While the experts are busy discussing Vendetta All Stars - Armfight # 50 matches, experienced participants of the Professional World Cup "Zloty Tur" are already assessing their chances of winning this most prestigious tournament of the professional arm-wrestling world. Considering the fact that the majority of winners of the last World Cup will take part in armfights, the others will have unique prospects. If you analyze the results of "Zloty Tur" 2017, which you can read HERE, then, excluding the participants of Vendetta All Stars, it is possible to come to the conclusion that many prize places will be open for the influx of "fresh blood". For example, the results of the Open weight category on the left hand look like this:

SENIOR MEN LEFT OPEN

1. SAGINASHVILI, LEVAN GEORGIA (4251)

2. VITALY, LALETIN RUSSIA (4430)

3. SILAEV, DMITRY RUSSIA (4434)

4. ZHOKH, OLEG UKRAINE (4243)

5. PRUDNIK, EVGENII UKRAINE (4446)

6. KURDECHA, ALEX POLAND (4378)

7. ILIN, ILYA KAZAKHSTAN (4085)

8. BARBOZA, MARCIO USA (4247)

9. ARTEM, GRISHIN RUSSIA (4431)

10. IONOV, DMYTRO UKRAINE (4056)

11. STETSIUK, VADYM UKRAINE (4067)

As we see, 4 of the 6 first prize-winners participate in the “Vendetta All Stars” armfights. The first candidate to win this category is Dmitry Silaev from Russia. Yevgeniy Prudnik from Ukraine could compete with him, but the difference in weight and Evgeny's performance at the European Championships this year show that as of today, he has not much to oppose to the heavier Silaev.

Let's look at the results of the Open weight category on the right hand: 

SENIOR MEN RIGHT OPEN

1. SAGINASHVILI, LEVAN GEORGIA (4251)

2. KYDYRGALI, ONGARBAEV KAZAKHSTAN (4049)

3. SILAEV, DMITRY RUSSIA (4434)

4. VITALY, LALETIN RUSSIA (4430)

5. LAMPARELLI, FRANK ITALY (4399)

6. KOSTADINOV, KRASIMIR BULGARIA (4231)

7. ARTEM, GRISHIN RUSSIA (4431)

8. KOCAK, OGUZHAN TURKEY (4083)

9. YANKOUSKI, ALIAKSANDR BELARUS (4285)

10. BARBOZA, MARCIO USA (4247)

11. STEVENS, HERMAN USA (4065)

12. KHASPEKOV, GEORGY RUSSIA (4391)

In the Open category on the right hand, Dmitry Silaev is also third. His most formidable rivals - Levan Saginashvili and Vitaly Laletin are out for armfights. Kudyrgali Ongarbaev, an athlete from Kazakhstan, 2-nd in the category - a very hardy fighter, but he performs in the 95 kg weight class. It is not known in which form Kudyrgali will approach the World Cup this year, but Dmitry Silaev, with proper preparation, has all chances to defeat him. 

But, as they say, a vacuum is always filled ... Every professional arm wrestler dreams of winning the World Cup. And it looks like 2018 will be the year of the formation of a new elite. 

Igor Mazurenko: "Frankly, it's difficult even for me to forecast anything today. Indeed, thanks to the "star" Vendetta, the top is open to conquest more than ever. If I was an active professional armwrestler, I would seriously think about going to the Zloty Tour this year. Such an opportunity is granted once a decade. “

Who will take vacant seats on the professional Olympus in 2018? The question remains open.

It would be interesting to hear the opinions of our readers on this topic.