#enkhtaivan

[erwinrer]

Mongolia's prostitution zones, where women trade sex for fuel in sub-zero temperatures

It’s nearing midnight in an unadorned bar on a backstreet off Sükhbaatar Square, and 31 year-old Minjuur rubs her hands to shake off the cold.

Speaking in a whisper, she explains her average evening. Men pick her up from the park by the Central Tower office building, then they go to a nearby hotel for an hour of sex.

Minjuur has a small scar on her right upper cheek that is visible despite her makeup, and she counts on her fingers the number of friends who have died in her line of work. It is minus 20 degrees Celsius tonight, and Minjuur has a chest-rattling cough. Vodka helps her ward off the chill. She says the winter is hard.

Mongolia’s capital presents grim working conditions for the city’s prostitutes. Ulaanbaatar is often overlooked as a centre of prostitution, but – despite increased activity in border areas – it remains the hub for the country’s sex work and sexual trafficking. But as the city’s prostitutes experience violence and social stigma, some are navigating riskier working environments beyond the city.  

“Most of these women working in this field are very poor and need cash,” said outreach officer Erdenesuren. “They are driven by necessity.” Erdenesuren – who like many Mongolians only uses one name – works for the NGO Perfect Ladies (In Mongolian: Tugs Busguichuud), which promotes prevention of sexually transmitted infections among prostitutes and helps them leave sex work.

Prostitution and human trafficking are illegal within Mongolia but the sex trade is growing. While some women solicit openly on the streets of the capital, others work discreetly out of karaoke bars, saunas and massage parlours. Mongolia is a source, transit and destination country for sex labour.

According to a 2014 report from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, between 3,000 and 5,000 women and children are trafficked each year from rural communities into cities and beyond the nation’s borders.

Unicef estimates that roughly 19,000 sex workers are active in Mongolia, however, some field workers cite much higher numbers. The state’s population sits at around 3 million. While male prostitutes do exist, they are a small minority.

The rapid growth of the country’s mining sector over the last decade has created a workforce of isolated men, thereby spurring on the industry. Skirting the border with China, the southern Gobi Desert – where mineral mining projects run by Rio Tinto and other global operations are located – has become a new focal point for prostitution.

“In Ulaanbaatar there is violence (against prostitutes) – from families and from working people – but inside the mining area everyone comes for the same goal: making money, and they don’t judge one another,” said Sorbonne University Ethnology Professor Gaëlle Lacaze.

Amidst lines of trucks parked against a barren expanse of sand, a converted bus-turned-café is the only option for some tea and conversation. Enkhtaivan Baatar is biding time at Tavan Tolgoi – a coal deposit in Ömnögovi province within the Gobi Desert.

The 39-year-old truck driver in a black hoodie is waiting for his coal shipment so he can drive his cargo across the border. He has been doing this job for three years, and has seen many prostitutes. Cars filled with women pull up off the highway and, when the price is settled, join the drivers in the cab of their truck.

Baatar also describes a sign close to the border that advertises women for sale and lists a number to call if interested. “Wherever there is money and men they come,” he said.

Mongolia’s mining boom started in the early 2000s and mining now accounts for around 20 per cent of Mongolia’s gross domestic product. The growth in mining has created a spike in internal migration to mining areas – most notably Ömnögovi.

The country has a 0.03 per cent general prevalence rate of HIV among adults and, for Mongolians infected, treatment is free. As of 2017 data, however, only 32 per cent of people living with HIV knew their status.

“Mining industries are notorious hotspots for HIV infection,” said UNAIDS Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Eamonn Murphy. “There is money around, and people are away from their homes and cultural, social and other inhibitors, and so they take risks that they wouldn’t normally.”

The coal route from the Tavan Tolgoi coal deposit to the Chinese border is synonymous with sex work fuelled by the mining industry. Despite being from the capital, 32 year-old Uka is intimately familiar with this stretch of transit. Uka has been earning a living as a sex worker in Mongolia for almost a decade.

The petite 32-year-old entered the industry to earn money after her daughter was born. She began in Ulaanbaatar, but now works along the border. Her clients –  truck drivers – sometimes don’t have cash, so they pay her in fuel. Uka would rather work for diesel then return to the conditions facing prostitutes in Ulaanbaatar.  

According to Uka, prostitutes in the capital face frequent violence from pimps and customers, but Ömnögovi is better. In contrast to the stigma felt in the city, she describes the border area as accepting and open. Uka explains that four or five women travel to the border area with a driver and rent a ger (a traditional round felted tent) to stay.

They need to travel in groups – it is dangerous to be a woman alone with so many truck drivers. Uka reaches up and adjusts an earring as she lists her rate: 50,000 MNT per act, with an hourly rate of 80,000 MNT and a daily rate of 200,000 MNT (roughly £14, £23 and £58). If the drivers don’t have cash, they pay in fuel: 40 or 50 litres of diesel for one act, 100 litres for one hour. The women then resell the fuel when they can for money.

Yet when Uka is soliciting in south Gobi, she is working without resources. “It’s risky there,” said Erdenesuren, of working near the Chinese border. “The ones who like to take risks go there.”

In Ulaanbaatar, there are STI awareness programmes and condom distribution, social workers like Erdenesuren try to check up on the women they know, but in the Gobi there is no such infrastructure. Uka explains how the women she works with buy contraceptives off one another when they run out, as there is no store to purchase more. Often customers don’t want to use them anyway.

Ulaanbaatar may offer prostitutes more contact with NGOs providing outreach, but it is a harsh environment for women working in the trade. Previously, Uka sold sex in a sauna in the capital where she alleges police and customers beat her. She claims ultra-nationalists target sex workers on the street and shave their heads to disgrace them. The Ulaanbaatar police did not respond to requests for comment on this story.Violence, drugs and sexual diseases | How de-regulating prostitution is failing women worldwide

In Mongolia, sex work is an occupation shrouded in shame and silence. Erdenesuren cites the cycle of humiliation and fear that keeps women from reaching out to the police and family: “It is better to have your bones broken, then your name dishonoured.”

Uka explains that people don’t openly talk about prostitution and why women end up in sex work. She left school after eighth grade and has few options to earn an income. “For some women, it is easier to open their legs than go to the factory,” said Lacaze, “because they have no diplomas. She is alone with children, she has to eat.”

Uka admits that her daughter has no idea how her mum earns an income. Her family believes she is a cook. In Ulaanbaatar, Minjuur tells her family that her nights are spent serving in a bar. Both women support multiple dependents with their earnings. “Nobody knows what they are doing, but everybody knows,” said Lacaze. “Everybody is complicit.”

The Nordic style house in the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar stands out against its surroundings, and its inhabitants are also trying to adapt. This is a safe house run by the Swedish anti-trafficking NGO Talita. It is privately funded with only four beds available.

Gaamaa occupies one of those beds. The tiny 22-year-old, in sweatpants and a t-shirt, looks like a university student relaxing between classes. She speaks softly. “If girls refuse to have sex, they abuse them and if they can’t change a girl, they sell her,” she said. “They call the trafficker and sell.”

Gaamaa has been bought and sold many times. In 2016, fleeing an abusive home, Gaamaa ended up at a sauna near the central railway station. There, in rooms with barred windows, she worked with four other women for a rate of 40,000 MNT for one hour and 60,000 MNT for two hours (roughly £11 and £17). Their madam supplied food and clothes, but never the money earned. The brothel sold her to another sauna when they found she was trying to escape, but not before she alleges being beaten as punishment and then raped by her attackers.

“Society think they [prostitutes] are garbage,” said Talita Mongolia founder and director Tserenchunt Byamba-Ochir. “There is no funding to protect victims, not one coin to protect victims of trafficking from the Mongolia government – they say we don’t have money for that.”

In 2017, the federal government cut funding to seven regional offices of Mongolia’s sole NGO designed to help sex workers – Perfect Ladies. Only three branches remain. Five women’s shelters operate, but four offer short term stays only. Talita’s Ulaanbaatar branch (the fifth shelter) is the sole long-term rehabilitation center for former prostitutes, and it is at capacity.Sex trafficking hot spot | Switzerland's disastrous prostitution laws

Eventually, Gaamaa was trafficked into China where she worked in multiple cities before a client helped her escape to the Mongolian embassy in Beijing. She arrived at Talita in late 2017.

Gaamaa used to shake as she talked about her experiences and she had nightmares. Now she wraps her arms around a stuffed bear and explains with a smile that she is looking into culinary college. But Gaamaa is also anxious about living in the capital, afraid that someone from her old life will recognise her.

Byamba-Ochir also has concerns. With many of the cases where Talita assists, the traffickers are not charged. Women feel intimidated and change their stories in court, or get pulled back into the trade. Gaamaa believes if she hadn’t been trafficked to China, she would still be a prostitute.

“Here in Mongolia they are not kind,” said Gaamaa. It’s really hard to escape here – it’s everywhere in Ulaanbaatar. It is very hard to escape Mongolia.” 

[mountainfieldguide]

Otgontenger

Otgontenger | Otgon Tenger Uul Photo: Otgontenger is the highest peak in the Khangai Mountains in Mongolia, by Namdag Enkhtaivan. Nestled in the Khangai Mountains of central Mongolia, Otgontenger stands as a testament to nature’s raw beauty and untamed wilderness. This majestic peak, shrouded in mystery and spiritual significance, is not just a mountain – it’s a thriving ecosystem, a…

[gergenhaas]

Mongolia's prostitution zones, where women trade sex for fuel in sub-zero temperatures

It’s nearing midnight in an unadorned bar on a backstreet off Sükhbaatar Square, and 31 year-old Minjuur rubs her hands to shake off the cold.

Speaking in a whisper, she explains her average evening. Men pick her up from the park by the Central Tower office building, then they go to a nearby hotel for an hour of sex.

Minjuur has a small scar on her right upper cheek that is visible despite her makeup, and she counts on her fingers the number of friends who have died in her line of work. It is minus 20 degrees Celsius tonight, and Minjuur has a chest-rattling cough. Vodka helps her ward off the chill. She says the winter is hard.

Mongolia’s capital presents grim working conditions for the city’s prostitutes. Ulaanbaatar is often overlooked as a centre of prostitution, but – despite increased activity in border areas – it remains the hub for the country’s sex work and sexual trafficking. But as the city’s prostitutes experience violence and social stigma, some are navigating riskier working environments beyond the city.

“Most of these women working in this field are very poor and need cash,” said outreach officer Erdenesuren. “They are driven by necessity.” Erdenesuren – who like many Mongolians only uses one name – works for the NGO Perfect Ladies (In Mongolian: Tugs Busguichuud), which promotes prevention of sexually transmitted infections among prostitutes and helps them leave sex work.

Prostitution and human trafficking are illegal within Mongolia but the sex trade is growing. While some women solicit openly on the streets of the capital, others work discreetly out of karaoke bars, saunas and massage parlours. Mongolia is a source, transit and destination country for sex labour.

According to a 2014 report from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, between 3,000 and 5,000 women and children are trafficked each year from rural communities into cities and beyond the nation’s borders.

Unicef estimates that roughly 19,000 sex workers are active in Mongolia, however, some field workers cite much higher numbers. The state’s population sits at around 3 million. While male prostitutes do exist, they are a small minority.

The rapid growth of the country’s mining sector over the last decade has created a workforce of isolated men, thereby spurring on the industry. Skirting the border with China, the southern Gobi Desert – where mineral mining projects run by Rio Tinto and other global operations are located – has become a new focal point for prostitution.

“In Ulaanbaatar there is violence (against prostitutes) – from families and from working people – but inside the mining area everyone comes for the same goal: making money, and they don’t judge one another,” said Sorbonne University Ethnology Professor Gaëlle Lacaze.

Amidst lines of trucks parked against a barren expanse of sand, a converted bus-turned-café is the only option for some tea and conversation. Enkhtaivan Baatar is biding time at Tavan Tolgoi – a coal deposit in Ömnögovi province within the Gobi Desert.

The 39-year-old truck driver in a black hoodie is waiting for his coal shipment so he can drive his cargo across the border. He has been doing this job for three years, and has seen many prostitutes. Cars filled with women pull up off the highway and, when the price is settled, join the drivers in the cab of their truck.

Baatar also describes a sign close to the border that advertises women for sale and lists a number to call if interested. “Wherever there is money and men they come,” he said.

Mongolia’s mining boom started in the early 2000s and mining now accounts for around 20 per cent of Mongolia’s gross domestic product. The growth in mining has created a spike in internal migration to mining areas – most notably Ömnögovi.

The country has a 0.03 per cent general prevalence rate of HIV among adults and, for Mongolians infected, treatment is free. As of 2017 data, however, only 32 per cent of people living with HIV knew their status.

“Mining industries are notorious hotspots for HIV infection,” said UNAIDS Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Eamonn Murphy. “There is money around, and people are away from their homes and cultural, social and other inhibitors, and so they take risks that they wouldn’t normally.”

The coal route from the Tavan Tolgoi coal deposit to the Chinese border is synonymous with sex work fuelled by the mining industry. Despite being from the capital, 32 year-old Uka is intimately familiar with this stretch of transit. Uka has been earning a living as a sex worker in Mongolia for almost a decade.

The petite 32-year-old entered the industry to earn money after her daughter was born. She began in Ulaanbaatar, but now works along the border. Her clients – truck drivers – sometimes don’t have cash, so they pay her in fuel. Uka would rather work for diesel then return to the conditions facing prostitutes in Ulaanbaatar.

According to Uka, prostitutes in the capital face frequent violence from pimps and customers, but Ömnögovi is better. In contrast to the stigma felt in the city, she describes the border area as accepting and open. Uka explains that four or five women travel to the border area with a driver and rent a ger (a traditional round felted tent) to stay.

They need to travel in groups – it is dangerous to be a woman alone with so many truck drivers. Uka reaches up and adjusts an earring as she lists her rate: 50,000 MNT per act, with an hourly rate of 80,000 MNT and a daily rate of 200,000 MNT (roughly £14, £23 and £58). If the drivers don’t have cash, they pay in fuel: 40 or 50 litres of diesel for one act, 100 litres for one hour. The women then resell the fuel when they can for money.

Yet when Uka is soliciting in south Gobi, she is working without resources. “It’s risky there,” said Erdenesuren, of working near the Chinese border. “The ones who like to take risks go there.”

In Ulaanbaatar, there are STI awareness programmes and condom distribution, social workers like Erdenesuren try to check up on the women they know, but in the Gobi there is no such infrastructure. Uka explains how the women she works with buy contraceptives off one another when they run out, as there is no store to purchase more. Often customers don’t want to use them anyway.

Ulaanbaatar may offer prostitutes more contact with NGOs providing outreach, but it is a harsh environment for women working in the trade. Previously, Uka sold sex in a sauna in the capital where she alleges police and customers beat her. She claims ultra-nationalists target sex workers on the street and shave their heads to disgrace them. The Ulaanbaatar police did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

In Mongolia, sex work is an occupation shrouded in shame and silence. Erdenesuren cites the cycle of humiliation and fear that keeps women from reaching out to the police and family: “It is better to have your bones broken, then your name dishonoured.”

Uka explains that people don’t openly talk about prostitution and why women end up in sex work. She left school after eighth grade and has few options to earn an income. “For some women, it is easier to open their legs than go to the factory,” said Lacaze, “because they have no diplomas. She is alone with children, she has to eat.”

Uka admits that her daughter has no idea how her mum earns an income. Her family believes she is a cook. In Ulaanbaatar, Minjuur tells her family that her nights are spent serving in a bar. Both women support multiple dependents with their earnings. “Nobody knows what they are doing, but everybody knows,” said Lacaze. “Everybody is complicit.”

The Nordic style house in the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar stands out against its surroundings, and its inhabitants are also trying to adapt. This is a safe house run by the Swedish anti-trafficking NGO Talita. It is privately funded with only four beds available.

Gaamaa occupies one of those beds. The tiny 22-year-old, in sweatpants and a t-shirt, looks like a university student relaxing between classes. She speaks softly. “If girls refuse to have sex, they abuse them and if they can’t change a girl, they sell her,” she said. “They call the trafficker and sell.”

Gaamaa has been bought and sold many times. In 2016, fleeing an abusive home, Gaamaa ended up at a sauna near the central railway station. There, in rooms with barred windows, she worked with four other women for a rate of 40,000 MNT for one hour and 60,000 MNT for two hours (roughly £11 and £17). Their madam supplied food and clothes, but never the money earned. The brothel sold her to another sauna when they found she was trying to escape, but not before she alleges being beaten as punishment and then raped by her attackers.

“Society think they [prostitutes] are garbage,” said Talita Mongolia founder and director Tserenchunt Byamba-Ochir. “There is no funding to protect victims, not one coin to protect victims of trafficking from the Mongolia government – they say we don’t have money for that.”

In 2017, the federal government cut funding to seven regional offices of Mongolia’s sole NGO designed to help sex workers – Perfect Ladies. Only three branches remain. Five women’s shelters operate, but four offer short term stays only. Talita’s Ulaanbaatar branch (the fifth shelter) is the sole long-term rehabilitation center for former prostitutes, and it is at capacity.

Eventually, Gaamaa was trafficked into China where she worked in multiple cities before a client helped her escape to the Mongolian embassy in Beijing. She arrived at Talita in late 2017.

Gaamaa used to shake as she talked about her experiences and she had nightmares. Now she wraps her arms around a stuffed bear and explains with a smile that she is looking into culinary college. But Gaamaa is also anxious about living in the capital, afraid that someone from her old life will recognise her.

Byamba-Ochir also has concerns. With many of the cases where Talita assists, the traffickers are not charged. Women feel intimidated and change their stories in court, or get pulled back into the trade. Gaamaa believes if she hadn’t been trafficked to China, she would still be a prostitute.

“Here in Mongolia they are not kind,” said Gaamaa. It’s really hard to escape here – it’s everywhere in Ulaanbaatar. It is very hard to escape Mongolia.”

[personal-reporter]

La Città del Natale 2023 a Jesolo

Jesolo sarà la Città del Natale, con un gran numero di eventi che animeranno strade e piazze durante le prossime festività, a partire da venerdì 1 dicembre fino a domenica 7 gennaio 2024 e oltre con lo Jesolo Sand Nativity che chiuderà solamente la sera di domenica 4 febbraio 2024. Il primo appuntamento ufficiale di Jesolo la Città del Natale è fissato per sabato 2 dicembre con l’inaugurazione del celebre presepe di sabbia, che aprirà le sue porte ai visitatori il giorno successivo. La 21esima edizione dello Jesolo Sand Nativity avrà il titolo di Sulle orme di Francesco d’Assisi, su un percorso che racconterà la vita di San Francesco d’Assisi attraverso 12 episodi chiave proprio a 800 anni dalla creazione da parte del poverello d’Assisi del primo presepe a Greccio, rappresentati da 14 artisti provenienti da tutto il mondo, scultori professionisti coordinati dal direttore artistico della manifestazione, il canadese David Ducharme, e grazie alla collaborazione del Sacro Convento di San Francesco in Assisi. Questo legame troverà massima espressione grazie alla presenza di una grande scultura che verrà scolpita nell’area antistante l’ingresso inferiore della basilica del Santo ad Assisi, per un’opera maestosa lunga 8 metri, alta 4 e profonda 4 con la Sacra Famiglia, San Francesco e gli angeli che sarà presentata ufficialmente l’8 dicembre, giorno dell’Immacolata concezione. Ad accogliere i visitatori dello Jesolo Sand Nativity sarà quest’anno Il Grido, un’imponente scultura lignea realizzata dall’artista veneto Marco Martalar con elementi di scarto naturale di abete rosso e sfridi di faggio raccolti nei boschi delle dolomiti abbattuti dalla tempesta di Vaia nel 2018. Nel centro storico, si consolida e si amplia la presenza del Presepe di Ghiaccio, giunto alla terza edizione, dove dal 6 al 10 dicembre un gruppo di artisti scolpirà le sculture ospitate quest’anno nella grande teca sotto zero allestita in piazza I Maggio. La manifestazione si amplia ulteriormente con un ingresso completato da un grande arco illuminato e una squadra di scultori che comprenderà professionisti come David Ducharme,  direttore artistico dello Jesolo Sand Nativity, poi il russo Ilya Filimontsev e il duo proveniente dalla Mongolia composto da Tsagaan Munkh-Erdene ed Enkhtaivan Uugantsetseg. Le opere nasceranno da 70 blocchi di ghiaccio dal peso di 125 chilogrammi ciascuno, protette all’interno di una grande teca dove la temperatura sarà mantenuta in maniera costante tra i 10 e i 14 gradi sotto lo zero e l’inaugurazione si terrà domenica 12 dicembre. A completare la Jesolo dei presepi sarà il Presepe di Sassi che scalderà piazza Milano come l’anno scorso, curato dallo scultore Sergio Dalla Mora. Una grande novità, invece, sarà in piazza Marconi che diventerà un luogo fantastico con Jesolo Incantatus, dove una grande tensostruttura riprodurrà il mitico castello di Hogwarts, ospitando ricostruzioni del mondo di Harry Potter e la magia sarà anche all’esterno grazie a fantastici allestimenti e dal 17 dicembre al 7 gennaio si svolgeranno spettacoli e laboratori di magia e illusionismo, con artisti e attori specializzati, dedicati ai più piccoli ma non solo. Domenica 3 dicembre l’amministrazione comunale aprirà ufficialmente le porte del Villaggio di Natale, visitabile a partire da venerdì 1 dicembre tra piazza Mazzini, piazza Aurora e via Silvio Trentin con 75 casette, dove verranno ricavate 13 postazioni con casetta doppia da adibire a punto ristoro. Le due piazze, come di consueto, rappresenteranno i due poli del divertimento soprattutto per i più piccoli, infatti piazza Mazzini ospiterà la pista di ghiaccio e diverse giostre mentre in piazza Aurora si potranno trovare la Casa di Babbo Natale, che la raggiungerà il 10 dicembre a bordo di una slitta trainata dalle renne Fulmine e Saetta, poi l’ufficio postale, una giostra e una torre panoramica che sovrasterà la piazza, compreso un grande albero luminoso. Durante la cerimonia ufficiale di inaugurazione si potrà assistere all’accensione del grande albero addobbato di piazza Mazzini con un mare di luci e colori festosi che illumineranno il lido fino a domenica 7 gennaio ma anche di musica e intrattenimento. La Città del Natale nutrirà anche anima e mente grazie a numerosi appuntamenti culturali, infatti per tutto il mese di dicembre, e fino al 28 gennaio 2024, il JMuseo ospiterà una mostra curata dal maestro Agostino Busanel dedicata ai presepi. Imperdibili saranno gli appuntamenti musicali di martedì 26 dicembre con il classico concerto di Natale e, giovedì 28 dicembre al teatro Vivaldi, quello moderno con l’Aurora Wind Band che propone un repertorio anni Settanta, Ottanta e Novanta, oltre al tradizionale concerto di Capodanno che vedrà protagonisti Luca Minelli e la sua band al teatro Vivaldi dalle 17.30. Dopo il grande successo dell’anno scorso, a segnare il passaggio tra il 2023 e il 2024 sarà il Capodanno in piazza che quest’anno raddoppia la festa a Piazza Kennedy, che diventerà il palcoscenico per le esibizioni musicali dei djs. A mezzanotte la piazza si fermerà per il brindisi e lo spettacolo pirotecnico, ma il grande show proseguirà l’1 gennaio a partire dal pomeriggio con la partecipazione di un super ospite, il cui nome sarà  annunciato nei prossimi giorni. Read the full article

[thetoxicgamer]

CS:GO Team Set to Play Paris Major Qualifier Under New Name, Raising Questions About IHC

Players from Mongolia named Garidmagnai "bLitz" Byambasuren "Techno," Sodbayar "Munkhbold," and Baatarkhuu "Bart4k" Tuvshintugs and Batbold's "Annihilation" Chinguun and Nyamdorj "hasteka" Prior to the BLAST Paris Major Asia Tournament, Bayarmaa have resurrected the moniker "The Mongolz," and they will no longer compete under the IHC banner. As of this point, it’s unclear if this means that bLitz and his men have effectively parted ways with IHC ahead of the BLAST Paris Major Asia RMR as the organization has been radio silent on Twitter since March 24. The Mongolians peaked at 18th in the world in February, according to HLTV’s ranking, following their participation in IEM Katowice, when they eliminated paiN Gaming, FURIA, and most notably Cloud9 from the tournament. Dot Esports has reached out to IHC but didn’t receive a response at time of writing. https://twitter.com/MESA_HQ/status/1642859991471366147 This news comes just mere days after IHC signed hasteka to complete the lineup and fill the void left open by the departure of star player Tengis “sk0R” Batjargal in early March. The community was confused why sk0R left in the first place so close to the RMR, and more questions were raised after he revealed that it was not his decision to leave. IHC is backed by a cryptocurrency coin of the same name and the future of its esports operations has been in doubt ever since three founders of Ih Bit Global were arrested in February. Dave Lee, the chairman of IHC Esports, said back then that the individuals who were arrested had nothing to do with the management and operation of the esports team. The Mongolz has been a mainstay tag in Mongolia’s CS:GO scene since 2015, when the country’s then-best player Enkhtaivan “⁠Machinegun⁠” Lkhagva used it with his teammates in premier tournaments like IEM Katowice in 2016 and IEM Oakland in 2017. The Mongolz are due to play Nikola “Lobanjica” Mijomanović and Shuaib “D0cC” Ahmad’s Twisted Minds in the opening round of the BLAST Paris Major Asia RMR on Thursday, April 6 at 1:30am CT. The tournament will feature eight Asian teams playing in a double-elimination bracket and only the top two will book a spot at the BLAST Paris Major in May, which will be the last Valve-sponsored tournament for CS:GO due to Counter-Strike 2’s pending worldwide launch this summer. Read the full article

[judocritics]

GSL Paris (day-1): Charline & Mina beiden verdienstelijk 7°.

(04-Feb-2023)

>> 2023 GSL Paris (results ijf.org)  

7 Belgen aan de start en dat betekent dat er ook een aantal áfwezigen zijn: en dan denk ik in de eerste plaats aan Malik Umayev /-73kg ? en in mindere mate bij de vrouwen aan Alessia Corrao /-63kg, Ellen Salens /-48kg, Amber Ryheul /-52kg, Sophie Berger /-78kg.... Het blijft tenslotte - samen met Japan - het meest prestigieuze tornooi ter wereld, en amper op een boogscheut van ons Belgenland. Het minste wat onze federaties dan kunnen doen - denk ik toch - is hun beste zonen en dochters uitsturen, los van het feit of ze überhaupt kans maken op een eervol resultaat.  Nu goed, we volgen zij die er dus wél zijn. 

  /-60kg

Jorre Verstraeten (°97; /-60kg; IGW; 7°WRL): out (1 own)   4th seeded, dus een ‘bye’ in ronde-1, en opent in 1/16-fin tegen Issam Bassou (°98; Mar; 48° WRL): 3-voudig Afrikaans kampioen, al liep het mis vorig jaar (5°). Zijn beste resultaten dateren uit 2018/2019: 3° GP Agadir; 7° GSL Ekaterinburg; vorig jaar 3° WCup Tunis /-50kg !! Dit mag écht geen probleem zijn voor een Jorre in normale doen. Hij bereikt normaliter de 1/4-fin tegen ofwel Tornike Tsjakadoea (°96; Ned; 20° WRL; 10x final block in een WTour) of Ariunbold Enkhtaivan (°95; Mgl; 9° WRL; 2°WK’22 & 5° GSL Tokyo’22) verslag: --- 1/16-fin: absoluut géén walk-in-the-park voor Jorre in deze eerste kamp; hij zoekt waar mogelijk het ne-waza, maar de Marokkaan verdedigt goed, en valt ook aan waar mogelijk; het is zelfs Jorre die een shido incasseert voor passiviteit; maar 10″sec voor het einde van de kamp wel heel knap grondwerk van Jorre, die het afmaakt met osai-komi.  --- 1/8-fin: knappe wedstrijd van Romaric (wend-yam) Bouda (°97; Fra; 69°WRL): waza-ari awasete-ippon en niks tegen in te brengen: twee rechtmatige, flitsende scores van de Fransman en Jorre die op grond geen kansen kreeg; over-en-out, helaas. Het staat nu 2-1 voor de Fransman in hun onderlinge duels. Bouda zal uiteindelijk vechten voor brons, na verlies in 1/2-fin tegen landgenoot Cedric Revol (°94; Fra; 19°WRL; 3°EK’22).  >>> wedstrijden van Jorre 

  /- 52kg

Charline Van Snick (°90; /-52kg; 40° WRL): 7° (2 own) Nog 7°WRL tijdens de Spelen in Tokyo, maar ondertussen weggedeemsterd naar een 40°-plaats.... Het zou mij echt niet verbazen, moest zij de Spelen in Paris NIET halen, en dat zou persoonlijk een zware ontgoocheling betekenen denk ik. Opent in 1/16-fin tegen Aigerim Abilkadirova (°96; Kaz; 120° WRL); veelbelovend bij de jeugd met 3 medailles op Aziatische kampioenschappen, maar haar laatste officiële IJF-resultaat dateert al van 2018, als winnares van de WCup Aktau. Benieuwd of Charline de 1/4-fin bereikt. verslag: --- 1/16-fin: Charline kan me in tachi-waza niet overtuigen, maar haar transitie naar grond en haar ne-waza heeft ze zeker nog niet verleerd: ze wint met een armklem van Abilkadirova na 3′06″min; geen idee wat er op het eind gebeurde.. alsof Aigerim haar had gebeten...  --- 1/8-fin: mooi resultaat met een waza-ari zege na 4′min tegen de Spaanse Estrella Lopez Sheriff (°92; Esp; 13°WRL):   --- 1/4-fin: schijn-aanvallen van Charline in de 1ste helft van de reguliere tijd lonen, want Reka Pupp (°96; Hun; 3°WRL) krijgt een shido tegen; voorts blijft het een gesloten wedstrijd, maar een geduldige Hongaarse is wel de betere judoka; de scheids trapt nu niet meer in de schijnaanvallen van Van Snick en in GS dicteert Reka ook het verloop; waza-ari van Pupp is dan ook het uiteindelijke logische resultaat. Charline verwezen naar de herkansing.  --- repechage: verlies tegen Astride Gneto (°96; Fra; 6°WRL). Kamp niet gezien; ik vermoed dat het na 1′34″min eindigde met hansoku-make ?    >>> wordt dit voor Charline dan toch het begin van een lange remonte om uiteindelijk toch nog de Spelen te halen ? Mogelijks.   >>> wedstrijden van Charline   

  /-57kg

Mina Libeer (°97; /-57kg; 15° WRL): 7° (2 own) 15° op de WRL, maar toch maar 8th seeded !,  en opent in 1/16-fin tegen één van de 4 Françaises, 1ste-jaars senior Martha Fawaz (°02; Fra; 84° WRL): huidig vice-kampioene van France, ná de sterkere Faiza Mokdar, die verrassend genoeg (gekwetst ?) niet deelneemt. Priscilla Gneto is er wel. Als Mina wint ontmoet ze ofwel de ervaren Jessica Pereira (°94; Bra; 49°WRL) of de 18-jarige Oyunchimeg Oyungerel (°04; Mgl; 214°WRL). Natuurlijk wordt dat de Braziliaanse.. verslag:  --- 1/16-fin: knappe start van Mina met sumi gaeshi na 15″sec en tomoe-nage na 30″. Moeilijk te oordelen vanuit de camera-positie, maar de scheids geeft ippon, en géén review en géén protest van de judoka of het thuispubliek, dus moet het wel juist zijn.  --- 1/8-fin: inderdaad dus tegen Pereira: het moet gezegd, enkel Mina valt aan (zei het bijna uitsluitend met sumi-gaeshi), en Pereira die na iedere aanval van Mina het grondwerk zoekt maar nooit een opening vindt; de kamp eindigt dan ook (in GS) terecht in het voordeel van Mina met 3 shido’s tegen Jessica.  --- 1/4-fin: knap verweer van Mina tegen 1st seeded Haruka Funakubo (°98; Jpn; 2°WRL): haar geliefde sumi-gaeshi krijgt wel geen kans, en vooral vanaf GS zie je dat het een kwestie van tijd is.... Mina verdedigde uitstekend op grond, maar uiteindelijk eindigt het toch met osai-komi. --- repechage: tegen Daria Bilodid (°00, Ukr; 38°WRL) die met 3 shido’s tegen 2, verloor van Jessica Klimkait. (dubieus, en vooral jammer voor de sport). Mina dan wordt van begin tot eind gedomineerd door Bilodid (nog altijd maar 22j), en na 1′33″min eindigt het met juji-gatame.  >>> Een verdienstelijke 7°-plaats voor Mina. Meer zat/zit er niet in, want tegen de absolute top komt ze nu eenmaal tekort. Deze GSL was qua niveau dan ook sterker dan de editie Oct-2021 (juist na de Olympics), toen Mina nog brons pakte. >>> wedstrijden van Mina 

[tuxedo-birds]

Daurian Jackdaw (Coloeus dauuricus)

© Iderbat Enkhtaivan

[corvid-mania]

Daurian Jackdaw (Coloeus dauuricus)

© Iderbat Enkhtaivan

[gregor-samsung]

Öndög (Wang Quan'an - 2019)

[basketballnationph]

Lanete lifts Manila Chooks to Ulaanbaatar semis

Chico Lanete scored a clutch deuce to lift Manila Chooks to a 21-20 (8:22) victory over Japan's Yokohama Beefman in the quarterfinals of the Ulaanbaatar FIBA 3x3 Super Quest, Saturday at UB Palace in Mongolia.

Figuring in a nip-and-tuck affair that saw both teams exchange leads at a furious pace, it was the 42-year-old Lanete who stepped up.

Down 20-19 with 1:38 left, Lanete knocked down a cold-blooded deuce to seal Manila's place in this Level 8-FIBA 3x3 tournament that has two tickets to the 2022 Chooks-to-Go FIBA 3x3 World Tour Manila Masters at stake.

Lanete ended up with six points on two deuces.

Henry Iloka got 10 points to lead the way for Manila while Dennis Santos added five markers.

Alexis Minatoya, who put Yokohama at matchpoint just seconds before Lanete's winner, paced his side with seven points.

Tatsuhito Noro and Lazar Popovic added five points each.

Manila will next face Zaisan MMC Energy in the semifinals. In the Asia Pacific Super Quest last Saturday, Manila defeated the very same team, 21-17.

Earlier, Cebu Chooks bowed to Mongolia's Zavkhan MMC Energy, 20-17, to fall out of the tournament.

Tserenbaatar Enkhtaivan and Avirmed Lhagvaa led the way for Zavkhan with seven and six points, respectively.

Mike Nzeusseu got 10 points and six rebounds while Mac Tallo added five points in the loss.

Zavkhan faces Ulaanbaatar in the other bracket.

📷 Via Chooks to go

#basketballnationph

#ChooksFIBA3x3

#PusoParaSaPINAS ❤🇵🇭

[erwinrer]

Mongolia's prostitution zones, where women trade sex for fuel in sub-zero temperatures

It’s nearing midnight in an unadorned bar on a backstreet off Sükhbaatar Square, and 31 year-old Minjuur rubs her hands to shake off the cold.

Speaking in a whisper, she explains her average evening. Men pick her up from the park by the Central Tower office building, then they go to a nearby hotel for an hour of sex.

Minjuur has a small scar on her right upper cheek that is visible despite her makeup, and she counts on her fingers the number of friends who have died in her line of work. It is minus 20 degrees Celsius tonight, and Minjuur has a chest-rattling cough. Vodka helps her ward off the chill. She says the winter is hard.

Mongolia’s capital presents grim working conditions for the city’s prostitutes. Ulaanbaatar is often overlooked as a centre of prostitution, but – despite increased activity in border areas – it remains the hub for the country’s sex work and sexual trafficking. But as the city’s prostitutes experience violence and social stigma, some are navigating riskier working environments beyond the city.  

Prostitution and human trafficking are illegal within Mongolia but the sex trade is growing. While some women solicit openly on the streets of the capital, others work discreetly out of karaoke bars, saunas and massage parlours. Mongolia is a source, transit and destination country for sex labour.

According to a 2014 report from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, between 3,000 and 5,000 women and children are trafficked each year from rural communities into cities and beyond the nation’s borders.

Unicef estimates that roughly 19,000 sex workers are active in Mongolia, however, some field workers cite much higher numbers. The state’s population sits at around 3 million. While male prostitutes do exist, they are a small minority.

The rapid growth of the country’s mining sector over the last decade has created a workforce of isolated men, thereby spurring on the industry. Skirting the border with China, the southern Gobi Desert – where mineral mining projects run by Rio Tinto and other global operations are located – has become a new focal point for prostitution.Girls for sale | Brothels in Bangladesh where men pay child brides

“In Ulaanbaatar there is violence (against prostitutes) – from families and from working people – but inside the mining area everyone comes for the same goal: making money, and they don’t judge one another,” said Sorbonne University Ethnology Professor Gaëlle Lacaze.

Amidst lines of trucks parked against a barren expanse of sand, a converted bus-turned-café is the only option for some tea and conversation. Enkhtaivan Baatar is biding time at Tavan Tolgoi – a coal deposit in Ömnögovi province within the Gobi Desert.

The 39-year-old truck driver in a black hoodie is waiting for his coal shipment so he can drive his cargo across the border. He has been doing this job for three years, and has seen many prostitutes. Cars filled with women pull up off the highway and, when the price is settled, join the drivers in the cab of their truck.

Mongolia’s mining boom started in the early 2000s and mining now accounts for around 20 per cent of Mongolia’s gross domestic product. The growth in mining has created a spike in internal migration to mining areas – most notably Ömnögovi.

The country has a 0.03 per cent general prevalence rate of HIV among adults and, for Mongolians infected, treatment is free. As of 2017 data, however, only 32 per cent of people living with HIV knew their status.

“Mining industries are notorious hotspots for HIV infection,” said UNAIDS Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Eamonn Murphy. “There is money around, and people are away from their homes and cultural, social and other inhibitors, and so they take risks that they wouldn’t normally.”

The petite 32-year-old entered the industry to earn money after her daughter was born. She began in Ulaanbaatar, but now works along the border. Her clients –  truck drivers – sometimes don’t have cash, so they pay her in fuel. Uka would rather work for diesel then return to the conditions facing prostitutes in Ulaanbaatar.  

According to Uka, prostitutes in the capital face frequent violence from pimps and customers, but Ömnögovi is better. In contrast to the stigma felt in the city, she describes the border area as accepting and open. Uka explains that four or five women travel to the border area with a driver and rent a ger (a traditional round felted tent) to stay.

Yet when Uka is soliciting in south Gobi, she is working without resources. “It’s risky there,” said Erdenesuren, of working near the Chinese border. “The ones who like to take risks go there.”

In Ulaanbaatar, there are STI awareness programmes and condom distribution, social workers like Erdenesuren try to check up on the women they know, but in the Gobi there is no such infrastructure. Uka explains how the women she works with buy contraceptives off one another when they run out, as there is no store to purchase more. Often customers don’t want to use them anyway.

Ulaanbaatar may offer prostitutes more contact with NGOs providing outreach, but it is a harsh environment for women working in the trade. Previously, Uka sold sex in a sauna in the capital where she alleges police and customers beat her. She claims ultra-nationalists target sex workers on the street and shave their heads to disgrace them. The Ulaanbaatar police did not respond to requests for comment on this story.Violence, drugs and sexual diseases | How de-regulating prostitution is failing women worldwide

In Mongolia, sex work is an occupation shrouded in shame and silence. Erdenesuren cites the cycle of humiliation and fear that keeps women from reaching out to the police and family: “It is better to have your bones broken, then your name dishonoured.”

Uka explains that people don’t openly talk about prostitution and why women end up in sex work. She left school after eighth grade and has few options to earn an income. “For some women, it is easier to open their legs than go to the factory,” said Lacaze, “because they have no diplomas. She is alone with children, she has to eat.”

Uka admits that her daughter has no idea how her mum earns an income. Her family believes she is a cook. In Ulaanbaatar, Minjuur tells her family that her nights are spent serving in a bar. Both women support multiple dependents with their earnings. “Nobody knows what they are doing, but everybody knows,” said Lacaze. “Everybody is complicit.”

Gaamaa occupies one of those beds. The tiny 22-year-old, in sweatpants and a t-shirt, looks like a university student relaxing between classes. She speaks softly. “If girls refuse to have sex, they abuse them and if they can’t change a girl, they sell her,” she said. “They call the trafficker and sell.”

Gaamaa has been bought and sold many times. In 2016, fleeing an abusive home, Gaamaa ended up at a sauna near the central railway station. There, in rooms with barred windows, she worked with four other women for a rate of 40,000 MNT for one hour and 60,000 MNT for two hours (roughly £11 and £17). Their madam supplied food and clothes, but never the money earned. The brothel sold her to another sauna when they found she was trying to escape, but not before she alleges being beaten as punishment and then raped by her attackers.

“Society think they [prostitutes] are garbage,” said Talita Mongolia founder and director Tserenchunt Byamba-Ochir. “There is no funding to protect victims, not one coin to protect victims of trafficking from the Mongolia government – they say we don’t have money for that.”

In 2017, the federal government cut funding to seven regional offices of Mongolia’s sole NGO designed to help sex workers – Perfect Ladies. Only three branches remain. Five women’s shelters operate, but four offer short term stays only. Talita’s Ulaanbaatar branch (the fifth shelter) is the sole long-term rehabilitation center for former prostitutes, and it is at capacity.Sex trafficking hot spot | Switzerland's disastrous prostitution laws

Eventually, Gaamaa was trafficked into China where she worked in multiple cities before a client helped her escape to the Mongolian embassy in Beijing. She arrived at Talita in late 2017.

Gaamaa used to shake as she talked about her experiences and she had nightmares. Now she wraps her arms around a stuffed bear and explains with a smile that she is looking into culinary college. But Gaamaa is also anxious about living in the capital, afraid that someone from her old life will recognise her.

Byamba-Ochir also has concerns. With many of the cases where Talita assists, the traffickers are not charged. Women feel intimidated and change their stories in court, or get pulled back into the trade. Gaamaa believes if she hadn’t been trafficked to China, she would still be a prostitute.

“Here in Mongolia they are not kind,” said Gaamaa. It’s really hard to escape here – it’s everywhere in Ulaanbaatar. It is very hard to escape Mongolia.” 

[worldticketsandhospitality]

Japan Football World Cup - Japan power past Mongolia to widen Group F lead

Japan gave Mongolia an earnest 14-0 loss in the second round of the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 on Tuesday as Hajime Moriyasu's side drew nearer to getting a billet in the following round. The success guarantees the Japanese keep up their ideal record after five games in Group F and will book their spot in the third period of FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifying if they rout Myanmar when the two groups meet in Japan on June 3.

Fans from all over the world are called to book Football world Cup tickets from our online platforms WorldWideTicketsandHospitality.com. Football fans can book Japan Football World Cup Tickets on our website at exclusively discounted prices.

Moriyasu's side had not many issues against a Mongolia side that had surrendered home-field advantage because of the progressing Covid pandemic, which means the game was played at the Fukuda Denshi Arena in Chiba, close to Tokyo. It required 13 minutes for the Japanese to open the scoring when Takumi Minamoto figured out an existence on the edge of the Mongolian punishment box to slide a fine completion into the furthest corner of Enkhtaivan Munkh-Erdene's objective.

After ten minutes the four-time Asian heroes multiplied their lead with another great entry of play as Minamino ventured over Maya Yoshida's ball forward, permitting Yuya Osaka to turn the protection with his first touch before opening home. Daichi Kamada added the third in the 26th moment when he steadied himself to direct Junya Ito's cross from the privilege past Munkh-Erdene from right inside the six-yard box and, after six minutes, the Japanese had scored a fourth when Hidemasa Morita got after Ito's reduction.

Despite having the match dominated, the Japanese proceeded to press and, with five minutes staying in the half, they asserted a fifth when Khash Erdene Tuyaa coordinated Ken Matsubara's cross directly into his objective. The objectives kept on streaming for Japan in the subsequent half, with Osako adding his second not long after substitute Takuma Asano had hit the crossbar with a header. The Germany-based forward had the opportunity to transform and space into the corner following Kamada's pass.

Substitute Sho Inagaki made it 7-0 in the 68th moment with a clinical completion from right inside the punishment region and Ito scored the objective his overall exhibition merited five minutes after the fact when he slipped the ball in from short proximity. Vissel Kobe striker Kyogo Furuhashi scored the 10th with a header off the underside of the bar before Ito hit Japan's tenth and his second only seconds after the restart, while Furuhashi was on track again a short way from time.

Asano stroked in his first as the game entered injury time and Osako finished his cap stunt not long after with a redirected exertion from short proximity before Inagaki scored his second not long before the last whistle. The triumph takes Japan on to an ideal 15 focuses from their initial five games and they lead Group F by five from Tajikistan, having played a game less than the Central Asians. The Kyrgyz Republic is in the third spot a further three focuses lose with Myanmar in the fourth. Mongolia is in the fifth and lower part of the standings.

We are offering tickets for Qatar Football World Cup 2022. Football Admirers can get Qatar Football World Cup 2022 Tickets through our trusted online ticketing marketplace. worldwideticketsandhospitality.com is the most reliable source to book Qatar Football World Cup Hospitality tickets.

[deenewsline]

China ready to discuss resuming personnel, cargo flows with Mongolia: FM

China ready to discuss resuming personnel, cargo flows with Mongolia: FM

BEIJING, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) — Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday that China is ready to discuss expeditious resumption of normal personnel and cargo flows at border crossings with Mongolia while ensuring good prevention and control of COVID-19. Wang made the remarks in a telephone conversation with his Mongolian counterpart Nyamtseren Enkhtaivan. Noting that China…

[trendoa]

Japonya Dışişleri Bakanı Motegi'den Moğolistan ile stratejik iştirak vurgusu

Japonya Dışişleri Bakanı Motegi’den Moğolistan ile stratejik iştirak vurgusu

Japonya Dışişleri Bakanlığından yapılan açıklamaya nazaran, Bakan Motegi Toşimitsu, Moğolistan’a düzenlediği resmi ziyarette, mevkidaşı Nyamtseren Enkhtaivan ile görüştü.

Görüşmede, Moğol iktisadının tekrar canlandırılması için Japonya’nın 236 milyon dolar kredi sağlaması kararlaştırıldı.

Bakan Motegi, görüşme sonrası düzenlenen basın toplantısında yaptığı konuşmada, insan hakları, özgürlük,…

[judocritics]

WK Sen, Tashkent (day-1) : al 2x Japan, en Jorre & Ellen vroegtijdig out.

(06-Oct-2022)

>> 2022 WK Sen, Tashkent, Uzb  (results ijf.org)  

Vooreerst: het heeft lang geduurd, maar vanaf nu is het dus realiteit, live kijken naar de grote tornooien kost u geld !! En ook uitgesteld kijken naar de livestream op YouTube is er niet langer meer bij :-(.... Met andere woorden, voor de stem van Neil Adams betaal je vanaf nu.... Afwachten nu maar of dit op termijn enige invloed gaat hebben op de populariteit van onze geliefkoosde sport...  Maar goed, koken kost geld, en als grote fan, hebben we dan ook gewoon betaald voor een abonnement. Een IJF “Live Premium sunscription” kost jaarlijks 100 Eur (+21% VAT, ah ja...); nu ja, das tegenwoordig niks meer natuurlijk als je naar je energie-afrekening kijkt (ja, ik weet het, allicht een misplaatste grap, sorry).  Na betaling, kan je gewoon klassiek alles volgen via https://live.ijf.org.  Blijkbaar kan je achteraf (zonder abonnement) wel de kampen blijven raadplegen via de IJF-website. Het tegendeel zou uiteraard een beetje van de pot gerukt zijn natuurlijk.  En fans kunnen ook nog altijd terecht voor commentaar op “Judo Highlights”  >> video JH (day-1 preliminaries)   

/-60kg (42 dln)  

Jorre is een heel goeie judoka, maar de /-60kg & /-66kg zijn zo’n gewichtscategorieën waar op wereldniveau de toppers dicht bij mekaar aanleunen, en een flits kan beslissen over winst of verlies. Alleen Japan lijkt daar dan toch telkens weer zijn suprematie te bevestigen.  En kijk, dat was vandaag alweer niet anders.

Jorre Verstraeten (°97; /-60kg; 3° WRL; IGW): out (1 own) Na zijn brons op het EK en overwinning op de GSL Budapest, stond Jorre zo maar eventjes 3° WRL ! En dat verklaart dan ook waarom hij hier 2nd seeded stond op dit WK, en wat dat betreft dus al niet veel moet onder doen voor Matthias... 

Opent, na een bye, in 1/16-fin tegen junior Marcus Auer (°02; Aut; 154° WRL) >> video : de klassieke ne-waza score van Jorre diep in GS na 6′15″min (osae komi). In 1/8-finale tegen Angelo Pantano (°96; Ita; 33° WRL); die kent hij maar al te goed natuurlijk, en vandaag trok Jorre helaas aan het kortste eind >> video   Nu, was dit wel een score van de Italiaan ? Angelo had een aantal aanvallen met seoi-nage tijdens de wedstrijd, en hier in GS deed hij opnieuw zo’n poging; in mijn ogen ging deze hier echter over in een offerworp en telt zo’n score dan eigenlijk nog wel als je eerst zelf volledig op je rug belandt ? 

Enfin, blijkbaar geen protest, bij niemand, dus zal het wel correct geweest zijn...

De wereldtitel ging voor de 4de maal (!) naar huidig Olympisch kampioen Naohisa Takato (°93; Jpn; 25° WRL). Wereldkampioen in Rio 2013, in Budapest 2017, in Baku 2018, en nu dus hier in Tashkent 2022. (ook nog 3°OG Rio’16 en 3°WK’14; 5°WK’19). Best wel grappig dat zo iemand dan slechts 25° staat op de WRL... Oudgediende, en 3°OG Tokyo, Yeldos Smetov (°92; Kaz; 38° WRL)  pakte brons, net als 1st seeded Yung Wei Yang (°97; Tpe; 1° WRL; 2°OG Tokyo), van wie Jorre overigens nog won met ijzersterke prestaties op de GSL Antalya in April (1°) ... Vice-wereldkampioen werd hier de eerder onbekende Mongool Ariunbold Enkhtaivan (°96; Mgl; 13° WRL). Won nl. slechts 2 WTour medailles tot dusver (3° zwakke GSL Paris’21 & 3° GP Zagreb’19); wel meerdere malen top-8.  >> video JH : wereldkampioen Takato     

 /-48kg (38 dln)  

 Dat Ellen zo-ie-zo zou worden weggeblazen stond voor mij dus al lang vast, en al zeker als je vroegtijdig in je poule de Europees kampioene ontmoet. Ondanks overwicht zal Shirine Boukli (°99; Fra; 1° WRL) overigens verrassend zelf sneuvelen in haar volgende kamp, want men weigerde een 3de shido te geven aan haar opponente Abiba Abuzhakynova (°97; Kaz; 22° WRL; 2°ACh ‘21 & ‘22), die uiteindelijk met veel mazzel wel brons zal behalen (uitsluiting van Nikolic in 1/4-fin en een 3de shido (s2/s3) tegen Vargas Ley na 9′15″min in de laatste kamp).  

Ellen Salens (°96; /-48kg; 42° WRL; JS Merelbeke): out (1 own)   Ellen start tegen leeftijdsgenote Estefania Soriano (°96; Dom; 49° WRL), die binnen de top-50 staat dankzij haar brons op de PACh dit jaar. (in 2019 won ze die overigens). >> video : na zowat 30″sec een spectaculaire heupworp van Ellen, maar de waza-ari werd herroepen, en de daaropvolgende houdgreep kon Ellen niet aanhouden; na 1′50″ uiteindelijk wél een score; wat verder nog volgde was een evenwichtige strijd, en één waarbij Ellen probleemloos de kleinere Dominikaanse kon afhouden: de waza-ari winst (01s0/00s2) werd beloond met een kamp tegen Shirine Boukli.  In deze 1/16-fin tegen de Française moet Ellen als voorspelbaar het onderspit delven; een eerste tomoe-nage van Boukli blijft zonder gevolg, maar wanneer na 50″sec Ellen een uchi-mata rateert, neemt Shirine onmiddellijk over met uchi-mata en ippon. >> video. Einde WK. 

>> video JH : wereldkampioen Tsunoda   

[thalassarche]

Common Raven (Corvus corax) - photo by Iderbat Enkhtaivan