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Tatar-style wrestling "Köräş" (Татарча көрәш)

Bashkort Kuresh (Bashkir folk wrestling) at Sabantuy (June 1996)

Trophy of the 1999 World Kurash Championships.

Kurash (kuresh, koresh and variants; Uzbek kurash, Bashkir көрәш köräş, Tatar küreş, куреш, көрәш, kөrəş, Kazakh курес kures, Chuvash кӗрешӳ) is the Turkic term for "wrestling" (from Old Turkic keriš, c.f. Turkish güreş) and specifically refers to a number of folk wrestling styles practiced in Central Asia. The Tatar wrestling is the main competition at the Tatar folk festival Sabantuy.

History[link]

The first official All-USSR koresh championship took place in Kazan in 1928 and was followed by the first TASSR (Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic) national championship in 1949. Since 1956, regular Tatar Köräş competitions have been organised in honor of the national hero and poet Musa Cälil.

At the turn of 1950 and 1960, the Soviet Federation of freestyle wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, and sambo started to develop Tatar Köräş. Sportsmen from the neighbour regions, such as Bashkortostan, Mordovia, and Ulyanovsk City came to compete in Kazan for the first time in 1959. In 1960, the capital of Tatarstan was appointed host of the first RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) national koresh championship, an event that has been repeated every year since that date. It was organised in Kazan about 15 times, but also in other cities, such as Salavat, Orenburg, Oktyabrsky, Tuymazy, Chelyabinsk, Cheboksary, Almetievsk, Samara, Ulyanovsk, Naberezhnye Chelny. Sportsmen from 36 Russian regions have participated in the Russian championships over the past years.

World Championships[link]

The International Tatar Belt Wrestling Köräş Association was founded on 9 September 2009 with the aim of popularizing Tatar traditions abroad and offer Continental and World opportunities to all sportsmen wishing to compete in Tatar Köräş. It became member of FILA's World Traditional Wrestling Committee in 2009 and held its second World Championship during the FILA World Wrestling Games that took place in Siauliai (LTU) in September 2009. The third World Championship was held in Kazan in May 2010 and attracted a participation of about 100 wrestlers from 17 countries.

See also[link]

• Alysh
• Mongolian wrestling
• Yağlı güreş
• Pahlavani

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kurash

• Tatar traditional wrestling
• Federation of national wrestling «Tatarcha Koresh» of Russian Federation
• International Kurash Association
• Canadian Kurash Webpage
• Gennady Saakov, Timur Tamaschunk, Peter Ben Rozen - Kurash Uzbek Bukhara Wrestling Style, Timur Tanaschuk, 2005.

v t e Folk wrestling The Martial Arts Portal     East Asia: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Okinawan South & Southeast Asia: Burmese, Filipino, Indian (Mizo Mukna), Khmer Near East & Central Asia: Armenian, Azeri, Iranian, Kyrgyz, Mongolian, Tatar/Uzbek, Turkish Europe: Breton · English (Cornish, Cumbrian, Devon, Lancashire)  · German (historical)  · Greek (historical) · Icelandic · Irish ·  Scottish · Serbian · Swiss Africa: Lutte Traditionnelle, Canarian, Nuba, Togolese, Senegalese Grappling · Submission wrestling · FILA · History of wrestling ·  List of martial arts

Ben Franks

Full name	Ben Franks
Date of birth	(1984-03-27) 27 March 1984 (age 28)
Place of birth	Melbourne, Australia
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	112 kg (17 st 9 lb)
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Prop
New Zealand No.	1084
Provincial/State sides
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2005–2006 2007 –	Canterbury Tasman	16 26	(0) (0)
Super Rugby
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2006 –	Crusaders	63	(10)
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2008 –	New Zealand	14	(5)

Ben Franks (born 27 March 1984 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is a rugby union player for the Crusaders in the Super Rugby competition and All Blacks. He plays as a prop.

Club career[link]

Provincial[link]

Franks made his provincial debut for Canterbury against Otago in 2005. He has since played for both Canterbury and the Tasman Makos in the Air New Zealand Cup, securing 42 caps (16 for Canterbury, 26 for Tasman).^[1]

Super Rugby[link]

He plays for the Crusaders in the elite Super Rugby competition, making his debut against the Chiefs in 2006. He currently has 35 appearances (at the end of the 2009 season).

Ben is the older brother of Owen also an All Black prop, and both represent the Linwood Rugby club in Christchurch. Both brothers were selected for the 2010 All Blacks squad to face Ireland and Wales in the home series thus being the first brothers to represent New Zealand since Robin and Zinzan Brooke.

International career[link]

2008[link]

On 26 October 2008, Franks was selected for the All Blacks end of year tour squad to travel to Hong Kong, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. He became Aranui High School's first ever All Black when he played against Munster at Thomond Park.

2009[link]

He started the first match of the Pacific Nations Cup against Samoa in June 2009 with a close victory, winning 17-16. He then played the final match of the tournament against Tonga, but did not score a point even though New Zealand won 47-25.

2010[link]

Franks played his first match of 2010 in a test match at Yarrow Stadium against Ireland. The All Black's won by a triumphant 66-28 and Franks got his first ever try for the All Blacks. He also played a week later in the All Black's defeat of Wales in Dunedin.

His test performance won him a spot in the All Black's line up to face South Africa in the first match of the 2010 Tri-Nations tournament. He played again against South Africa a week later and twice against Australia in the following weeks. He played the penultimate match against South Africa but was left out of the team for the final match against Australia and his place taken by his brother Owen.

2011[link]

He started of 2011 with a friendly against Fiji followed by wins over South Africa and Australia in the 2011 Tri-Nations tournament. He played in the penultimate loss to South Africa and was subsequently replaced by brother Owen once again.

Franks came on as a sub during the opening match of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Crusaders profile

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