W.A.K.O. World Championships 1993 (Budapest)

W.A.K.O. World Championships 1993 (Budapest)
W.A.K.O. World Championships 1993 (Budapest)
	The poster for W.A.K.O. World Championships 1993 (Budapest)
Promotion	W.A.K.O.
Date	25 November (Start); 28 November 1993 (End)
City	Budapest, Hungary
Attendance	3,500
Event chronology

W.A.K.O. World Championships 1993 in Budapest were the joint ninth world kickboxing championships hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization arranged by Hungarian kickboxing president Richard Leyrer. As with the 1985 world championships the organization had suffered a temporary split due to political differences, and a previous event had been held in Atlantic City earlier in the month. These political differences would be resolved in the near future and the organization would be re-united.

The Budapest event was open to amateur men and women from across the world – with 500 participants taking part from 47 countries. The styles on offer were Full-Contact, and for the first time ever at a W.A.K.O. championships, Low-Kick (more information on the styles can be found in the relevant sections below). Another first was that women could now take part in Full-Contact kickboxing, whereas before they could only take part in less physical styles. At the end of a very competitive championships, Poland were the top nation in terms of medals won, with Morocco a very close second and France just behind in third. The event was held in Budapest, Hungary over four days, starting on Thursday, 25 November and finishing on Sunday, 28 November. An estimated 3,500 spectators attended the championships.^[1]

Full-Contact

Making a re-appearance to a W.A.K.O. world championships after being absent at London 1991, Full-Contact involved the participants trying to win the contest either by points or by stoppage – more detail on the rules can be found at the W.A.K.O. website, although be aware that they may have changed slightly since 1993.^[2] The men had twelve weight classes ranging from 51 kg/112.2 lbs to over 91 kg/+200.2 lbs, with several new divisions being added, while, for the first time ever, women were allowed to participate in Full-Contact at a W.A.K.O. event, with six weight divisions ranging from 48 kg/105.6 lbs to over 65 kg/+143 lbs. Poland was the strongest country in Full-Contact with four gold, one silver and one bronze medal by the end of the championships.^[3]

Men's Full-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Light Bantamweight -51 kg	Mariusz Cieśliński	Irlan Mozhanov	Vladimir Solodovnik Andrej Ossirny
Bantamweight -54 kg	Velimir Sablic	Djusipov Birdjan	Laszlo Toth Askar Mozhanov
Featherweight -57 kg	Mohamed Hadifi	Marco Lorusso	Rinat Zagipulliw Aleksei Ouvarov
Lightweight -60 kg	Viktor Aksuytin	Philippe Allagbe	Yuri Zukovsky Vladimir Matvinsky
Light Welterweight -63.5 kg	Piotr Bartnicki	Oleg Zinoviev	László Szűcs Victor Shiderbaev
Welterweight -67 kg	Árpád Szabó	Viatselav Timofeev	Lionel Berger Wojchech Wiertel
Light Middleweight -71 kg	Yuri Fedun	Yevgeni Prokudine	Valery Horushenko Guran Malakanja
Middleweight -75 kg	Frank Schmidt	Barnabas Budai	Peter Madsen Nasser Nassiri
Light Heavyweight -81 kg	Gerald Philippot	Alex Kivgilo	Wieland Beust Grigory Naumenko
Cruiserweight -86 kg	Paris Vasilikos	Jean-Marc Koumba	Kaj Lindgren Valentin Molchanov
Heavyweight -91 kg	Samir Usenagić	Peter Vensen	Erkbnai Kutibaev Jozef Charabcek
Super Heavyweight +91 kg	Almaz Guismeev	Nicolai Pychkov	Hubert Numrich Zoran Zijan

Women's Full-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Bantamweight -48 kg	Michelina Giagnotti	Marie Laure Niviere	Outbihit Kaltoum Toula Tsolaki
Featherweight -52 kg	Virgine Ducros	Eleni Voidou	Aluira Nazarova Jana Primodko
Lightweight -56 kg	Snejana Bortcheva	Iwona Gozowska	Tajana Kulida Oxana Vargockaia
Middleweight -60 kg	Agnieska Rylik	Galina Gjumlijska	Lougou Mina Alona Tverdolchleb
Light Heavyweight -65 kg	Daniella Somers	Stanka Savcic	Abdir Ibriq Soumia Debrani
Heavyweight +65 kg	Dragana Ignjatić	Natalie Laufray	Dani Vamvakidoy Leila Topic

Low-Kick

Making its debut at a W.A.K.O. championships, Low-Kick is similar to Full-Contact kickboxing only differing in that it allowed kicks below the knee – more detail on Low-Kick rules can be found at the W.A.K.O. website, although be aware that there may have been some rule changes since 1993.^[4] Only men were allowed to participate in Low-Kick with twelve weight classes ranging from 51 kg/112.2 lbs to over 91 kg/+200.2 lbs. A notable winner was Andrei Dudko (who would later win the K-1 USA Championships 2000) taking gold in the +91 kg division. Morocco were the strongest nation in Low-Kick winning four gold medals.^[5]

Men's Low-Kick Kickboxing Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Light Bantamweight -51 kg	Dariusz Jung	Aleksej Klitckine	Gleb Akimov Gabor Aburko
Bantamweight -54 kg	Dimitar Peshev	Ajal Borissov	Viatcheslav Tislenko Timur Chrednichenko
Featherweight -57 kg	El Bacha Sulaiman	Slimane Kebaili	Giuseppe Grieco Konstantin Timofeev
Lightweight -60 kg	Yuri Bondarenko	Raba Boukaz	Yuri Ivanov Gilles Lachaux
Light Welterweight -63.5 kg	Ahmed Gounane	János Gönci	Eugeny Desinov
Welterweight -67 kg	Mohamed Ouali	Drazen Erlic	Vladimir Bulba Csaba Molnár
Light Middleweight -71 kg	Andor Filo	Vadim Ukraincev	Mohamed Mecherar Vladimir Pashin
Middleweight -75 kg	Huber Prundu	Valery Shumak	Mihaly Tijzai Armen Maruossian
Light Heavyweight -81 kg	Mustapha Lahksem	Aleksander Zygostev	Peter Jammons Bido Basovic
Cruiserweight -86 kg	Charti Bowat	Artem Tanajan	Goran Scekic Laszlo Polyak
Heavyweight -91 kg	Andrei Churizov	Sami Akin	Vesko Cejovic Faoy Tarraf
Super Heavyweight +91 kg	Andrei Dudko	Andrei Bukhanuk	Raynal Fucho Michail Simov