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W.A.K.O. World Championships 2001 (Maribor)
W.A.K.O. World Championships 2001 (Maribor)
	The poster for W.A.K.O. World Championships 2001 (Maribor)
Promotion	W.A.K.O.
Date	17 October (Start); 23 October 2001 (End)
City	Maribor, Slovenia
Event chronology

W.A.K.O. World Championships 2001 were the joint thirteenth world kickboxing championships (the other was held later that year in Belgrade) hosted by the W.A.K.O. organization. It was the first ever W.A.K.O. championships to be held in Slovenia and involved amateur men and women from across the world. There were three styles on offer at Maribor; Light-Contact, Semi-Contact and Musical Forms – the more physical styles would be available later on in the year at the Belgrade event. By the end of a competitive championships Italy were first in terms of medals won, Germany a close second and Hungary third. The event was held in Maribor, Slovenia over seven days starting on Wednesday, 17 October and ending Tuesday, 23 October.^[1]^[2]

Light-Contact

Light-Contact is a style of kickboxing which is less physical than Full-Contact but more so than Full and is often seen as a transitional period between the two. The fighters score points through successful striking techniques (thrown with moderate force) with the emphasis on speed and technique although stoppages, though rare, can occur. As with most forms of amateur kickboxing it is mandatory for the participants to wear head and body protection. More information on Light-Contact and be found at the W.A.K.O. website.^[3]

Both men and women participated in the style with the men having nine weight divisions ranging from 57 kg/125.4 lbs to over 94 kg/+206.8 lbs while the women had six ranging from 50 kg/110 lbs to over 70 kg/154 lbs. Notable winners included Fouad Habbani, who would go on to make a successful transition to Full-Contact winning gold in Belgrade a few months later, Wojciech Szczerbiński who had won gold at the last world championships in Caorle, and Elaine Fowler and Nadja Sibila who would be double winners as they would win gold medals in Semi-Contact as well. By the end of the championships Hungary were the strongest in Light-Contact winning three golds, two silvers and four bronze.^[4]

Men's Light-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
-57 kg	Nikolai Kutznetsov	Tomaz Rogelj	Dezső Debreczeni
-63 kg	Fouad Habbani	Andre Roubert	Maciej Dominczak
-69 kg	Marcel Fekonja	Andreas Dahanyos	Yury Volyanskyy
-74 kg	Besnik Ramadani	Panagiotis Giltidis	Oliver Stricz Rene Kretschmar
-79 kg	Zoltan Dancso {	Bogumil Polonski	Andrea Primitivi
-84 kg	Tibor Wappel	Marco Tagliaferri	Martin Albers
-89 kg	Dirk Kindl	Andrzej Pniewski	Gábor Meiszter
-94 kg	Marc Franzen	Salem Mohamed	Marco Culiersi
+94 kg	Wojciech Szczerbiński	Yuri Abramov	Nicola Bertolotti Olatuji Assani

Women's Light-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
-50 kg	Szilvia Csicsely	Anna Krivoguzova	Julita Tkaczyk Mateja Rabotek
-55 kg	Mette Solli	Alessia Gaietto	Aniko Miklos Daria Chichkina
-60 kg	Marzia Davide	Agnes Tapai	Leyla Donmez Monika Florek
-65 kg	Elaine Fowler	Maike Golzenleuchter	Anna Maria Sisonna Fernanda Alvarenga
-70 kg	Birgit Sasse	Nusa Rajher	Karolina Lukasik Ivett Pruzsinszky
+70 kg	Nadja Sibila	Kelly Zanini	Anja Rendordt Beata Lawrynowicz

Semi-Contact

Semi-Contact is a style of kickboxing in which only minimal force can be applied to strikes and points are awarded on successfully landing of punches and kicks with the emphasis on speed and technique. Despite the limited physicality of the style all participants most wear head and body protection. More information on Semi-Contact and the rules can be found on the official W.A.K.O. website.^[5]

As with Light-Contact the men had nine weight divisions ranging from 57 kg/125.4 lbs to over 94 kg/+206.8 lbs while the women had six ranging from 50 kg/110 lbs to over 70 kg/154 lbs. Notable winners included Marco Culiersi, Samantha Aquilano and Luisa Lico who had all won gold medals at the last world championships in Caorle. Also of note were Elaine Fowler and Nadja Sibila who would become double winners at the same event having also picked up winning medals in their relevant Light-Contact divisions. By the end of the championships Italy were the strongest country in the style by some way, winning six gold medals, two silver and four bronze.^[6]

Men's Semi-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
-57 kg	Dezső Debreczeni	Mark Nichols	George Memmos Andrzej Maciazek
-63 kg	Davorin Grabrovec	Andrea Misiani	Vassilios Taipliadis Zoltan Angyan
-69 kg	Ilija Salerno	Christian Meisersik	Sebastian Kristovic Yevgen Alokhin
-74 kg	Zvonimir Gribl	Matt Perrins	Domenico De Marco Andreas Weingartner
-79 kg	Daniel Weil	Zoltan Dancso	Michel Decian Neri Stella
-84 kg	Emanuele Bozzolani	Peter Edwards	David Heffernan Valeriy Orenglo
-89 kg	Matej Sibila	Reto von Weissenfluh	Peter Csikos Pero Gazilj
-94 kg	Giuseppe Fracaroli	Owen King	Laszlo Toth Aun Andresen
+94 kg	Marco Culiersi	Mark Brown	Karl Heinz Kohlbrenner Mesut Celik

Women's Semi-Contact Kickboxing Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
-50 kg	Samantha Aquilano	Natasa Ilievska	Renate Sandland Renata Polanec
-55 kg	Gloria De Bei	Christina McMahon	Gonca Thurm Monika Mullerova
-60 kg	Luisa Lico	Cindy Cote	Julie Charlesworth Brigita Plemenitas
-65 kg	Elaine Fowler	Anita Madsen	Carla Ribeiro Emanuela Amisani
-70 kg	Ivett Pruzsinszky	Anna Migliaccio	Lenka Klofacova Adriane Doppler
+70 kg	Nadja Sibila	Nicola Corbett	Romina Succi Kelly Gillis

Musical Forms

Musical Forms is a non-physical competition which sees the contestants fighting against imaginary foes using Martial Arts techniques – more information on the style can be found on the W.A.K.O. website.^[7] The men and women competed in four different styles explained below:

Hard Styles – coming from Karate and Taekwondo.
Soft Styles – coming from Kung Fu and Wu-Sha.
Hard Styles with Weapons – using weapons such as Kama, Sai, Tonfa, Nunchaku, Bō, Katana.
Soft Styles with Weapons – using weapons such as Naginata, Nunchaku, Tai Chi Chuan Sword, Whip Chain.

The most notable winner was Veronica Dombrovskaya who was a double winner in Musical Forms. By the end of the championships the top nation in Musical Forms was Belarus with three gold medals.^[8]

Men's Musical Forms Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Hard Styles	Jean-François Lachapelle	Christian Brell	Georg Filimonov
Soft Styles	Andrei Roukavistnikov	Castellacci Massimiliano	Paolo Santana
Hard Styles with Weapons	Christian Brell	Jean-François Lachapelle	Georg Filimonov
Soft Styles with Weapons	Georg Filimonov	Andrei Roukavistnikov	Andreas Seidel

Women's Musical Forms Medals Table

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Hard Styles	Sandra Hess	Valeria Smirnova	Samantha Smythe
Soft Styles	Veronica Dombrovskaya	Svetlana Sorokina	Daria Masharo
Hard Styles with Weapons	Veronica Dombrovskaya	Valeria Smirnova	Olga Koudinova
Soft Styles with Weapons	Daria Masharo	Valeria Smirnova	Svetlana Sorokina