At the Congress, Ernar Ussenbayev, Director of Sports Development of the Kazakhstan Wrestling Federation, proposed the introduction of a new ranking-based qualification system for the Kazakhstan Championship in wrestling disciplines.
“The main goal of this system is to make qualification fair and transparent. Throughout the year, an athlete participates in ranking tournaments and earns points based on their results. At the end of the season, the wrestlers with the highest ranking in each weight category receive a place at the Kazakhstan Championship. In other words, the athletes participating in the championship will be determined not by personal decisions, but by actual results. Today, the number of participants in championships is too high. At some competitions, this figure reaches up to 2,000 people. In such circumstances, the tournament lasts several days, the number of bouts increases, and as a result, the workload on both referees and athletes grows.
Under the proposed system, only the top 16 ranked athletes in each weight category will be admitted to the Kazakhstan Championship. In addition, the champion of the previous season will be given the opportunity to defend their title. The ranking will be updated after each tournament and published openly,” said Ernar Ussenbayev.
