On 15 December 2018, the qualifying bouts in the mass divisions of the Open Ukrainian HMB Championship took place. Based on the results, the best of the best will join the Ukrainian national HMB team and represent our country at the World Championship in Serbia in May 2019.

Knyaz Club fighters took part in every Ukrainian Championship division — women’s 5 vs 5, men’s 5 vs 5, and 12 vs 12. But the real measure of skill is not numbers, it is the quality of the fights — and we hold our own there too. Results:

• Team «Karakal», with our club’s Karyna Tymchenko, won 1st place in women’s 5 vs 5;
• Team «Knyaz 1» won 1st place in men’s 5 vs 5;
• Team «Knyaz» took 2nd place in 12 vs 12.

Even though 12 vs 12 was run for the first time this year, Knyaz Club managed to field a full line-up entirely from club members — 16 athletes including reserves. Five teams in total entered 12 vs 12, played round-robin. Considering the conditions, the result is decent, but there’s still room to grow.

In men’s 5 vs 5 our club fielded two teams, both entirely from Knyaz fighters. The format was round-robin with 10 teams. Thanks to the lads’ results, Knyaz Club will represent Ukraine at the World Championship in 5 vs 5 for the second year running as the country’s strongest team. In total Ukraine will field three teams — «Ukraine 1, 2, 3» — by Championship rankings.

A reminder: the next qualifying stages in singles divisions will be on 26 January in Odesa and on 23–24 February in Kharkiv.

Congratulations to all the fighters on their victories and best wishes for the next events.