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Report on WAF 2004 Championship in
South Africa
Dear
Friends,
The XXVI WAF World’s hosted by Armand du Toit and the South African
Arm Wrestling Federation was a huge success with 638 entries representing 32
countries. The actual event was on the beach of the
Indian Ocean
where we could watch the surfers, cargo ships and many birds. A lot of
“air-armwrestling” also took place on the beach! A local young man had
built a “sandcastle” of sorts with the “big 5” of
Africa
, elephant, lion, crocodile, water buffalo and cheetah, adding World Arm
Wrestling to this wonderful creation! What an experience. I know all of us
want to extend a thank you to Armand and all those that helped him with this
huge undertaking. The Suncoast Casino and Entertainment World and other
sponsors went all-out to insure we had a great time.
The WAF Congress meeting went extremely well with 32 countries
represented and 2 new countries that will be official next year. Mitsuo Endo
confirmed the time and location of the WAF World’s next year which will be
in
Tokyo
,
Japan
the first week in December 2005. (The
US
qualifier is in
Little Rock
in August 2005). I really missed having Dave Devoto present, but he was unable
to travel at this particular time. In Dave’s absence I had the
responsibility to represent the North American Armwrestling Federation and
Simon Berriochoa represented the
United States
. Many issues were discussed with most being tabled until the Unified
WAF Championship being held in
Tokyo
next year with United States ArmSports being the only organization in the
U.S.
recognized by the WAF. The WAF Congress also gave Simon Berriochoa their
approval to pursue information concerning getting armwrestling admitted into
the Olympics.
I
am so proud of the team from the
United States
! It was an expensive venture but well worth it to those that went. Even
though we had a small team we still were able to place fourth in the team
standings!
Russia
won the team competition in a landslide with
Ukraine
,
Canada
and the
U.S.
finishing out the top 4. Gene Dunn went home with TWO World titles in the
Masters divisions and Saul Rakauskas earned his title in the Masters Left hand
90kg class! Alexi Voevoda from
Russia
confirmed that he is the top Heavyweight in the World by going undefeated both
right & left-handed. The media went crazy whenever he was at the table.
The refereeing was flawless under the direction of WAF Head Referee Leonard
Harkless and the competition was done early enough each day for us to enjoy
the other things that Durban had to offer.
I am already looking forward to the WAF World Championship in
Tokyo
! Mitsuo Endo hosted a superb Championship in 1999 and I can only imagine what
he has in store for us next year!
Once again I want to thank all our team members and their friends and
families. Those that could attend, and those that were not able to. The
sacrifices you made are greatly appreciated. The sport is better because of
people like you. Without your support and encouragement Armwrestling would not
be growing as fast as it is.
I
am looking forward to seeing everyone soon!
Sincerely,
Denise
Wattles
President,
United States
ArmSports
