Judo: Kazakhstan mulling purchase of Kyrgyz judoka

Kazakhstan Judo Federation proposed to purchase two members of Kyrgyz Olympic team: judokas Yuriy Krakovetskiy and Chyngyz Mamedov, Tengrinews.kz reports, referring to Kyrgyzstan Judo Federation press-service. 19-y.o. Yuriy Krakovetskiy represented Kyrgyzstan in +100kg weight division and 23-y.o. Chyngyz Mamedov - in 90kg weight division. Both of them lost their first fight. Kazakhstan wanted to offer good training conditions and high salary to Krakovetskiy and Mamedov, but Kyrgyzstan Judo Federation was not happy with the idea from the very beginning. "We should keep talented judoka in the country, but they have to be provided good salaries. We need sponsors for this," President of the Kyrgyz federation Azamat Bakasov told 24.kg. Kazakhstan Judo Federation later said it was was premature to state any firm intention, Tengrinews.kz reported, citing Interfax-Kazakhstan. “We haven’t approached Kyrgyz judoka with this proposal yet; we’ve got good judoka in our country. We’ve got Rinat Ibragimov, Islam Bozbayev, Yeldos Smetov. We also have junior world champions who didn’t participate in the Olympics, we’ve got our own young athletes,” Kazakhstan Judo Federation officials said. The Federation’s press-service said that the Federation’s authorities will first have to analyze Kazakhstan’s judoka performance at the Olympics and then make the decision. “Our fighters weren't very successful at the Olympics, so there are no news about this yet (about engaging other countries athletes). Everybody is shocked by our (poor) results in London. So we are not discussing those Kyrgyz judoka at present,” the press-service said. The XXX Summer Olympic Games finished in London on August 12.