Organizer and main inspirer of the World Cup "ZG STRONG" Alexandar Jakovac:

"For the first time the tournament was held in 2014, and then it was called the Sokol Maric World Cup by the name of the main sponsor.

The idea of ​​the tournament was born when I first got on "Zloty Tur" in 2010. I had never felt anywhere before such an atmosphere and sports spirit as in the Zloty.

And I thought, that it would be great to organize something like that in Croatia. Then we did not have either our own federation or a sufficient number of international athletes. We only watched the events in other countries and were happy that armwrestling lives and develops.

And then, in 4 years, my dream came true. Everybody liked the tournament at once from the first time. Today it is called "ZG STRONG" by the name of our capital, Zagreb, and we already have other sponsors.

The venue of the Cup is the wonderful WESTIN Hotel - friends of ours, who provided us a luxurious hall in the very center of Zagreb. The jewelry company provided the main trophies of the tournament: for the first place in the Open category - a unique Yakut diamond, and for women - a piece of jewelry art - a diamond-covered key on the chain. "

The work that Alexandar Jakovac conducted this year was also a truly jewelry art.

The organization of the event was perfect in every detail, everything was very professional. In order for the tournament to work like a clock, Alexandar used the electronic protocols program, which the Polish federation developed for the WAF. With its help, the organizers clearly knew how much time would be needed for each category, how many matches remained until the end, where they could speed up, and where they had to delay the time.

Experienced tournament organizers will understand how much effort it takes to hold competitions with 150 participants on both hands in one day.

At “ZG STRONG” they even managed to make a break for a rest.

On Sunday, at 20.00 fights in the Open weight category began. Fought men, women and para-armrestlers.

This year, the strongest Croatian para-armrestler Luka Drokan fought with Bulgarian Georgi Kaidarov - the prize-winner of the European Championship. Sponsors of the tournament provided cash prizes for this category as well.

Among healthy athletes, in the Open category, the events developed with unexpected drama.

First, one of the favorites of the Cup, Mirtaleh Aslanov, was so traumatized in the fight for his category that he could not take part in the Open weight category.

On the left hand, another favorite of the tournament, Dmitri Trubin, in the heavyweight division lost both matches to athletes from Austria and Italy. As Dmitry himself told us later, a year-old injury “woke up”, his hand suddenly started to swell. "This was the last time this year, when I fought on my left hand. Now I will rehab it and take care of it. " In general, the participant of the approaching Vendetta All Stars, feels well, weighs 130 kg, in contrast to 140 last year. Regarding his preparations for Vendetta, Dmitry said: "I understand that my rival is already so prepared that my right hand should be 2 times stronger than now."

The Open weight category on ZG STRONG was held only on the right hand. Dmitry Trubin won it confidently, Plamen Dimitrov from Bulgaria took the second place, third - Frank Lamparelli, Italy, 4th - Mehdi Abdolvand from Iran.

“ZG STRONG” Organizers are now thinking about holding the World Cup for 2 days.

Alexandar  Jakovac: "I understand that 2 days mean double costs of financial and human resources. But, next year, we expect a significant increase in the number of athletes and it will be much easier for us to hold the tournament in the right mode and at a decent level. "