Pictured above: 2016 European Open Women’s Strawweight medalists, from left to right – Svetlana Kotova (Bronze), Alexandra Toncheva (Gold), Raluca Dinescu (Silver) This year the 2017 IMMAF European Open Championships will be hosted by Bulgaria in city of Sofia from March 29 to April 2. Here, IMMAF.org breaks down the top 5 most successful nations to compete at the European Open Championships across both 2015 & 2016 events. The UK first hosted the European Open in 2015 with the inaugural event taking place in Birmingham, followed by the 2016 championships in Prague, Czech Republic. National teams have been listed according to total number of gold medals won under the banner of the European Open, followed by silver and bronze. 1. Sweden: 7 Gold medals (16 total) [caption id="attachment_10566" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
Sweden’s National Amateur MMA Team at the 2016 IMMAF World Championships[/caption] 2015 x2 Gold – Joel Moya Schondorff, Rostem Akman (185lbs) x4 Silver – Anja Saxmark (125lbs), Cornelia Holm (145lbs), Gabriella Ringblom (135lbs), Iman Smajic (265lbs) x2 Bronze – Renato Vidovic (135lbs), Ante Agneby (145lbs) 2016 x5 Gold – Serdar Altas (125lbs), Renato Vidovic (135lbs), Cornelia Holm (135lbs), Gold: Daniel Schalander (145lbs), Rostem Akman (185lbs) x2 Silver – Gabriella Ringblom (125lbs), Irman Smajic (265lbs) x1 Bronze – Hoger Salih (145lbs) 2. Bulgaria: 7 Gold medals (12 total) [caption id="attachment_12244" align="aligncenter" width="631"]
Bulgaria’s National Amateur MMA Team at the 2016 European Open in Prague[/caption] 2015 x2 Gold – Aleksandra Toncheva (115lbs), Daniel Galabarov (265lbs) x1 Silver – Dorian Dermendzhiev (170lbs) x1 Bronze – Tencho Karaenev (205lbs) 2016 x5 Gold – Alexsandra Toncheva (115lbs), Ferdun Osmanov (155lbs), Nikolay Nikolov (170lbs), Daniel Galabarov (265lbs), Atanas Krastanov (+265lbs) x1 Silver – Valeri Atanasov (185lbs) x2 Bronze – Tencho Karaenev (205lbs), Rostislav Raichev (135lbs) 3. Finland: 3 Gold medals ( 11 total) [caption id="attachment_12867" align="aligncenter" width="960"]
Finland’s Abdul Hussein won gold at both the 2015 European Open and 2016 Word Championships[/caption] 2015 x3 Gold – Varpu Rinne (135lbs), Sanna Merta (145lbs), Abdul Hussein (135lbs) x1 Silver – Mia Isola (155lbs) x2 Bronze – Sini Koivunen (155lbs), Inka Auvinen (125lbs) 2016 x2 Silver – Kerttu Kouki (155lbs), Matias Anttila (+265lbs) x3 Bronze – Anette Osterberg (125lbs), Chamia Chabbi (135lbs), Iris Nihti (145lbs) 4. UK: 3 Gold medals (11 total) [caption id="attachment_12869" align="aligncenter" width="960"]
Members of the UK National Amateur MMA Team 2016[/caption] 2015 x2 Gold – Jake Bond (125lbs), Jack Shore (155lbs) x1 Silver – Warren Mason (125lbs) x4 Bronze – Amy Omara (115lbs), Connor Hitchens (145lbs), Hardeep Rai (170lbs), James Duckett (185lbs) 2016 x1 Gold –Joanne Doyle (145lbs) x3 Bronze – Kierandip Sahota (145lbs), Milad Ahady (155lbs), Tom Crosby (185lbs) 5. Iceland: 3 Gold medals (5 total) [caption id="attachment_7433" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
Sunna Rannveig and Bjarki Palsson both won gold for Iceland at the 2015 European Open[/caption] 2015 x2 Gold – Sunna Rannveig (125lbs), Bjarki Palsson (170lbs) x1 Bronze -Petur Oskarsson (265lbs) 2016 x1 Gold – Egill Hjordisarson (205lbs) x1 Bronze – Magnus Ingvarsson (170lbs)]]>
