet people from all over the world, so my background is judo.

01:24Judo has led me to amazing friends that have introduced me to kurash, and then by meeting

01:29people doing kurash, they've introduced me to, you know, to Tajikistan and to come and

01:33try Gustingiri.

01:34You know, it's an amazing opportunity.

01:37Very few British people have come to this country, few people have heard of the sport,

01:41but we get the privilege of being the first ever to compete in an international championships

01:46here and hopefully take some back.

01:49Over 60 countries are competing in six male and three female weight categories, and as

01:55you can see from the packed out stadium behind me, it's hugely popular.

02:04The rule of the international Kushtingiri is about three referees started walking inside

02:10and two side referee, one center referee, and for the men, they start for five minutes

02:16for the adult and four minutes for the woman.

02:19And when we say gireed, it means start.

02:23When we say istad, it means stop.

02:26And we have three points exactly.

02:29The smallest one is badan.

02:32The second one is pahloo.

02:35The third one is halal.

02:38It means finish.

02:39And for the warning, start again, we have agahi.

02:44We have tambikh and we have kharij.

02:48That's the rule of the Kushtingiri.

02:50So in judo, we have the advantage of a repercharge.

02:53So if we make a mistake, we have a second chance, a second fight.

02:56Here, there is none of that, so the pressure is really on to win, get through those first

03:00rounds and get into the medals.

03:02Such is its popularity that they've been caused for it to be developed internationally and

03:07made an Olympic sport.

03:08I love this atmosphere because it gives a good vibe, good ambience and I love it.

03:15After I went to Olympiade in Paris, this is the best for the martial art.

03:21I hope that Kushtingiri will be in Olympic Games in future and it will be international

03:28and I like it very much.

03:30The competition also coincided with the International Kushtingiri Federation Congress and elections.

03:37First of all, the international federation is needed to develop this sport all over the

03:43world, to popularize it all over the world, first of all.

03:47And today we are witnesses to the fact that 61 countries are participating in this world

03:53championship.

03:54This is already a great achievement because this is the first world championship and we

03:58hope that over time the number of countries will only increase.

04:02The championships were an opportunity to bring nations together through sport as well

04:07as being a platform to showcase the rich culture and hospitality of Tajikistan.

04:12The awards for winners were personally presented by the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon

04:18and the Mayor of Dushanbe, Rustam Emomali.

04:33As the sport grows in popularity internationally, all eyes will look to Tajikistan and its role

04:50as the pioneering country of ancient and modern day Kushtingiri.

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